Warrant of Fitness for rentals (including details)

[Wayne]

Who are "they?"

This is a hoary old chestnut.

The 'official' figures that 'they' give out are a fantasy..

That's the 'they' I was talking about.

[Bob Kane]

We recently experienced the new rules in action in our house. We have an infinity gas water system an internal one in our roof space, we now need to build a platform around it so that it is safe for the serviceman to service it and also we need to schedule a service in winter as it is too hot in summer for him to be in the roof space.

What servicing does an infinity gas hot water system need?
How much does the servicing cost?
I had one installed 20 years ago and haven't had it serviced ever.
The installer told me it didn't need servicing.
It's working fine and has never had a problem.

[Wayne]

What servicing does an infinity gas hot water system need?
How much does the servicing cost?
I had one installed 20 years ago and haven't had it serviced ever.
The installer told me it didn't need servicing.
It's working fine and has never had a problem.

I use the principle that if it isn't broken it doesn't need fixing.
I wondered the same when I read that.

[north shore]

No idea's what they do, we get it serviced every 4-5 years. More as a safety thing as its in our ceiling space in the middle of the house.
That and if it breaks we won't have hot water.

[Meehole]

No idea's what they do, we get it serviced every 4-5 years. More as a safety thing as its in our ceiling space in the middle of the house.
That and if it breaks we won't have hot water.

Preventative maintenance, good on you for doing that, too many of us don't, just try and get it fixed when it breaks.
Christchurch during and post the earthquakes highlighted just how many houses, usually rentals, had been neglected. Combine that with the damage caused by the earthquakes and the result is a massive great expense to the insurers, delayed as they tried to split out the 2.
I would seriously consider at some stage, perhaps during a refurb, removing the hot water from the ceiling cavity and installing outside. Maybe even replace it with a hot water heat pump?

[Wayne]

Preventative maintenance, good on you for doing that, too many of us don't, just try and get it fixed when it breaks.
Christchurch during and post the earthquakes highlighted just how many houses, usually rentals, had been neglected.

Are you talking in general or the Infinity specifically?

I'm all for preventative maintenance but exactly what maintenance does an instant gas hotwater system need?

[Meehole]

Are you talking in general or the Infinity specifically?

I'm all for preventative maintenance but exactly what maintenance does an instant gas hotwater system need?

Pass, we have one in our rental as well and its 8 years old and have never done anything to it. However not an expert on the subject but would have to assume that the unit requires servicing and something is done when checked/serviced?
The rinnai Infinity models I know of are designed to be installed on an exterior wall.
I had been asking on PT if anyone knew of an hrv type system that could be installed so that the vents were in the floor as no ceiling space and it seems that Rinnai have one called iheat that can be used with Rinnai Infinity system. We have gas bottles so here's hoping that it can used with those and doesn't require gas from the street.

[Keys]

Ensure that you have a drip tray capable of draining a full flow under your unit to the outside of your dwelling. We've had two units corrode and cause massively expensive damage to the interior of the property.

[flyernzl]

I would seriously consider at some stage, perhaps during a refurb, removing the hot water from the ceiling cavity and installing outside.

I have just had that done (with an electrical hot water system),
Cost $3500.

[Perry]

Last time I checked, dehumidifier costs about 9c per hour to run; if we run it let's say 2 dehumidifiers (in 2 bedrooms) x 3 hours before sleep + 3 hours during sleep (assuming it goes on and off, so not 100% active), that would cost about $33/month.

I recently purchased a second power monitor meter. I used it in a room where a dehumidifier is set to run constantly, because of the dampness.

The meter gives a reading for how long the appliance has been running and the actual cost - so long as the cost per unit is entered. (21 cents, here)

The result was $1.55 for 26 hours of operation. That's about 6 cents an hour.

[Meehole]

I recently purchased a second power monitor meter. I used it in a room where a dehumidifier is set to run constantly, because of the dampness.

The meter gives a reading for how long the appliance has been running and the actual cost - so long as the cost per unit is entered. (21 cents, here)

The result was $1.55 for 26 hours of operation. That's about 6 cents an hour.

That's good to know, cheaper than I thought. And also cheaper than having to do remedial repair work to the house as a result of dampness and mould build up. We have just advised our tenants that we will not be renewing their lease once it comes off fixed term as despite asking them to they refuse to open the windows to allow the house to ventilate.

[north shore]

thats sad, I would install an hrv or something.
We have a problem with one of ours, the tenant doesn't open the blinds either.

[Meehole]

thats sad, I would install an hrv or something.
We have a problem with one of ours, the tenant doesn't open the blinds either.

Not possible to install an HRV as the house is 2 storied with mono pitch roof and nowhere to run pipes. Have been through that with the tenants who asked for one to be installed.
We have security stays on the windows and they won't even open the 2 in the ensuite upstairs. The house has an alarm and is down a very private row with 3 other houses so very secure.
What would be sad is a $5,000 paint bill to repaint the house. AS for your tenant that doesn't open the blinds let alone the windows, makes you wonder what they are hiding. Get rid of them, plenty of good tenants out there looking for a nice house and will treat it with respect.

[north shore]

Sad Meehole, ours isn't hiding anything, just don't like opening all the blinds. e.g: in family room 4 sets of blinds, they will open one.
Going to have to talk to them again, we could put hrv or similar in but if they don't open the blinds its not going to solve the problem, great tenants apart from that.

[Perry]

That's good to know, cheaper than I thought.

I was agreeably surprised, too. It's not a toy dehumidifier, either. If it was set to a higher humidity level, it would be even less expensive. Quite some time ago, I tested the same model dehumidifier in a bathroom. The humidistat was set to whatever-percentage-it-was, and it cost $4 for a week. My maths can be dodgy, but that seems to be around 2.4 cents per hour, taken over the entire week.

The bonus of dry, non-smelly towels, the chill off the bathroom, a generally pleasant 'feel' to the air and no mould makes the few cents an hour cost into a great bargain. If I was ever to rebuild, I'd make space for one in the wall, with a plumbed drain to the outside.