Faulty Hungry Air-Con in Rented unit

[noobhomebuyer]

I live in an almost 30 year old rental unit in sydney which has an almost 30 year old air-con. Three months of 2011 winter and I got a shockingly high electricity bill of $1200, I suspected a faulty air-con and reported to rental agent. They suspected my usage was high so would not do anything. Due to personal circumstances, I did not have the energy to pursue further.

Come this winter and my three month bill is $920 even though we were very conscious about its usage. We had an electrician test the unit out and he said its very energy inefficient and is consuming a lot of electricity and gave us a report. The agent again said, these units are old and known to consume energy and also blamed it on carbon tax.

Do I have any recourse of getting some compensation and getting the agent to change the air-con? Do I have a case with the tribunal?

Thanks for your opinion

 

[Aaron_C]

Stop using the aircon and use a fan instead? The landlord doesn't have to upgrade things just because it is inefficient.

 

[oneguy]

If the AC was indeed faulty, then you may some grounds, but it's just a case of the AC being inefficient then I'd say no. Sounds like its "Hungry" but not "Faulty"

 

[willair]

I live in an almost 30 year old rental unit in sydney which has an almost 30 year old air-con. Three months of 2011 winter and I got a shockingly high electricity bill of $1200, I suspected a faulty air-con and reported to rental agent. They suspected my usage was high so would not do anything. Due to personal circumstances, I did not have the energy to pursue further.

Come this winter and my three month bill is $920 even though we were very conscious about its usage. We had an electrician test the unit out and he said its very energy inefficient and is consuming a lot of electricity and gave us a report. The agent again said, these units are old and known to consume energy and also blamed it on carbon tax.

Do I have any recourse of getting some compensation and getting the agent to change the air-con? Do I have a case with the tribunal?

Thanks for your opinion

You could always ring up Miss Gillard and ask why she told the Australian Public there would be no carbon tax,and the public is now holding the can
and paying the cost,or vote them out in OCT next year..

 

[Scott No Mates]

Is the air cond just as expensive to run in summer?

As noted above, there is no requirement for the owner to replace the unit due to age or inefficiency alone. If the unit was unsafe or had failed that's another story.

 

[noobhomebuyer]

Thanks for the feedback guys, our bill during other times of the year was only $300 (for 3 months) as we ended up using fans etc to keep ourselves cool. We used this 'power hungry' unit only during winter for heating purposes.

 

[Edmond Dantes]

Gonna have to buy a snuggie for winter mate. Get a fan for summer.
Or ask the landlord to instal a new aircon and offer him $20 more per week in rent. Win-win situation.

 

[handyandy]

Gonna have to buy a snuggie for winter mate. Get a fan for summer.
Or ask the landlord to instal a new aircon and offer him $20 more per week in rent. Win-win situation.

Unfortunately even with a more efficient unit installed and now paying $20pw more for the privileged you may still end up with a higher electricity bill because of the carbon tax and rate creep.

Speak to you local polly about the carbon tax rather than the landlord about your electricity bill.

 

[Ideo]

Don't use it then?

 

[wategos]

Tell the landlord to do some maintenance on their investment or reduce the rent. It's obviously sub standard and a better qualtiy unit should be provided, that's what you signed up for.
Don't put up with it.

 

[lizzie]

Tell the landlord to do some maintenance on their investment or reduce the rent. It's obviously sub standard and a better qualtiy unit should be provided, that's what you signed up for.
Don't put up with it.

I will assume that was sarcasm.

The tenant signed up for what was provided at the time of signing. I'm with the majority here - don't use it. We got thru most of the (apparently coldest for years) winter in our brief 6 months rental experience with some polarfleece blankets, double socking and hot water bottles.

I'm not a fan of aircon at any time.

 

[Edmond Dantes]

Tell the landlord to do some maintenance on their investment or reduce the rent. It's obviously sub standard and a better qualtiy unit should be provided, that's what you signed up for.
Don't put up with it.

Sigh.. are you joking!?

 

[mumbai]

I am a owner occupier with a faulty aircon (not on the list of things to be fixed soon) and got through the winter with almost what Lizzie suggested there and on some really chilly days, used a portable heater for 10-15 mins.

 

[Ideo]

I will assume that was sarcasm.

The tenant signed up for what was provided at the time of signing. I'm with the majority here - don't use it. We got thru most of the (apparently coldest for years) winter in our brief 6 months rental experience with some polarfleece blankets, double socking and hot water bottles.

I'm not a fan of aircon at any time.

I'm currently in a modern unit with 2 modern split system units.

If it's cold I put a jumper on. If I get warm I take the jumper off.

Amazingly, my electricity bills are quite low. I wonder why that is?

 

[noobhomebuyer]

Sure Sure, If it was myself and the wife, I am sure we could look after ourselves. The house also has a 2 year old who has been a bit unwell of late and we used the heater just to make it a bit more comfortable for him. There are different situations for different people I suppose..

Thanks for all the suggestions, point well taken

 

[S.T]

Maybe take it up with the property manager and let them know you'll have to move out due to your electricity bill. See if they'll come to some arrangement to upgrade it for slight increase in rent. My brother went through something similar with an older electric heater. He got a new gas one put in and no extra rent. If you're a good tenant them theres a change the owner will spend a bit to hang onto you.

 

[westminster]

As a landlord I used to own a very old 1960s house which had a very old air conditioner mounted in the wall. I knew that it would be power hungry but didn't want to replace it as I knew I would be demolishing the house within a few years.

I did say to my PM though that if it ended up being an issue for the Tenant I was willing to replace it with an inexpensive split wall system but as it would be a cheap model that it might not be efficient either.

Unfortunately for you, a Landlord is not expected to provide energy efficient appliances. I supply dishwashers and air cons in my units at the moment and I actually have no idea what star rating they have.

In my personal home I have ducted air con which is pretty expensive to run. For our small children we have a simple gas column heater in their rooms which we use at night, especially when they are sick. We find these pretty economical run and we put it on a timer so it turns on at midnight and runs until 7am.

 

[The Y-man]

For a moment, I had visions of an aircon that jumps out of the wall and goes around eating the inhabitants....

The Y-man

 

[noobhomebuyer]

A faulty man-eating aircon? Now that is something I will definitely go to the tribunal about, as long as it has not eaten me yet.

 

[fisherman]

Airconditioners cost more to run on the heating cycle. New systems vary in efficiency too.

If your airconditioner has heating and cooling you already have more modern, more efficient and safer heating than many of the domestic heating appliances presently being sold in shops.

There might be more efficient high end systems about is it reasonable to expect the owner to keep up to date with the latest? For comparison, few owners do that in their own residences.