Tenant Has No Heat? A Cincinnati Landlord's Guide

When a tenant tells you there’s no heat, call them back within the hour, rule out a gas or carbon monoxide emergency, walk them through three quick checks, and if those don’t fix it, get a licensed technician out the same day. Then give them safe temporary heat and keep a written record of every step. That’s the whole job. The rest of this guide covers how to do each step well and what the law in Ohio, Cincinnati, and Northern Kentucky expects from you while the heat is off.

Step 1: Rule Out an Emergency Before Anything Else

Before you troubleshoot anything, ask two questions: does the unit smell like gas, and is a carbon monoxide alarm going off? If the answer to either is yes, the tenant and everyone in the unit go outside, leave the door open behind them, and call 911 or the gas utility from the sidewalk. Nobody flips switches, relights a pilot, or checks on the furnace first.

Tenants often don’t know what a gas leak smells like, so describe it: rotten eggs or sulfur, sometimes with a hissing sound near the furnace or a gas line. Our guide on what a gas leak smells like is worth sending to every tenant before winter, not after.

Step 2: Walk the Tenant Through Three Quick Checks

Once you know it’s safe, have the tenant check three things while you’re on the phone. These fix a real share of no-heat calls and cost nothing.

The Thermostat

It should be set to HEAT, not COOL or OFF, and set a few degrees above the current room temperature. If the screen is blank, the batteries are dead. A dead thermostat looks exactly like a dead furnace from the tenant’s side.

The Furnace Switch and Breaker

Most furnaces have a power switch that looks like an ordinary light switch, mounted on or near the unit. Tenants flip it off by accident more often than you’d think, usually mistaking it for a basement light. Have them confirm it’s on, then check the panel for a tripped furnace breaker. One reset is fine. If it trips again, stop there and call a tech.

The Air Filter

A filter clogged with dust makes the furnace overheat, and its safety switch shuts the burners down to protect itself. If the filter is gray and caked, have the tenant swap it if there’s a spare, then wait a few minutes for the system to reset.

If one of these fixes it, you don’t need us, and we’d rather you didn’t pay for a service call to flip a switch. Our furnace troubleshooting guide goes a little further if you want to hand the tenant more to try. Anything past these checks, like opening the burner compartment, relighting a pilot, or touching the gas valve, is not a job for a tenant.

Step 3: Get a Licensed Technician Out the Same Day

If the quick checks don’t bring the heat back, schedule a licensed HVAC technician right away. Not tomorrow morning, and not after you’ve seen if it “kicks back on.” A furnace that has stopped heating has a reason, whether that’s a failed igniter, a bad flame sensor, a blower motor, or a control board, and it will not repair itself overnight.

Here’s our honest opinion: waiting to see what happens is the most expensive thing a Cincinnati landlord can do with a no-heat call. On rental units where tenants don’t control their own heat, the city can fine you $300 for the first day without adequate heat and $750 for every day after that. Three days of waiting is $1,800 in fines before you’ve paid for a single part.

When you book the visit, give the technician the tenant’s contact details and confirm access. Ohio law presumes 24 hours is reasonable notice to enter a unit, with an exception for emergencies. Even so, a text from the tenant saying “yes, come in today” keeps everyone on the same page and costs you nothing.

Step 4: Give the Tenant Safe Temporary Heat

If the repair needs a part that won’t arrive until tomorrow, or the furnace needs replacing, the tenant still needs heat tonight. Cincinnati’s Health Department allows landlords to provide space heaters that keep the living space at a minimum of 70 degrees, or temporary housing such as a hotel stay if heaters aren’t enough.

Buy heaters with tip-over and overheat shutoff, and tell the tenant to plug them straight into a wall outlet, not an extension cord or power strip, and keep them three feet from bedding and curtains. Then say the other part out loud: never heat the unit with the oven, the stovetop, a grill, or a generator. The CDC puts unintentional carbon monoxide deaths in the U.S. at more than 400 a year, and they spike in exactly this situation, when people are cold and improvising.

Step 5: Put Everything in Writing

Keep a simple timeline for every no-heat call: when the tenant reported it, when you responded, when the technician arrived, what they found, and when heat came back. Save the texts, the technician’s invoice or written diagnosis, and the receipts for any space heaters or hotel nights.

This isn’t paperwork for its own sake. Ohio tenant remedies start with written notice from the tenant, and if a dispute ever reaches a court or the Health Department, the landlord with a clean timeline showing a same-day response is in a very different spot from the one saying “I thought it was handled.”

What the Law Expects in Ohio and Cincinnati

The short version: Ohio Revised Code 5321.04 requires landlords to supply reasonable heat and keep the heating equipment they supply in good and safe working order. In Cincinnati units where tenants don’t control their own heat, the inside must stay at 70 degrees or warmer once the outdoor temperature has been below 60 degrees for 24 hours, with fines of $300 for the first day and $750 for each day after. Tenants who give written notice can use the remedies in ORC 5321.07. Our guide to Cincinnati landlord heating requirements covers the full law, including the small-landlord exception, the rule against shutting off heat, and Northern Kentucky. We are heating contractors, not lawyers, so confirm the details with your attorney.

When the Problem Isn’t the Furnace

Sometimes a no-heat call has nothing to do with the equipment, and a heating company is the wrong first call.

If the gas is in the tenant’s name and the utility shut it off for nonpayment, that’s between the tenant and the utility; we can’t turn it back on. If your building’s boiler is under a service contract, call that contractor first so you don’t pay twice. And if the gas was shut off after a leak or a failed safety check, the utility won’t restore service until the line is repaired and passes a pressure test. That one we do handle through our gas service disconnection repair work.

How to Get Fewer No-Heat Calls Next Winter

Most emergency no-heat calls could have been a routine fall visit. A tune-up before the first run of cold nights catches the weak igniter, the dirty flame sensor, and the cracked belt while it’s still cheap and nobody is shivering. For rentals, annual furnace maintenance also gives you a dated record that the system was inspected, which is useful if anyone ever asks.

Filters are the other half. Tenants rarely change them, so either put filter changes on your own calendar or leave a stack of the right size next to the furnace with the date written on the edge. It’s the cheapest heating repair there is.

Need Heat Back On Tonight?

Degree of Comfort handles emergency furnace repair 24/7 across Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana. We’re family-owned, licensed and insured, and we give you the price before we start, with no overtime or weekend fees. That matters when the call comes in at 9 p.m. on a Saturday.

Call (513) 586-5107 and we’ll get a technician to your tenant. For planned work like a replacement or a maintenance plan across several units, request an estimate.