On 28 Aug 2006 09:34:29 -0700, "Kravynn"
wrote:

The AC was all installed brand new about two months ago. To the tune
of about $4500, 12 sear etc. My landlords tend to get a bit fussy when
I mention problems so I had to do all of the shopping for the AC
myself.

I don't see that as a problem but as a good thing. That way you could
get what you thought was best and not what he thought you would
probably like. I don't know if in practice that made a difference,
but you would be looking at things from the pov of the tenant, and he
would have a ahrd time doing that.

They know at some point they will have to sell the house and
no one will buy it if it needs a new AC unit etc. When I say it stays
cold in the house set at 80-82 I mean cold, kids wearing sweats and
runny noses.

No wonder your bill is so high! Your house is too cold. Turn the
thermostat warmer. Turn it to 85, 90, or 110 if necessary so that the
house isn't so cold. Otherwise you will continue to have high AC
bills. Don't wait until the electric bill comes. You don't get
something for nothing, and if is cold you're paying for it.

Do you think because the thermostat is set at 82, that it couldn't be
colder than 80? Not true. 82 could result in anything.

My mom and best friend keep theirs at 72-74 and its
comfortable if not warm in their houses.

*If* not warm? You mean "if not cold", right? Or "and not too warm"?
If you don't mean one of those, I don't understand.

If I can
pinpoint the problem I can get it fixed and deduct it from the rent,
but they will not take the iniative to determine the problem.

Even if the AC guys installed a defective thermostat, you have a duty
to mitigate damages, to cause your loss to be as little as possible.
(Well, you have self-interest to make it as little as possible, but if
you are going to try to attribute the loss to the landlord or the AC
guys he hired, you have a duty.) When you saw it was colder than
needed, and than wanted, you should have turned up the thermostat, as
high as it went if neccessary, and if that didn't work, you shoudl
have turned the AC off until the house got hot, then turned it back on
again, over and over. At the same time, you should have called the
landlord and said the thermostat wasn't working, or if you weren't
sure, just told him what you told us. He or the AC people would
conclude there is a problem with the thermostat (or possibly with
something else in the AC) and they would confirm their suspicions with
a test, and then fix it. He has a warranty from the AC people and he
needs to know if something isn't working right, so he can get the AC
people to fix it while the warranty is still in effect.

If you are talking about deducting from the rent the cost for
electricity you've already used, he may be generous for some reason
and let you deduct some of it, but since you haven't done any of the
above, I think you are responsible for the electric bill. Maybe if
you were at work the first day the new AC was running, you weren't
there to know that the thermostat wasn't working, maybe even a second
day, you could make a case you didn't realize there was a problem, but
after that, you should have turned the AC off when everyone left, and
turned it back on when you got home. If you don't want to do that,
you should pay the electric bill. (It will be hard to calculate how
much *additional* electricity was used on the first day or two that it
was cold in the house when no one was there.

As to extra electricity you might use in the future, you should do
what I say above and pay for everything you use.

And my mention to the bill being what my rent is, my rent is
$1100/month, after this month, my electric bill is about the same. I
moved here from CT Im aware of the cost of living up there.