Thread: cold air return in crawlspace

have tenants that are complaining about high energy bills. under the crawlspace today, i noticed a loud suction noise. found it, which was between the floor joists and it was part of the duct work at the end which was wide open. stuck my hand in there and it started to freeze the air was so cold. went inside the house and found NO cold air return vent. is this going to be an easy fix? cut a hole in the floor, run the sheet metal to open end of duct work. DONE? bought house last year, for investment. 1st time as landlord. Tenants are an elderly couple, and I want to take good care of them. I do not want to be a slum lord. shouldn't the home inspector have noticed this? crawlspace is too much debris, but no coldair intake to be found in house? should they look for that?

hope someone can help

thanks mitch

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I don't know where "mansfield" is because you didn't say, but if it is in Florida or a state with licensing like Florida has ... *you* will not be allowed to repair it because you have it rented, you will need to call a properly licensed contractor to repair it.

Should the inspector have noted the deficiency?

If the crawl space was hazardous or the debris obstructed unicombered access, or the height of the ceiling of the crawl was low the inspector would likely not be expected to enter, but should have alerted you to the limitations as to why the crawl was not entered.

I know thare's a Mansfield in PA, near the NY line. Don't know if that's where the OP is or not, though. To answer the question, normally the return air should be identified to make sure that it does exist, isn't blocked, etc. Depending on visibility in the crawl the opening may have been easy to spot or not.

But anyhow, it's not a hard thing to fix. Any decent mechanical contractor can help you out. You may even want to add a few more returns while you are at it.