Richlist Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 It seems we are going to get another harsh winter this year and I'd just like to share the action that I'm about to take with all of my property. Many tenants spend Christmas & New Year away with friends or family leaving your rental property empty and often with heating turned off. Therefore I'm sending a short note to all of my tenants as a reminder.......something along the lines of :- 'This is just a polite reminder that the tenancy agreement requires the heating to remain on at all times during the winter months in order to avoid burst pipes & damage to property. The contract clause is shown below : " During the winter months to provide constant minimum heating and take all other reasonable steps necessary to prevent frost damage and in the event of such damage caused by the Tenant's failure to take such precautions the Tenant shall forthwith and at the Tenant's expense effect all such necessary repairs to reinstate the system into goodworking order. '' Please ensure that heating remains on, a minimum setting is OK. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted December 5, 2012 Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 Houses that have mains pipes going into an insulated loft to feed storage tanks should have the loft trap left open to ensure the pipes are in warm air. Heating should be set continuous at 15deg. Alternatively the whole system should be drained. This is what insurance companies are now recommending. My measurements show that loft insulation can keep the loft area at a mere 2-3deg above outside temperature, regardless of how warm the living area is. I learnt this the hard way in the space of a few days away, with heating left on normal periodic settings. The damage caused ran to six figures, way over the expected resources of a tenant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted December 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2012 All good points and you are right to raise them. Most of my residential properties are purpose built flats with 2 or 3 electric storage heaters on economy 7. They have either no loft or a loft without pipes/ water tanks and they have little or nothing by way of controls. So, just leaving them switched on low is probably about all that can be expected........and historically that does seem to work for me. Anyway.....hey......most landlords won't bother to do or say anything untill the water is already pouring thru their cieling !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldstarinventory Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 All good points and you are right to raise them. Most of my residential properties are purpose built flats with 2 or 3 electric storage heaters on economy 7. They have either no loft or a loft without pipes/ water tanks and they have little or nothing by way of controls. So, just leaving them switched on low is probably about all that can be expected........and historically that does seem to work for me. Anyway.....hey......most landlords won't bother to do or say anything untill the water is already pouring thru their cieling !!!! Do you have many flats that you rent out? Where are you based? Do you use inventory clerks to check in and out your tenants? We can offer a great deal should you require our services. Kind regards Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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