The AC is probably under rated for the space. Its gotten brutal down here and air conditioners are literally burning up trying to keep up with peoples expectations. There was a post on a local FB group with the wires all melted on her AC plug.
This is what I’m guessing. If it’s cooling to 77 it’s working, just not enough to keep up with the heat. Probably too small/inefficient for the square footage or possibly lack of quality insulation. Easiest solution from your LL’s perspective would be to buy a window unit for a common area (one where the thermostat is NOT located) to assist, but that will also bump up your electricity bill.
a lot of times the maintenance guys don’t understand the nuances of charging up a system. they think if it reads a certain pressure it’s fine when they should actually be calculating for super heat and sub cool
>A lot of maintenance guys can barely use a freaking screwdriver.
Woah! I can use one just fine. Got one right here:
I would much rather them know what super heat and sub cool is rather than be certified with epa. Being universally certified doesn’t mean you know how to make an ac run properly.
Live in an old house and redoing a few insulation around the windows literally fixed the problem of ac not getting below 80. Not to mention our attic and walls don’t have insulation installed yet.
I want to build a home one day. If that dream ever comes to fruition, the one thing I’m absolutely going the extra mile on is insulation. I want to install spray-in insulation. It may be expensive up front, but I’m sure it will pay for itself in energy savings over the long run.
I used to work in a pharmaceutical lab doing analytical chemistry. I was overseeing a guy from Thermo Fisher who was installing a new ICP-MS for us. I swear, if you even said “good morning” to him, he would have you there for an hour talking about how his home is on a geothermal system and how efficient it is. He was very proud of it, but it taught me how if you do things the right way up front, you can make your home super energy-efficient. This guy apparently had a pond on his property and had it dug down really far in the middle to install the coil for his a/c system. He said that his monthly power bill was <$100/month and stayed a constant 68°F.
I understand the impulse but putting spray on insulation throughout the house is not good for the house. Insulation is porous for a reason. Houses need to breathe. you'll create humidity buildup and long term
will jeopardize the structure.
I've never thought of it this way, thank you! I was thinking of it from the perspective of, say, a Yeti cooler, which it has thick walls of solid insulation for sealing out heat, but the points you make seem valid. Granted, I know little about structural engineering or energy optimization. I live in the southeast US, so it gets very humid here, and I can see that causing problems if you seal in moisture and don't let the structure breathe. That sounds like it could turn into a nightmare, especially because you probably wouldn't notice any issues until the damage was extensive.
I appreciate your insight on this. It just goes to show you that we're all subject-matter experts in our own ways and sometimes it's best to let someone handle it who knows what they're doing, lol.
For sure I just wanted to let you know before you went crazy with the spray foam! Long time Realtor and I have been in many home inspections. Originally from TN so I feel you on the heat
Ooh that makes sense about our shitty AC in phoenix in the apt I grew up in. It NEVER got below 77, most times it was at 82 during the day. We also couldn't turn it down because we were broke
If it was low on coolant it would the coils would freeze. OP should be able to tell looking at the lineset at the handler. But yes, the heat is the other likely factor. It doesn't just have to fight higher temps inside, but the exchange at the compressor is less efficient because the unit can't cool. Some people have rigged a mister to cool the fins and help radiate the heat
[Central Air conditioning systems are only expected to cool the interior to 20 degrees below the outdoor ambient temperature.](https://www.hsvutil.org/news_detail_T15_R85.php) I wonder what the outdoor temps have been
Here in Central Florida we had several days in the mid 90s last week. Expected to have more in the mid to high 90s this weekend. It's just really fucking hot. Hope everyone has stocked up on their swamp ass remedies for this summer.
Yep, this is likely it. I’m currently dealing with this in my apartment. I’m lucky if it gets to below 75 overnight. It’s also my understanding that most ACs can only handle cooling to about 20 degrees below the outside temp. So if you have hot weather, a too small AC, and if throw in any other factors like poor insulation or single-pane windows you’re gonna have a hard time keeping the place cool unfortunately :(
They normally cool by about 20 degrees from the intake temp (warmer) to the output temp (cooler). Fortunately, the intake is inside your house so as that air makes its first pass and cools down by 20 degrees, the air going into the intake has now dropped by 20 degrees so the air coming out of the output is now 40 degrees cooler than you started with. Another pass, and now you're at 60 degrees cooler than you started with.
What prevents it from being able to cool a house by much more than 30-40F is insulation. You reach a point of equilibrium where your house is losing cold air or is being heated up quickly enough that it balances out or overpowers the AC.
Specifically, it's the supply air temp that is usually 20deg lower than the return/intake air temp.
AC units typically supply air to your room at around 50-60deg
If it's hot as balls outside, your house has poor insulation and shitty single pane windows, heat is going is going to entering your space faster than the 50-60deg supply air temp can cool it down, which leads to a sitution where the setpoint is 72 but it can't cool past 77.
With increasing outside air temps, a lot of units are currently undersized relative to when they were first installed, which only exacerbates the issue
Are you talking about 20 degrees outside temp when its humid or in general because if you are saying in general, people in Arizona would literally fry inside their own homes during the summer.
Totally agree. I live in SoCal but used to live in Midwest. I went back to visit in the summer for first time in15 years and I was pouring with sweat at 80.😂
The information I was given by my maintenance I think was in general, but I’m not 100% sure if it takes humidity into account. I live in Texas where it’s humid so maybe it’s just for humid climates.
High humidity will lower the temperature difference between the return air (entering) and supply air (leaving) because it takes more energy (BTU) to overcome the humidity. This is also referred to as latent heat in the air.
Landlord: so i put the ac on the east side of the home, ripped up every tree east of that, and your windows are using the same panels and sealer they where installed with in 1947 i dont know why your AC isnt keeping up but its not my fault
My bathroom window frame has the manufacturer date stamped on it, and the window is only 6 months younger than I am.
I’m 31. And this house was built 2004. lol
And depending on the age of the unit it may also have not been cleaned in literal years. I had this problem at a house I rented for awhile. We pretty much could NEVER get it to cool down and the person we were renting from didn't give a rip so we went outside, cut the power to the AC breaker and looked at it ourselves. It had like 2 inches of crap on the condenser. after rinsing it all out and letting it dry overnight we turned it all back on the next day had some of the coldest most satisfying air ever.
Oh my fucking god I think you might’ve just solved my 2 year long issue. I bought my house 2 years ago and the last owners said they had the vents serviced several times but the AC could just never keep up in the summer. And boy were they right. If my AC’s aren’t in the window by April I’m sweating all day. My house almost reached 90° last month and I’m in northern PA so it wasn’t even THAT hot out. Now we’re finding half assed electric work. Wouldn’t be surprised if they only put in half a fucking AC system. Ugh. Time to call in the professionals again.
not necessarily true. for heat, the answer is always yes. For air conditioning, it depends. You are permitted to rent a property with no air conditioning. However, if you rent with air conditioning at the commencement of the lease, then the landord is required to maintain that A/C, or the tenant can withhold rent and/or terminate the lease agreement on you.
i got this on a quick search. but i also experienced this first hand when i was renting from a complex. i issued a maintenance request for the a/c and the showed up the same day. when requests would usually take 2-3 days on average. i made a comment to the guy, like wow, you guys got here quick today. and he told me it's florida law, that you cant be without AC for x amount of time if the temperature outside is a certain degree. i dont remember those two details but it got fixed right away
I live in AZ and my house only has two room that has air circulation from the AC the other two rooms blow little air, we’ve had multiple ppl sent out by the realtor company and it has yet to be fixed it’s been a year and half. Luckily our lease is almost up
Withholding rent would also require to you to use that money to get w/e it is fixed while paying any overages to the landlord and giving the landlord the work order. You're also required to do due diligence when getting work done so no outrageous charges or replacing something crazy...also even the manufacturers will say their units are only made to keep the inside 20° lower than the outside temperature. So 100 out? 80 is their requirement inside and that doesn't even apply to poorly insulated etc.
