Renting and the power or heating has failed: what to do

Most power and heating failures in a rental are an inconvenience. A few are dangerous, and those come before any call to the agent. If there's smoke, fire or immediate danger, get everyone out first.

After a storm, look outside first, and keep well clear of fallen powerlines and anything they're touching. Tingles from a tap or an appliance are a warning too: stop using it and report it to your rental provider as a dangerous electrical fault.

With gas heating, the risk is carbon monoxide, which ESV warns you can't see or smell. The Victorian Department of Health lists headaches, dizziness, nausea and confusion among the symptoms. If people feel unwell while a gas heater is running, turn it off, get fresh air and get medical help.

Start with the street. If the streetlights and neighbours are dark too, it's a network outage and only the distributor can fix it. Powercor supplies areas including Altona Meadows, Point Cook, Werribee and Tarneit, while Jemena's area reaches Footscray and Williamstown. Go by the name on your bill.

If it's only your place, go to the switchboard. ESV tells householders to check whether the safety switch has tripped, reset it if it has, and call a licensed electrician if it won't reset. Reset it once; if it drops straight back, leave it off. Victorian rentals have needed modern boards with safety switches since 29 March 2023, so if you find old ceramic fuses, note that too.

For heating, check that the controller has a display, the remote has batteries and the mode is on heat. A reverse-cycle unit that goes quiet on a cold, damp morning may just be defrosting. Past that, don't open panels, relight a pilot or touch gas controls. ESV says electrical work isn't a DIY job, and unlicensed electrical or gasfitting work is illegal and potentially fatal.

Consumer Affairs Victoria keeps a legal list of urgent repairs. It includes a gas leak, a dangerous electrical fault, the gas or electricity supply not working, and an essential service or appliance for hot water, cooking or heating that has stopped. A property that doesn't meet the minimum standards, and a smoke alarm that isn't working, are on it too.

The label changes the timing. CAV says rental providers must make urgent repairs immediately, while non-urgent repairs are due within 14 days of a written request. Winter nights out here are cold and still; at the Laverton weather station, July's mean minimum is 5.2 °C. A dead heater then isn't a comfort complaint.

Heating has a second rule behind it. Every rental must have a fixed heater, not a portable one, in good working order in the main living area, and for agreements from 29 March 2023 it must be energy efficient. A fan heater from the agent can get you through a night, but it isn't the repair.

Ring the rental provider or agent on the urgent repairs contact they gave you, then follow up by text or email. Writing puts a time on the record, which matters if things drag on.

Describe what you can see rather than guessing at the fault. 'The heater's stopped' tells a property manager very little. 'The ducted heater's controller is blank, the rest of the house has power and nothing has tripped' points to the power or controls rather than the gas side, and that changes who they book. Mention a baby, an older person or anyone relying on powered medical equipment.

A heating failure isn't always a heating problem. Plenty of dead heaters come down to the supply, a tripped circuit or a failed controller, which is licensed electrical work. ESV says gas heater servicing and repair should be done by a licensed Type A gasfitter, and anything involving a reverse-cycle system's refrigerant needs a Refrigerant Handling Licence.

So the heater type in your report matters. Book the wrong trade and you lose a visit and another cold night. When nobody's sure which side the fault is on, a team that does both the electrical and the heating work can look at the whole system first.

Sometimes the heater can't be repaired. From 1 March 2027, Victorian Government guidance says a rental heating appliance that breaks beyond repair must be replaced with an efficient electric reverse-cycle air conditioner in the main living area. That isn't in force yet, but it's worth knowing if an old gas heater is on its last legs.

Keep trying the contacts you've been given and keep adding to the written record. CAV says that if the rental provider or agent doesn't respond to an urgent repair request, the renter can organise and pay for the repair, within the cost cap on CAV's repairs page, and must be paid back within 7 days. Read the current page before you act.

Use licensed people; a handy friend doesn't count. Ask for an itemised invoice and a short written report of what was found and fixed. ESV says a Certificate of Electrical Safety must be issued when electrical repair work is done, so keep it with the invoice and send copies to the agent.

Warm the people and shrink the space: close off rooms you aren't using, draw the curtains at dusk and add layers to the beds. Plug a portable electric heater straight into a wall outlet, not a power board, well away from curtains and bedding. Never bring an outdoor gas heater or barbecue inside.

If a gas heater is still running, leave the rangehood and bathroom fan off; ESV says they can draw carbon monoxide into living spaces. With the power off, ESV recommends unplugging appliances at the power point to help prevent damage from a surge. Use torches, not candles.

In a rental, the repair runs through the rental provider or agent, so the first call is theirs. We come in as the contractor they send, or the one you arrange under CAV's process when nobody has responded. Total Comfort is a family-run licensed electrical contractor (REC 38187) based in Altona Meadows, with one local team for electrical, heating and cooling.

Our technicians find the cause, make it safe and explain what failed in plain language. You get the price before we start, and the written report gives the agent what they need to approve the rest. If a heater is past sensible repair, you'll hear that straight rather than get another patch.