From May to October, every rental call in Kissimmee and Davenport sounds the same: the AC is not keeping up. From Thanksgiving through February it flips. Guests arrive from places where winter is real, they expect a warm house at 7am, and a rental whose heat has not run since last January finds out about it in the middle of someone's holiday. A refund and a two-star review cost far more than anything on this list.
1. Confirm every system actually heats
Larger rental homes often have two or three systems: one for the main floor, one upstairs, and often a mini-split in a converted-garage game room. Test each one in heat mode, not just the main floor. Some budget installs went in with no heat kit at all, so do not assume. Does your AC have a heater? covers how to tell in two minutes, and the heat kit cost guide covers adding one.
2. Make sure the thermostat lock allows heat
Many managed rentals lock the thermostat to a range so guests cannot run the AC at 64°F all week. Check what the lock does in winter. A cool-only lock, or a range that tops out below room temperature, is a no-heat call waiting to happen. Allow Heat mode with a sensible ceiling. Most property-management thermostats let you set separate limits for heating and cooling.
3. Cap the heat, too
The opposite problem is a guest who sets the heat to 85°F and leaves it there all week. That runs the electric strips nonstop, which costs a lot and can trip the strip breaker on a larger kit. A heating ceiling around 72°F, plus an aux heat lockout on heat pump systems, keeps it reasonable. The lockout is explained in aux heat vs emergency heat.
4. Burn off the dust before guests arrive
The first heat cycle of the season smells like something burning. That is dust on the heat strips, and it is harmless. But a family that smells it on their first night calls you at 11pm, and some call the fire department. Run the heat for half an hour on each system during a turnover, with the windows open. The burning smell guide covers what is normal and what is not.
5. Label the breakers and the outdoor disconnect
When the heat trips at midnight, your housekeeper or on-call handyman should be able to find the right breaker in a minute, not twenty. Many air handlers have a separate, unlabelled breaker for the heat strips. Label it on the panel door, along with the outdoor unit's breaker and disconnect.
6. Keep filters on site and change them between stays
A filter clogged during a busy holiday stretch can trip the strips' high-limit switch, so the heat runs a minute and quits. Leave a stack of the correct size in an owner's closet and put the change on the turnover checklist.
7. Check the mini-split remotes
Guests find the cooling button on a mini-split remote without trouble. Fewer find heat, which is usually a sun icon under the Mode button. Put fresh batteries in each remote and leave a one-line note: "For heat, press Mode until you see the sun."
8. Leave a heating card for guests
A short card by the thermostat answers most of the calls before they happen:
- Heat on this system feels warm, not hot. Give it 15 minutes.
- Please do not use Emergency Heat. It is for repairs only.
- Steam rising from the outdoor unit on a cold morning is normal.
- No heat after 20 minutes? Call this number.
Book before the holiday rush
The first cold front of the season brings every rental in the area online at once. We work with Kissimmee and Davenport property managers on between-guest scheduling, so a heat check happens during a turnover rather than during a stay. Portfolio pricing is available across multiple properties. The standard $89 pre-winter heat check is a full heat-mode test: we measure current draw on every strip stage, and on heat pumps we check defrost and the reversing valve.
Our Kissimmee and Davenport pages cover the rest of how we work with rental owners there.
Written by
The Eco Air Orlando team — licensed Florida HVAC contractors, #CAC1814992. Everything here comes from work we actually do in Central Florida homes.