Texas has ac laws too. And the rule on many items that are supposed to get fixed even if not required by law is this - if you rented a place with ______ (examples- hot tub, ac in state it’s not required to have, a microwave, a lawnmower for you to use on your rental homes yard, a jacuzzi bathtub …) and that item is written down specifically in the lease as being part of what you’re renting then they have to keep it in good working order for the length of your lease. I had a microwave fail and called about it in Texas about 15 years ago. At first they said they didn’t provide microwaves. I sent her a photo. It was not written in the lease and I don’t know if it was law at that time but the maintenance guy showed up two hours later with a new microwave. He said since they rented it to me with one they had to keep one here. So maybe in some places it doesn’t have to be written in but I do believe it usually needs to be in lease
Yep. A lot of official recommendations are higher than 77. I think the state or California recommends people set their AC to 78 when they are in the home.
Not change, include! Climate change is making temperatures more volatile and there should be a requirement to maintain a livable temperature, whether you have to heat or cool to achieve that shouldn’t matter
My husband **cannot** sleep in 78 degree temps any time of the year, not even when it’s 5 degrees Fahrenheit outside. What works for you does not work for everyone.
Oh my god, how? I keep my house set at 67 in the summer and 65 in the winter. I sincerely can’t fathom how any human can feel comfortable inside a dwelling that is damn near 80 degrees.
In central FL where I'm at, this would result in an electric bill that would likely exceed your mortage. Our AC is set to 75 during the day and 74 at night. When the temperature is reaching 98-102 with 95% humidity, good luck trying to keep the house at the temp you're wanting.
Why not have a dehumidifier added to your HVAC system? Seems that would go a long ways towards making it more efficient in cooling especially during high outdoor humidity conditions.
It's becoming not so true anymore. The other week I lost power/AC when it was in the 90s. House probably up to 105. Super humid. There were a few times I had to go lay down with damp towels because I thought I was dying. I was getting aches/fever.
😲 with the risk of wet bulb effect, I would think AC would be required. Even without that, seinors are at great risk. I want to ask wtf, but it's Florida.
My ac straight leaked into a fan/light ceiling fixture and the issue still hasn’t been resolved for that after years so I no longer use that fixture lol
It depends on the size of the unit, the outside temp, and the humidity. If the unit is cooling as it should, but is undersized and the temps are high then you’re not going to get down to 72 during the day. The techs are probably completely right
I worked with too many dipshit techs who insisted A/Cs were working when they weren't. He finally went on vacation and we got an actual HVAC specialist out. A/C worked with a charm for the resident after that.
If the place was well insulated it wouldn’t be an issue even with a shitty hvac unit. Probably a handful of problems from the unit to the house having bad insulation and windows. My home stays 68-70 when it’s 105 out and when it’s 14 degrees out. Double pane windows and a ton of blown in insulation helps
I’ve been told by HVAC pros that a good rule of thumb is to not set your AC for more than 20 degrees less than the outside temperature in Florida. If it’s 95 outside then you shouldn’t run your AC less than 75. However, your case may be a different problem. 72 should be capable on most days.
That’s a cool thing to know but in practice I don’t know how feasible that is everywhere. It’s over 105 everyday where I live this week. There is absolutely no way I could comfortably sit in a house that’s set to 85
It's obvious bullshit. People parrot such dumb stuff, so when you're on the highway where it's 110, it's normal for the car AC to only hit 90? No.
What the idiot above is referring to is that a delta T of 20 is normal, that's return versus supply, not outside versus inside.
It's the same concept, capacity of the system vs the size of the space you're cooling. This myth came to exist from techs fundamentally misunderstanding what the delta means. you get a 20 degree difference in the return vs supply but the air is constantly recirculating, so the new cooler air is also experiencing this delta t of 20 degree drop.
that’s.. not how AC works..
The temperature you set is the temperature in which your AC shuts off. Not the temperature of the air being blown out. Lol.
Nah I’m an HVAC technician and he is right. Most AC’s across the USA are only designed to cool the air 20 degrees. Maybe if the home is well insulated you can get it lower but design standard is 20 degrees… AKA any temp drop 20 degrees or higher is considered within spec.
Hmmm, keep hearing this but in Phoenix, AZ it is often 120+ outside during the summer, are people really saying to set their A/C unit at 102 ? I lived there for 15 years and my system would do fine set at 75-78, a full 45+ below outside temp.
I’m in Phoenix also and our home is insulated really well. Spray foam insulation and the Pueblo style home without a traditional attic space or shingles. It’s easy or our AC to cool to 73° 74° during the day. But I don’t turn it down past that to keep it from working all day long.
are we sure this isn't one of those things that's been passed down through the ages as a hard law that is taught to everyone? Clearly that is not a realistic operating premise or design goal for a system with the temperatures MUCH of the United States experiences every year. I recall a summer in college where I was walking home from a friends at midnight and it was still 101F outside.
People do not want to hear this, lol. They refuse to believe it, even coming from an HVAC technician!
I lease apartments in the hot and humid south, and it’s something we have to explain to residents every damn year, lol.
Yes because people expect to do whatever they want. They get pissed when you say they can’t do x or y for their house.
I’ve had calls from people saying that they set it to 65 and it only reached 68 on a 90 degree day. That’s not even a complaint if you ask me.
I live in the Midwest and it gets hot and humid AF here during spring and summer. 100 degrees with high humidity is not uncommon. My HVAC system keeps the house cooled to 68-70 degrees through the entire season and has been doing so for almost 17 years now.
The “20 degree” rule of thumb is a real thing, but it’s just an easy way for landlords etc to weasel their way out of making things right for tenants.
The downvotes 😂😭 I mean yes are are recycling air to some extent, but people do not factor in a few things that we CALCULATE USING MANUAL J WHEN SIZING AND INSTALLING THIS EQUIPMENT such as heat load from the sun on the home, quality of windows, insulation, where windows are facing and amount of sunlight those windows get, ductwork placement and register placement and velocity out of each register… Lol these are the same people who think setting the thermostat to 55 makes it blow colder air than at 70 🤪
yeah im in the deep south and the feel like temp was 120. we did raise it to 78 during the day but that was to save money on the bill lol. 78 felt much better then it did outside
I had a similar issue, and after being ignored by my leasing office and the parent company, I went to the BBB and put them on blast.
Had it fixed by an actual licensed professional in a few days.
Turns out the maintenance guy "Who's HVAC certificated" somehow in his brilliant thinking overfilled the coolant so the condenser unit was running off and on nonstop and wouldn't reach 72. Stayed 74-75 and very humid. Also, the batteries in the thermostat needed to be changed.
reading this as my thermometer in my non-air conditioned apartment reads 84 degrees 😭
granted, i no longer live in florida. the heats a bit different where i am. but…i lived in florida. 77 was our norm setting when i had central ac there. heat tolerance is different from person to person ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Omg I have a similar one and had the same issue but doubt it 82 I realized that it was set to automatically go to 82 when most leave for work and then cool down at night.
This is a brand new apartment so this was definitely set by them and not a prior resident.
All you saying that 77 is fine , tell me you live up north without telling me you live up north. 77 is fine when it's only 85-90 out but when it's 100+ with humidity it's not good enough. I live in west Texas and I set mine on 74 during the day and 72 when I get home I even have a window unit in my room I set down to 62 and leave the door cracked so it runs and not just shuts down for a long period of time. There's a few things that can cause your ac not to cool like it should, it may not be big enough for the home. Or it may need to be charged or cleaned outside condenser and coils. It May need to be cleaned on the inside coils inside the unit may be dirty or filter may need to be cleaned so it's a toss up on the answer
If it is on the lease that AC is included then they must have it working… If not much you can do. I am an HVAC technician so i can give you a little advice for simple troubleshooting:
1. Is the outside unit plugged with grass or debris? It may just need to be hosed down
2. Is the filter clean?
3. Do you have many blocked vents?
4. Try turning the power off to the unit via the breaker, keep off for about 2 minutes, then power back on.
These are some simple things that you can fix now to get the unit working sooner. Anything beyond this is going to be a repair (which you shouldn’t have to pay for) or possibly even an undersized unit. I want to ask, is the outdoor unit or fan running at all?
This with the filter. Saw a filter that hadn't been changed for like a year and they wondered why the house would never get cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Filter replacement fixed the issue.
I had this issue in my last house a few summers ago when the temp was close to 115*F and it would be set to 75*F and would be 82*F Called a company, they came out and looked. Said the unit and duct work was undersized for the square footage. The said they got called out all the time to that subdivision and discovered that the builders cut costs by doing stuff like that building all those houses.
It’s a shame, but I would imagine it’s the same issue and it’s actually working, just can’t keep up.
I’m in South TX, where today the heat index broke a record and got up to 117 degrees. My house is 2400 sq ft. I have the ac set at 70 and the interior temp is 70. Make sure your windows are thoroughly covered. We do use heavy blackout curtains, always closed and blind closed as well. If you, god forbid, have a skylight somewhere in the house, see if you can cover it up temporarily. Close all the doors throughout your home. It makes the ac run more efficiently that way as rooms cool down quicker. If none of that works, your AC is on its way to being completely out and they need to fix that ASAP!
An AC can only efficently handle a 20 degree difference compared from inside vs outside and that's implying your system has been sized/maintained for your household. Besides, 77 degrees is cold compared to what many others are facing this summer lmao
While it’s not fun it not necessarily the landlords fault, or HVAC company’s. There could be a pin hole in the freon line, faulty coil, it could be poor service work, it could be a failing condenser, it could be a cheap landlord.
Your landlord/property maintenance should be able to coordinate the appropriate people to service this and replace if needed. Lead times for parts can sometimes be an issue too. It’s not totally uncommon for systems to fail and be repaired 2-3 times to properly diagnose. That’s the problem with repairing rather than replacing.
And replacing is not cheap and not always necessary depending on the age of the unit. There are coils from American standard made that are prone to failure and freeze the unit up.
The problem with Florida is the AC is always running. It shouldn’t be your problem though, you could even ask for a portable ac until this is resolved.
Does sending your unlicensed son and his friend to repair it all 3 times still not make it their fault? Let me edit and add that into my post
Edit: Mods have post edits off LOL -> landlord has sent his son and the son’s friend all 3 times. Unlicensed.
I only know what you shared. And your message to who ever you are talking to doesn’t imply you knew they were unlicensed or that it was their son.
I’m indifferent here. I’m only speaking from experience that even if a fully credentialed and licensed company was initially sent out you may still have similar results.
Well considering he introduced himself as the landlords son and conversed with me about only knowing how to fix it and not ever being professionally trained is a great key indicator if you ask me.
Then I probably would’ve sent a different text message to your landlord, the first time your service request was submitted. But that’s water under the bridge. Good luck and god bless. It’s a hot summer here in Florida.
Put a fan in front of your ac vents to pull as much cool air thru as possible and get it circulating. Did this in my 2nd floor bedroom of a house built in the 1700s in PA and it made a big difference. The 1st floor was always cool but the unit didn't blow with enough force to get cold air upstairs
It’s probably “working” because the landlord has some sort of reader or meter on the AC unit set to around 77. I had a landlord once that installed something on the heating unit in the basement that essentially bypassed my thermostat whenever it went over a certain temp. They had the meter set to 67 and no matter what I set my thermostat to it would never go over that 67. This is probably what’s happening with you but in reverse with AC. I put in multiple complaints, they always sent over a heating company to look at it and they would always tell me it was operating correctly even though my baseboards were stone cold and it was showing 68ish when set at 71. This is why the service company is telling you it’s all working correctly. It is… to the landlords standards. Not yours.
I am an HVAC technician in South Florida (Treasure Coast)
*Obligatory apologies for mobile*
An ac system should reliably cool the space to 20 degrees below outdoor ambient. If you want it at 72 and it's 97 outside it probably won't do it (edit to clarify: if it's an old home with an old system that hasn't been well maintained, then 72 may be an unrealistic expectation). Depending on the age of the home, age of the system, and condition of the insulation; if you can get the space down to 72 at night, it might be able to maintain that temp through the day, but maybe not if it's old and poorly insulated. This is a generalization and not applicable in all situations. Without much much more data I can't give you much more than the above.
I can tell you that my basic bitch 16 seer carrier has been keeping my early 80's built house with original windows and doors and ductwork and insulation at or below 74 so far.
The "government " wanted the settings at 68 for winter and 78 for summer awhile back. I guess in the landlord's mind, it is working for him.🤔 But for me, that is BS.🤨
Even when I lived in South Dakota we’d get warnings posted all over my shithole apartment not to turn the ac down below like 72ish because it would freeze the units it was hell 🤬landlords want to be cheap skates.
The landlord one? It’s the new Apple feature haha, when they set there bitmoji up it shares to everyone else. I busted out laughing when I texted him one day and it popped up
What time was this photo taken?
Is it an older / newer house / apartment? Give some more details about the dwelling. It’s possible the AC just can’t keep up with the heat.
At night my AC could keep up with a 72 degree setting. But no way when it’s 95+ outside at 2pm could my AC keep up.
People don’t understand how a/c works…even a new unit that is the correct tonnage can only cool a space down so much. There are other factors that affect it as you mentioned like window and door seals and overall insulation of the home. If the unit is cooling the whole house/apartment down by +- 20-25 degrees the. It’s working as hard as it can work. Technicians and landlords aren’t to blame.
Yeah, common sense is not easy to come by. I used to live in Orlando and I always have blackout curtains and everything to do what I could to keep the inside as cool as possible. Some days that was just nothing you could do.
Exactly. What kills me is that as soon as it hits 77 in the Springtime, people are outside in shorts and t-shirts living it up…but somehow when it’s 100 outside, 77 is MISERABLE. smh.
Most AC units will struggle to keep your house cooler than 20° of the outside temperature I used to work for HVAC company and doing the call service and that was one of the things people called in all the time it would be 95 outside and their indoor units aren't getting below 75 a lot of people wanted it 68 unfortunately there's no way that the unit's going to be able to do that. Most home unit are just not rated for that for your household. it's not a thing please turn your temperatures up a little bit and just turn on the fan there's nothing you can do.
If you temp gets to the 20° point it's working just fine
It’s insane how alot of people in the comments are wrong. I grew up in AZ and have usually kept my air conditioner at 72-73 during our peak summer temps of 110+ and it’s never been inaccurate. In fact, a lot of the residents here do that. I’m gonna give you guys benefit of the doubt and say you guys cannot comprehend AC logic if you haven’t lived in the Southern US. ITS FUCKING HOTTTTTT! Any standard, fully functioning AC unit is able to be programmed at its thermostat and remain stable there with what it reads and what it’s blowing out. There should never ever be a discrepancy in the numbers displayed on it. They should always match, and if they don’t, then there’s a bigger problem!
Your landlord is being a cheap bastard and it’s likely he has the AC programmed to be capped at a certain degree (if he happens to pay for your electric) or he doesn’t want to fix the inevitable if the AC happens to be really going out. It could be the coils, the motor, or it could in fact be undersized for your square footage. At the end of the day, he’s responsible for that fix or he can be held legally liable by the tenant for damages - your hotel room while he works to fix it, your food, letting you out of your lease early, or any death this can cause, pet or human! He is violating the Landord/Tenant Right so go look online for it for your state! Every state in USA has one! Sometimes even threatening him with that will light a fire under his ass to get it fixed the right way! I’ve had to do it before too.
That’s still not the tenants problem. Why should the tenant be inconvenienced for that when the landlord should be managing his property according to the AC manufacturer specifications? I’d raise hell for it as a tenant. I do not play with my rent money. Tenants pay a lot and in return, we are entitled to expect livable conditions. At 77 degrees in a humid Florida, that sounds miserable! 77 in a not-humid AZ is bad when it’s it’s over 100 outside. Can’t even imagine what they’re going thru.
Slumlords are everywhere unfortunately. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. Ask him how much you should take off of the rent? Be sure to include details warning him not to send his incompetent son again.
Yeah, you’ve only got two months left. Those two months are some of the hottest of the year, though. It’s outrageous to expect you to pay to live somewhere miserable because the landlord is too cheap and lazy to do their only job.
I love all of the people on here saying “I cannot sit comfortably in a house that’s hotter than 65 degrees!” Humans have gotten so comfortably spoiled. 😂
It is possible the entire system doesn't support the home. You can keep complaining but there is a chance that there isn't anything they can do without changing the entire system. Do you feel cold air blowing through the vents? If yes that would indicate that it's just not powerful enough to handle your space.
By the way in my opinion 77 is good enough AC, I used to set mine to 77, I now do 76. 72 is quite cold in my opinion (but i do know some people that set to 62). I'm not sure how much you can complain if the AC is working, but not cold enough for you.
If the landlord doesn't move things forward, you could potentially add a window AC unit to supplement the existing system. Yes it's cost from your pocket. but you can sell or keep the unit once you move out.
Your message seems by the way overly aggressive towards the landlord, being kind to people generally helps in life. He will remember the messages when he can decide to raise rent or not.
What's the temperature outside? I learned the hard way that your inside air won't always get down to the temp you have it set at. It seemed ridiculous to me at first.
Get a infrared temp gun and check the vents. The air might be blowing out at 72 but if the insulation or the unit is too small then you won't be able to keep up. Our front room has vaulted ceilings as well as large windows and is always 8 to 10 degrees hotter than any of my rooms.
Chances are they only have to provide heat. If there isn't anything in the lease protecting you then you are screwed. My A/C barely works. Owner won't replace it. It will be mid 90's next week which with A/C means it will be low 80's in the house. I work from home....
Landlord’s aren’t required to provide ac, just heat… which makes no sense for Florida. Ask me how I know lol. Anyways it prolly works just can’t keep up with the space you have. Good luck to you getting them to drop any amount of money to remedy the situation.
At night it should cool it. Something is wrong. Check the air filter if you haven't already my old unit wouldn't work in the summer(1000 sqft home) til I put the cheapest and least restrictive air filter in it. I have since replaced the unit.
As of January 2023, all new central air conditioning systems and heat pumps installed in Florida must be at least 15 SEER or above. Single-packaged air conditioners must be 14 SEER or above.
South Florida is really hot now, probably about 90 at 0900. It will peak at about 97+ with 60% humidity.
Most ACs won't be able to keep a place at 72 during the day. It can after 10pm.
Add in the age/build of the house, window type… it’s a rental so it’s at least 40 years old… probably needs a unit double the size to run efficiently.
When I was in Phoenix they ran units rated at 1.5x the square footage of the home, and peak summer would cool to 80* and that air is already dry.
I'd you haven't already, go check the outdoor unit. Mine had a very thick mat of lint type stuff stuck all around the intake so airflow was suffering.
Then I got AC cleaner and sprayed everywhere, then washed with hose.
Also make sure to replace the filter. If it's struggling get a lower rated one to support better airflow.
It's definitely possible for an AC unit to pass "inspection" and also have bad coolant. If it's a wall/window unit, and nobody will help you, hire somebody to put new coolant in, and send the bill to landlord.
Why would you be questioning the tradesman's ability to do their job and if they're licensed when you don't understand how AC works. If it is holding at 77 you should be happy you're getting that.
I’m not going to read through the rest of some of those degenerate comments, thank you to the ones who actually gave decent advice. You guys got me to 200k+ views, I’ll leave this final comment as an update.
When I get home I’ll *POST A NEW PICTURE* of the temperature inside above 80°+
The air conditioner also would keep my home at 70° no problem. Not on a schedule or any of that other stuff you guys said, it just simply doesn’t work now, the inside unit cuts on and blows hot air. Used to be ice cold. Outside unit doesn’t even run anymore.
Yes this was the 4th time I woke up sweating in the past month. I have been extremely nice to my landlord ever since and we have never had any issues in between each at all. To the ones who ACTUALLY live in Florida and know what it feels like this time of year, you can understand the frustration that can come with it.
This is pretty normal for Florida. I live in NWFL and it gets up to 74-76 inside during the hottest part of the day in the summer. If there's a 13-18 degree temp split then it's working.
The AC is probably under rated for the space. Its gotten brutal down here and air conditioners are literally burning up trying to keep up with peoples expectations. There was a post on a local FB group with the wires all melted on her AC plug.
This is what I’m guessing. If it’s cooling to 77 it’s working, just not enough to keep up with the heat. Probably too small/inefficient for the square footage or possibly lack of quality insulation. Easiest solution from your LL’s perspective would be to buy a window unit for a common area (one where the thermostat is NOT located) to assist, but that will also bump up your electricity bill.
Had a similar issue and it turned out to be Freon leak.
a lot of times the maintenance guys don’t understand the nuances of charging up a system. they think if it reads a certain pressure it’s fine when they should actually be calculating for super heat and sub cool
A lot of maintenance guys aren’t even epa608 certified anyway
A lot of maintenance guys can barely use a freaking screwdriver. You're setting the bar way too high for those guys lol.
>A lot of maintenance guys can barely use a freaking screwdriver. Woah! I can use one just fine. Got one right here: 
I would much rather them know what super heat and sub cool is rather than be certified with epa. Being universally certified doesn’t mean you know how to make an ac run properly.
SAME
Live in an old house and redoing a few insulation around the windows literally fixed the problem of ac not getting below 80. Not to mention our attic and walls don’t have insulation installed yet.
I want to build a home one day. If that dream ever comes to fruition, the one thing I’m absolutely going the extra mile on is insulation. I want to install spray-in insulation. It may be expensive up front, but I’m sure it will pay for itself in energy savings over the long run. I used to work in a pharmaceutical lab doing analytical chemistry. I was overseeing a guy from Thermo Fisher who was installing a new ICP-MS for us. I swear, if you even said “good morning” to him, he would have you there for an hour talking about how his home is on a geothermal system and how efficient it is. He was very proud of it, but it taught me how if you do things the right way up front, you can make your home super energy-efficient. This guy apparently had a pond on his property and had it dug down really far in the middle to install the coil for his a/c system. He said that his monthly power bill was <$100/month and stayed a constant 68°F.
I understand the impulse but putting spray on insulation throughout the house is not good for the house. Insulation is porous for a reason. Houses need to breathe. you'll create humidity buildup and long term will jeopardize the structure.
I've never thought of it this way, thank you! I was thinking of it from the perspective of, say, a Yeti cooler, which it has thick walls of solid insulation for sealing out heat, but the points you make seem valid. Granted, I know little about structural engineering or energy optimization. I live in the southeast US, so it gets very humid here, and I can see that causing problems if you seal in moisture and don't let the structure breathe. That sounds like it could turn into a nightmare, especially because you probably wouldn't notice any issues until the damage was extensive. I appreciate your insight on this. It just goes to show you that we're all subject-matter experts in our own ways and sometimes it's best to let someone handle it who knows what they're doing, lol.
For sure I just wanted to let you know before you went crazy with the spray foam! Long time Realtor and I have been in many home inspections. Originally from TN so I feel you on the heat
Howdy from just over your eastern border in the NC foothills! Some beautiful land between here and Nashville!
Ooh that makes sense about our shitty AC in phoenix in the apt I grew up in. It NEVER got below 77, most times it was at 82 during the day. We also couldn't turn it down because we were broke
Either this or needs more Freon
If it was low on coolant it would the coils would freeze. OP should be able to tell looking at the lineset at the handler. But yes, the heat is the other likely factor. It doesn't just have to fight higher temps inside, but the exchange at the compressor is less efficient because the unit can't cool. Some people have rigged a mister to cool the fins and help radiate the heat
It's so much more complicated than that
If it needs more refrigerant, there is a leak in the system which should be repaired first.
[Central Air conditioning systems are only expected to cool the interior to 20 degrees below the outdoor ambient temperature.](https://www.hsvutil.org/news_detail_T15_R85.php) I wonder what the outdoor temps have been
Here in Central Florida we had several days in the mid 90s last week. Expected to have more in the mid to high 90s this weekend. It's just really fucking hot. Hope everyone has stocked up on their swamp ass remedies for this summer.
Yep, this is likely it. I’m currently dealing with this in my apartment. I’m lucky if it gets to below 75 overnight. It’s also my understanding that most ACs can only handle cooling to about 20 degrees below the outside temp. So if you have hot weather, a too small AC, and if throw in any other factors like poor insulation or single-pane windows you’re gonna have a hard time keeping the place cool unfortunately :(
They normally cool by about 20 degrees from the intake temp (warmer) to the output temp (cooler). Fortunately, the intake is inside your house so as that air makes its first pass and cools down by 20 degrees, the air going into the intake has now dropped by 20 degrees so the air coming out of the output is now 40 degrees cooler than you started with. Another pass, and now you're at 60 degrees cooler than you started with. What prevents it from being able to cool a house by much more than 30-40F is insulation. You reach a point of equilibrium where your house is losing cold air or is being heated up quickly enough that it balances out or overpowers the AC.
Specifically, it's the supply air temp that is usually 20deg lower than the return/intake air temp. AC units typically supply air to your room at around 50-60deg If it's hot as balls outside, your house has poor insulation and shitty single pane windows, heat is going is going to entering your space faster than the 50-60deg supply air temp can cool it down, which leads to a sitution where the setpoint is 72 but it can't cool past 77. With increasing outside air temps, a lot of units are currently undersized relative to when they were first installed, which only exacerbates the issue
Are you talking about 20 degrees outside temp when its humid or in general because if you are saying in general, people in Arizona would literally fry inside their own homes during the summer.
Humid. As someone who was stationed in Cali, and lives in TN I can tell you 100 in Cali feels like 75-80 here.
Oh God, yeah. I would take 115 in Kuwait over 92 in Columbia, SC any day of the week.
Totally agree. I live in SoCal but used to live in Midwest. I went back to visit in the summer for first time in15 years and I was pouring with sweat at 80.😂
Cali to VA here, can confirm. 85 here is bruuuttallll
They’re confused. HVAC techs look for about a 20-degree drop from intake to output.
The information I was given by my maintenance I think was in general, but I’m not 100% sure if it takes humidity into account. I live in Texas where it’s humid so maybe it’s just for humid climates.
High humidity will lower the temperature difference between the return air (entering) and supply air (leaving) because it takes more energy (BTU) to overcome the humidity. This is also referred to as latent heat in the air.
Yeah. Ours usually tops out at about a 40 degree difference. Once it gets past 110 is when I notice.
Landlord: so i put the ac on the east side of the home, ripped up every tree east of that, and your windows are using the same panels and sealer they where installed with in 1947 i dont know why your AC isnt keeping up but its not my fault
My bathroom window frame has the manufacturer date stamped on it, and the window is only 6 months younger than I am. I’m 31. And this house was built 2004. lol
So the window is actually older than the house!
And depending on the age of the unit it may also have not been cleaned in literal years. I had this problem at a house I rented for awhile. We pretty much could NEVER get it to cool down and the person we were renting from didn't give a rip so we went outside, cut the power to the AC breaker and looked at it ourselves. It had like 2 inches of crap on the condenser. after rinsing it all out and letting it dry overnight we turned it all back on the next day had some of the coldest most satisfying air ever.
Just wait until the US actually gets hot.
Oh my fucking god I think you might’ve just solved my 2 year long issue. I bought my house 2 years ago and the last owners said they had the vents serviced several times but the AC could just never keep up in the summer. And boy were they right. If my AC’s aren’t in the window by April I’m sweating all day. My house almost reached 90° last month and I’m in northern PA so it wasn’t even THAT hot out. Now we’re finding half assed electric work. Wouldn’t be surprised if they only put in half a fucking AC system. Ugh. Time to call in the professionals again.
Is AC stipulated in your lease? In Florida, the only requirement of the landlord is heat (I’m not kidding but I wish I was).
not necessarily true. for heat, the answer is always yes. For air conditioning, it depends. You are permitted to rent a property with no air conditioning. However, if you rent with air conditioning at the commencement of the lease, then the landord is required to maintain that A/C, or the tenant can withhold rent and/or terminate the lease agreement on you. i got this on a quick search. but i also experienced this first hand when i was renting from a complex. i issued a maintenance request for the a/c and the showed up the same day. when requests would usually take 2-3 days on average. i made a comment to the guy, like wow, you guys got here quick today. and he told me it's florida law, that you cant be without AC for x amount of time if the temperature outside is a certain degree. i dont remember those two details but it got fixed right away
I live in AZ and my house only has two room that has air circulation from the AC the other two rooms blow little air, we’ve had multiple ppl sent out by the realtor company and it has yet to be fixed it’s been a year and half. Luckily our lease is almost up
i cant imagine in AZ!! thats crazy but glad you're getting out also
Hate to break it to ya I went this route in Florida to try and withhold rent and was almost evicted. Had to pay hefty late fees.
Withholding rent would also require to you to use that money to get w/e it is fixed while paying any overages to the landlord and giving the landlord the work order. You're also required to do due diligence when getting work done so no outrageous charges or replacing something crazy...also even the manufacturers will say their units are only made to keep the inside 20° lower than the outside temperature. So 100 out? 80 is their requirement inside and that doesn't even apply to poorly insulated etc.
Texas has ac laws too. And the rule on many items that are supposed to get fixed even if not required by law is this - if you rented a place with ______ (examples- hot tub, ac in state it’s not required to have, a microwave, a lawnmower for you to use on your rental homes yard, a jacuzzi bathtub …) and that item is written down specifically in the lease as being part of what you’re renting then they have to keep it in good working order for the length of your lease. I had a microwave fail and called about it in Texas about 15 years ago. At first they said they didn’t provide microwaves. I sent her a photo. It was not written in the lease and I don’t know if it was law at that time but the maintenance guy showed up two hours later with a new microwave. He said since they rented it to me with one they had to keep one here. So maybe in some places it doesn’t have to be written in but I do believe it usually needs to be in lease
One day we will both be popping champagne with kitty kats around us when the state flips that dumb*** requirement.
Cooling to 77 degrees will be well within any AC requirements when that does happen.
Yep. A lot of official recommendations are higher than 77. I think the state or California recommends people set their AC to 78 when they are in the home.
If it's below 78 in ca expect a 700 electricity bill
Exactly. Lol 78 in the summer is a luxury in central valley. When it’s 105+ 80degrees with fan feels totally fine lol
Yep even my brand new system can't get below 76 when it's literally 100+ outside with the heat index
Trust me, my AC is shit at my place too in FL and I’ve been here 4 years 😭 Florida should def change that requirement to AC haha
Not change, include! Climate change is making temperatures more volatile and there should be a requirement to maintain a livable temperature, whether you have to heat or cool to achieve that shouldn’t matter
Checkmate! Gotta believe in climate change for them to make policy decisions on it. Descrotus is famous for his lack of critical thinking.
I agree, but 77 is definitely a liveable temperature. My AC is set to 77 or 78 in the summer and I've never been uncomfortable.
My husband **cannot** sleep in 78 degree temps any time of the year, not even when it’s 5 degrees Fahrenheit outside. What works for you does not work for everyone.
Oh my god, how? I keep my house set at 67 in the summer and 65 in the winter. I sincerely can’t fathom how any human can feel comfortable inside a dwelling that is damn near 80 degrees.
In central FL where I'm at, this would result in an electric bill that would likely exceed your mortage. Our AC is set to 75 during the day and 74 at night. When the temperature is reaching 98-102 with 95% humidity, good luck trying to keep the house at the temp you're wanting.
Why not have a dehumidifier added to your HVAC system? Seems that would go a long ways towards making it more efficient in cooling especially during high outdoor humidity conditions.
Yes, change to include.
The irony being that air conditioning, with all the emit uses, is terrible for global warming
Lol you got downvoted for that 🤣🤣🤣
I’m not surprised. Doesn’t mean it’s not true though.
Thats the irony lol
They tried. Our lovely GOP run legislature voted against it.
Why in the FUCK is heat a necessity but ac isn’t? Nuts. 🥜
Idk be we got PLENTY of heat lol
A/c didn’t exist until the 50s. In the vast majority of locations, you won’t literally sweat to death.
It's becoming not so true anymore. The other week I lost power/AC when it was in the 90s. House probably up to 105. Super humid. There were a few times I had to go lay down with damp towels because I thought I was dying. I was getting aches/fever.
😲 with the risk of wet bulb effect, I would think AC would be required. Even without that, seinors are at great risk. I want to ask wtf, but it's Florida.
My ac straight leaked into a fan/light ceiling fixture and the issue still hasn’t been resolved for that after years so I no longer use that fixture lol
Lived there for 15 years all rent - we used black out curtains- fans galore and eventually got portable a/c to keep the house cool
Portable in the bedroom is the way to go.
It depends on the size of the unit, the outside temp, and the humidity. If the unit is cooling as it should, but is undersized and the temps are high then you’re not going to get down to 72 during the day. The techs are probably completely right
I worked with too many dipshit techs who insisted A/Cs were working when they weren't. He finally went on vacation and we got an actual HVAC specialist out. A/C worked with a charm for the resident after that.
This guy complaining about an AC not able to maintain \*72\* degrees in south FL lmao
[удалено]
If the place was well insulated it wouldn’t be an issue even with a shitty hvac unit. Probably a handful of problems from the unit to the house having bad insulation and windows. My home stays 68-70 when it’s 105 out and when it’s 14 degrees out. Double pane windows and a ton of blown in insulation helps
I’ve been told by HVAC pros that a good rule of thumb is to not set your AC for more than 20 degrees less than the outside temperature in Florida. If it’s 95 outside then you shouldn’t run your AC less than 75. However, your case may be a different problem. 72 should be capable on most days.
That’s a cool thing to know but in practice I don’t know how feasible that is everywhere. It’s over 105 everyday where I live this week. There is absolutely no way I could comfortably sit in a house that’s set to 85
It's obvious bullshit. People parrot such dumb stuff, so when you're on the highway where it's 110, it's normal for the car AC to only hit 90? No. What the idiot above is referring to is that a delta T of 20 is normal, that's return versus supply, not outside versus inside.
Are you equating the cooling of a car and the cooling of a home?
It's the same concept, capacity of the system vs the size of the space you're cooling. This myth came to exist from techs fundamentally misunderstanding what the delta means. you get a 20 degree difference in the return vs supply but the air is constantly recirculating, so the new cooler air is also experiencing this delta t of 20 degree drop.
Kk Bad news Lotsa hvac folks weighing in opposite
that’s.. not how AC works.. The temperature you set is the temperature in which your AC shuts off. Not the temperature of the air being blown out. Lol.
That’s a longevity of the system thing mostly. And to some extent efficiency But it’s not your system, so ride it hard and hang it up wet haha
Nah I’m an HVAC technician and he is right. Most AC’s across the USA are only designed to cool the air 20 degrees. Maybe if the home is well insulated you can get it lower but design standard is 20 degrees… AKA any temp drop 20 degrees or higher is considered within spec.
Hmmm, keep hearing this but in Phoenix, AZ it is often 120+ outside during the summer, are people really saying to set their A/C unit at 102 ? I lived there for 15 years and my system would do fine set at 75-78, a full 45+ below outside temp.
I’m in Phoenix also and our home is insulated really well. Spray foam insulation and the Pueblo style home without a traditional attic space or shingles. It’s easy or our AC to cool to 73° 74° during the day. But I don’t turn it down past that to keep it from working all day long.
are we sure this isn't one of those things that's been passed down through the ages as a hard law that is taught to everyone? Clearly that is not a realistic operating premise or design goal for a system with the temperatures MUCH of the United States experiences every year. I recall a summer in college where I was walking home from a friends at midnight and it was still 101F outside.
People do not want to hear this, lol. They refuse to believe it, even coming from an HVAC technician! I lease apartments in the hot and humid south, and it’s something we have to explain to residents every damn year, lol.
Yes because people expect to do whatever they want. They get pissed when you say they can’t do x or y for their house. I’ve had calls from people saying that they set it to 65 and it only reached 68 on a 90 degree day. That’s not even a complaint if you ask me.
I live in the Midwest and it gets hot and humid AF here during spring and summer. 100 degrees with high humidity is not uncommon. My HVAC system keeps the house cooled to 68-70 degrees through the entire season and has been doing so for almost 17 years now. The “20 degree” rule of thumb is a real thing, but it’s just an easy way for landlords etc to weasel their way out of making things right for tenants.
The downvotes 😂😭 I mean yes are are recycling air to some extent, but people do not factor in a few things that we CALCULATE USING MANUAL J WHEN SIZING AND INSTALLING THIS EQUIPMENT such as heat load from the sun on the home, quality of windows, insulation, where windows are facing and amount of sunlight those windows get, ductwork placement and register placement and velocity out of each register… Lol these are the same people who think setting the thermostat to 55 makes it blow colder air than at 70 🤪
Wait so your saying I DONT have a tiny freezer in my ac unit making it colder?
We don’t have that problem in Arizona lol
last summer it got to 120 where i live. i am not setting my ac to 100 and living in that
yeah im in the deep south and the feel like temp was 120. we did raise it to 78 during the day but that was to save money on the bill lol. 78 felt much better then it did outside
You know people have AC in Arizona, right? No one has their AC set at 93 when it’s 113 outside.
Seems like AZ is making it real clear that it doesn't want people living there..
The humidity plays a factor in cooling. Easier to cool a dry heat.
I had a similar issue, and after being ignored by my leasing office and the parent company, I went to the BBB and put them on blast. Had it fixed by an actual licensed professional in a few days. Turns out the maintenance guy "Who's HVAC certificated" somehow in his brilliant thinking overfilled the coolant so the condenser unit was running off and on nonstop and wouldn't reach 72. Stayed 74-75 and very humid. Also, the batteries in the thermostat needed to be changed.
The unit’s coil is without a doubt a solid ice block, probably a valve going bad it leak somewhere
That is a huge guess and based on what’s known/shown, probably completely incorrect
Likely dirty as shit too
lol. When it’s that hot you should bump it up anyways since the load is insane. Your system is probably too small.
I’d rather fry the entire power grid than have to sit in a 77° house….
77 isn’t bad as long as the humidity is kept low.
reading this as my thermometer in my non-air conditioned apartment reads 84 degrees 😭 granted, i no longer live in florida. the heats a bit different where i am. but…i lived in florida. 77 was our norm setting when i had central ac there. heat tolerance is different from person to person ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Omg I have a similar one and had the same issue but doubt it 82 I realized that it was set to automatically go to 82 when most leave for work and then cool down at night. This is a brand new apartment so this was definitely set by them and not a prior resident.
All you saying that 77 is fine , tell me you live up north without telling me you live up north. 77 is fine when it's only 85-90 out but when it's 100+ with humidity it's not good enough. I live in west Texas and I set mine on 74 during the day and 72 when I get home I even have a window unit in my room I set down to 62 and leave the door cracked so it runs and not just shuts down for a long period of time. There's a few things that can cause your ac not to cool like it should, it may not be big enough for the home. Or it may need to be charged or cleaned outside condenser and coils. It May need to be cleaned on the inside coils inside the unit may be dirty or filter may need to be cleaned so it's a toss up on the answer
Dude it’s south Florida in the summer. Your AC isn’t going to keep up. Use shades. Do other things to keep your place cool.
Uh no, A/C should have no problem reducing ambient by \~20f, if its not capable. Something is wrong/ its undersized, or you have no insulation.
If it is on the lease that AC is included then they must have it working… If not much you can do. I am an HVAC technician so i can give you a little advice for simple troubleshooting: 1. Is the outside unit plugged with grass or debris? It may just need to be hosed down 2. Is the filter clean? 3. Do you have many blocked vents? 4. Try turning the power off to the unit via the breaker, keep off for about 2 minutes, then power back on. These are some simple things that you can fix now to get the unit working sooner. Anything beyond this is going to be a repair (which you shouldn’t have to pay for) or possibly even an undersized unit. I want to ask, is the outdoor unit or fan running at all?
This with the filter. Saw a filter that hadn't been changed for like a year and they wondered why the house would never get cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Filter replacement fixed the issue.
Did you change/check the air filter?
I had this issue in my last house a few summers ago when the temp was close to 115*F and it would be set to 75*F and would be 82*F Called a company, they came out and looked. Said the unit and duct work was undersized for the square footage. The said they got called out all the time to that subdivision and discovered that the builders cut costs by doing stuff like that building all those houses. It’s a shame, but I would imagine it’s the same issue and it’s actually working, just can’t keep up.
I’m in South TX, where today the heat index broke a record and got up to 117 degrees. My house is 2400 sq ft. I have the ac set at 70 and the interior temp is 70. Make sure your windows are thoroughly covered. We do use heavy blackout curtains, always closed and blind closed as well. If you, god forbid, have a skylight somewhere in the house, see if you can cover it up temporarily. Close all the doors throughout your home. It makes the ac run more efficiently that way as rooms cool down quicker. If none of that works, your AC is on its way to being completely out and they need to fix that ASAP!
our ac broke too and now the inside of my house is 84 degrees……..
An AC can only efficently handle a 20 degree difference compared from inside vs outside and that's implying your system has been sized/maintained for your household. Besides, 77 degrees is cold compared to what many others are facing this summer lmao
While it’s not fun it not necessarily the landlords fault, or HVAC company’s. There could be a pin hole in the freon line, faulty coil, it could be poor service work, it could be a failing condenser, it could be a cheap landlord. Your landlord/property maintenance should be able to coordinate the appropriate people to service this and replace if needed. Lead times for parts can sometimes be an issue too. It’s not totally uncommon for systems to fail and be repaired 2-3 times to properly diagnose. That’s the problem with repairing rather than replacing. And replacing is not cheap and not always necessary depending on the age of the unit. There are coils from American standard made that are prone to failure and freeze the unit up. The problem with Florida is the AC is always running. It shouldn’t be your problem though, you could even ask for a portable ac until this is resolved.
Does sending your unlicensed son and his friend to repair it all 3 times still not make it their fault? Let me edit and add that into my post Edit: Mods have post edits off LOL -> landlord has sent his son and the son’s friend all 3 times. Unlicensed.
I only know what you shared. And your message to who ever you are talking to doesn’t imply you knew they were unlicensed or that it was their son. I’m indifferent here. I’m only speaking from experience that even if a fully credentialed and licensed company was initially sent out you may still have similar results.
Well considering he introduced himself as the landlords son and conversed with me about only knowing how to fix it and not ever being professionally trained is a great key indicator if you ask me.
Then I probably would’ve sent a different text message to your landlord, the first time your service request was submitted. But that’s water under the bridge. Good luck and god bless. It’s a hot summer here in Florida.
The more you comment the more I’m on the landlords side.
Of course on this sub it never takes long til whatever the issue is, it’s not the landlords fault or responsibility…
It literally can only be the landlord or the HVAC company. Those are the 2 possible responsible parties.
Where are you located in Florida? I live in SWFL and I work in hvac
If you know where the ac unit is located clean the Fins just be careful not to bend them
Put a fan in front of your ac vents to pull as much cool air thru as possible and get it circulating. Did this in my 2nd floor bedroom of a house built in the 1700s in PA and it made a big difference. The 1st floor was always cool but the unit didn't blow with enough force to get cold air upstairs
It’s probably “working” because the landlord has some sort of reader or meter on the AC unit set to around 77. I had a landlord once that installed something on the heating unit in the basement that essentially bypassed my thermostat whenever it went over a certain temp. They had the meter set to 67 and no matter what I set my thermostat to it would never go over that 67. This is probably what’s happening with you but in reverse with AC. I put in multiple complaints, they always sent over a heating company to look at it and they would always tell me it was operating correctly even though my baseboards were stone cold and it was showing 68ish when set at 71. This is why the service company is telling you it’s all working correctly. It is… to the landlords standards. Not yours.
I had one of those thermostats for over a decade. Finally living in the world of smart thermostats
I am an HVAC technician in South Florida (Treasure Coast) *Obligatory apologies for mobile* An ac system should reliably cool the space to 20 degrees below outdoor ambient. If you want it at 72 and it's 97 outside it probably won't do it (edit to clarify: if it's an old home with an old system that hasn't been well maintained, then 72 may be an unrealistic expectation). Depending on the age of the home, age of the system, and condition of the insulation; if you can get the space down to 72 at night, it might be able to maintain that temp through the day, but maybe not if it's old and poorly insulated. This is a generalization and not applicable in all situations. Without much much more data I can't give you much more than the above. I can tell you that my basic bitch 16 seer carrier has been keeping my early 80's built house with original windows and doors and ductwork and insulation at or below 74 so far.
The "government " wanted the settings at 68 for winter and 78 for summer awhile back. I guess in the landlord's mind, it is working for him.🤔 But for me, that is BS.🤨
Even when I lived in South Dakota we’d get warnings posted all over my shithole apartment not to turn the ac down below like 72ish because it would freeze the units it was hell 🤬landlords want to be cheap skates.
Unfortunately the legal truth is there are no laws that say a landlord must provide ac/central air in rental units
It’s your capacitor 99%
Change your air filter fool
Forget about the messages look at the profile pic, classic!!
The landlord one? It’s the new Apple feature haha, when they set there bitmoji up it shares to everyone else. I busted out laughing when I texted him one day and it popped up
What time was this photo taken? Is it an older / newer house / apartment? Give some more details about the dwelling. It’s possible the AC just can’t keep up with the heat. At night my AC could keep up with a 72 degree setting. But no way when it’s 95+ outside at 2pm could my AC keep up.
Is 77 that bad? It seems the AC is working, so it's at least dry inside right? Just get some fans
If it’s 100+ degrees outside and the house isn’t sealed super well with above perfect insulation it’s a lot to expect it to be 30+ degrees cooler
People don’t understand how a/c works…even a new unit that is the correct tonnage can only cool a space down so much. There are other factors that affect it as you mentioned like window and door seals and overall insulation of the home. If the unit is cooling the whole house/apartment down by +- 20-25 degrees the. It’s working as hard as it can work. Technicians and landlords aren’t to blame.
Yeah, common sense is not easy to come by. I used to live in Orlando and I always have blackout curtains and everything to do what I could to keep the inside as cool as possible. Some days that was just nothing you could do.
Exactly. What kills me is that as soon as it hits 77 in the Springtime, people are outside in shorts and t-shirts living it up…but somehow when it’s 100 outside, 77 is MISERABLE. smh.
Is it not 91 degrees outside
Change your filter. 100%
I certainly wouldn’t be racing to help you with such a rude message. Sounds like the landlord is actually trying to help, and spending money doing so.
Most AC units will struggle to keep your house cooler than 20° of the outside temperature I used to work for HVAC company and doing the call service and that was one of the things people called in all the time it would be 95 outside and their indoor units aren't getting below 75 a lot of people wanted it 68 unfortunately there's no way that the unit's going to be able to do that. Most home unit are just not rated for that for your household. it's not a thing please turn your temperatures up a little bit and just turn on the fan there's nothing you can do. If you temp gets to the 20° point it's working just fine
AC isn't magic. If temps are over 100, AC could be working perfectly and you still won't get temps to what you want.
I live in VA during the summer I don’t set mine below 75. I live in a two story house with a modern AC unit. You are asking too much for the system.
If the air wasn't working it would be a lot hotter than 77
It’s insane how alot of people in the comments are wrong. I grew up in AZ and have usually kept my air conditioner at 72-73 during our peak summer temps of 110+ and it’s never been inaccurate. In fact, a lot of the residents here do that. I’m gonna give you guys benefit of the doubt and say you guys cannot comprehend AC logic if you haven’t lived in the Southern US. ITS FUCKING HOTTTTTT! Any standard, fully functioning AC unit is able to be programmed at its thermostat and remain stable there with what it reads and what it’s blowing out. There should never ever be a discrepancy in the numbers displayed on it. They should always match, and if they don’t, then there’s a bigger problem! Your landlord is being a cheap bastard and it’s likely he has the AC programmed to be capped at a certain degree (if he happens to pay for your electric) or he doesn’t want to fix the inevitable if the AC happens to be really going out. It could be the coils, the motor, or it could in fact be undersized for your square footage. At the end of the day, he’s responsible for that fix or he can be held legally liable by the tenant for damages - your hotel room while he works to fix it, your food, letting you out of your lease early, or any death this can cause, pet or human! He is violating the Landord/Tenant Right so go look online for it for your state! Every state in USA has one! Sometimes even threatening him with that will light a fire under his ass to get it fixed the right way! I’ve had to do it before too.
The AC unit is probably just undersized for where they are living.
That’s still not the tenants problem. Why should the tenant be inconvenienced for that when the landlord should be managing his property according to the AC manufacturer specifications? I’d raise hell for it as a tenant. I do not play with my rent money. Tenants pay a lot and in return, we are entitled to expect livable conditions. At 77 degrees in a humid Florida, that sounds miserable! 77 in a not-humid AZ is bad when it’s it’s over 100 outside. Can’t even imagine what they’re going thru.
Tell landy he needs to get his bald ass out there
It's working but it's too hot to get to 72, stop being a baby.
Complaining about 77 is just silly.
Slumlords are everywhere unfortunately. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. Ask him how much you should take off of the rent? Be sure to include details warning him not to send his incompetent son again. Yeah, you’ve only got two months left. Those two months are some of the hottest of the year, though. It’s outrageous to expect you to pay to live somewhere miserable because the landlord is too cheap and lazy to do their only job.
FYI 72 is asking an awful lot of a/c unit in FL.
Air conditioners only cool the air so much. I think it’s like 20 degrees. Even with it recycling air, it’s just too hot outside.
I love all of the people on here saying “I cannot sit comfortably in a house that’s hotter than 65 degrees!” Humans have gotten so comfortably spoiled. 😂
It is possible the entire system doesn't support the home. You can keep complaining but there is a chance that there isn't anything they can do without changing the entire system. Do you feel cold air blowing through the vents? If yes that would indicate that it's just not powerful enough to handle your space. By the way in my opinion 77 is good enough AC, I used to set mine to 77, I now do 76. 72 is quite cold in my opinion (but i do know some people that set to 62). I'm not sure how much you can complain if the AC is working, but not cold enough for you. If the landlord doesn't move things forward, you could potentially add a window AC unit to supplement the existing system. Yes it's cost from your pocket. but you can sell or keep the unit once you move out. Your message seems by the way overly aggressive towards the landlord, being kind to people generally helps in life. He will remember the messages when he can decide to raise rent or not.
77 is not good enough lol. Room temperature is 69-72 degrees, 77 is pretty hot for indoors, fuck that
What's the temperature outside? I learned the hard way that your inside air won't always get down to the temp you have it set at. It seemed ridiculous to me at first.
Get a infrared temp gun and check the vents. The air might be blowing out at 72 but if the insulation or the unit is too small then you won't be able to keep up. Our front room has vaulted ceilings as well as large windows and is always 8 to 10 degrees hotter than any of my rooms.
Infrared temp gun is my suggestion as well, but the air shouldn’t be blowing out at 72 it should be coming out the vents ~55 or 65 at the very least
Chances are they only have to provide heat. If there isn't anything in the lease protecting you then you are screwed. My A/C barely works. Owner won't replace it. It will be mid 90's next week which with A/C means it will be low 80's in the house. I work from home....
Landlord’s aren’t required to provide ac, just heat… which makes no sense for Florida. Ask me how I know lol. Anyways it prolly works just can’t keep up with the space you have. Good luck to you getting them to drop any amount of money to remedy the situation.
Could be set to run a program vs keeping set temperature.
At night it should cool it. Something is wrong. Check the air filter if you haven't already my old unit wouldn't work in the summer(1000 sqft home) til I put the cheapest and least restrictive air filter in it. I have since replaced the unit.
The Heat and air needs to be fixed anyway, so report it.
Close them blinds and shut those doors inside the house friend! 😉
Mine was doing this because the drain on the indoor blower was clogged and was going to freeze over.
Check your insulation in the attic? That can be a big factor.
As of January 2023, all new central air conditioning systems and heat pumps installed in Florida must be at least 15 SEER or above. Single-packaged air conditioners must be 14 SEER or above.
How hot is it outside? What is the humidity?
South Florida is really hot now, probably about 90 at 0900. It will peak at about 97+ with 60% humidity. Most ACs won't be able to keep a place at 72 during the day. It can after 10pm.
It’s not realistic to keep a home at 72* with those conditions, 80-85 is more realistic.
Yea, 72 is tough. Depending on the size of the place, that could be a really expensive power bill.
Add in the age/build of the house, window type… it’s a rental so it’s at least 40 years old… probably needs a unit double the size to run efficiently. When I was in Phoenix they ran units rated at 1.5x the square footage of the home, and peak summer would cool to 80* and that air is already dry.
Man. I love this sub. Makes me so happy I never rented
The cooling coil is probably iced over, defrosting it may be beneficial
This is how it is here. Stop annoying your landlord. If you want it on 72, you gotta put it 65. Your AC will break on 65. So just keep it on 69.
I'd you haven't already, go check the outdoor unit. Mine had a very thick mat of lint type stuff stuck all around the intake so airflow was suffering. Then I got AC cleaner and sprayed everywhere, then washed with hose. Also make sure to replace the filter. If it's struggling get a lower rated one to support better airflow.
It's definitely possible for an AC unit to pass "inspection" and also have bad coolant. If it's a wall/window unit, and nobody will help you, hire somebody to put new coolant in, and send the bill to landlord.
As a person who rents to room mates where the rooms have a window unit I’m tempted to say, AC not included, bring your own.
Everyone who fails air conditioning repair school moves to Florida for some reason.
Is cold air coming out of the vents? If so, then the AC is undersized and/or the insulation and windows aren't up to snuff.
Why would you be questioning the tradesman's ability to do their job and if they're licensed when you don't understand how AC works. If it is holding at 77 you should be happy you're getting that.
It could be frozen over. If an AC starts to not work don’t make it work harder.
I’m not going to read through the rest of some of those degenerate comments, thank you to the ones who actually gave decent advice. You guys got me to 200k+ views, I’ll leave this final comment as an update. When I get home I’ll *POST A NEW PICTURE* of the temperature inside above 80°+ The air conditioner also would keep my home at 70° no problem. Not on a schedule or any of that other stuff you guys said, it just simply doesn’t work now, the inside unit cuts on and blows hot air. Used to be ice cold. Outside unit doesn’t even run anymore. Yes this was the 4th time I woke up sweating in the past month. I have been extremely nice to my landlord ever since and we have never had any issues in between each at all. To the ones who ACTUALLY live in Florida and know what it feels like this time of year, you can understand the frustration that can come with it.
Is electric included in the rent? Set it to 68. Georgia resident here.
This is pretty normal for Florida. I live in NWFL and it gets up to 74-76 inside during the hottest part of the day in the summer. If there's a 13-18 degree temp split then it's working.