A lease describes a condition at signing. A code describes a condition to be met. An inspection records a condition on a date. Then there's the booklet under the styrofoam, which is the only paper in the whole stack that says "at least once a month," and it says it to a reader it never names, who may not own the window, the outlet, or the standing to call an electrician. In Maricopa County last year, air conditioning was present in 94% of indoor heat deaths and not working in 72% of those.

A lease describes a condition at signing. A code describes a condition to be met. An inspection records a condition on a date. Then there's the booklet under the styrofoam, which is the only paper in the whole stack that says "at least once a month," and it says it to a reader it never names, who may not own the window, the outlet, or the standing to call an electrician. In Maricopa County last year, air conditioning was present in 94% of indoor heat deaths and not working in 72% of those.

An air conditioner dies without making a sound. Federal labs have already measured what happens next: older housing in Houston and Phoenix goes dangerous in under six hours, a newer house in twelve. The other side of the ledger sits in city and county filings — six days, forty-two days, fifty-seven days, twenty weeks on a replacement chiller. Same summer, same cities, both sets published, nobody ever laid them next to each other. So here they are, hour by hour.

An air conditioner dies without making a sound. Federal labs have already measured what happens next: older housing in Houston and Phoenix goes dangerous in under six hours, a newer house in twelve. The other side of the ledger sits in city and county filings — six days, forty-two days, fifty-seven days, twenty weeks on a replacement chiller. Same summer, same cities, both sets published, nobody ever laid them next to each other. So here they are, hour by hour.

Generac's five-year residential warranty excludes failures caused by "fire, freezing, lightning, earthquake, windstorm, hail… water or flood, tornado or hurricane." Rust from a "harsh or saltwater environment" is out too.

That's a backup generator. You bought it for the hurricane; you live in the salt air. Anybody who's worked a deck knows what salt does to steel.

Nobody's lying to you. A warranty covers manufacturing defects under normal use, and normal use got defined by somebody in an office picturing a mild Tuesday afternoon. Your equipment earns its keep on the days outside that picture.

Homeowners insurance doesn't reliably catch the leftovers. It won't pay for wear and tear, and standard policies exclude flood.

Go dig out the paperwork while the compressor's still running.

Six lines to look for in your own paperwork

• Power surge / lightning: LG excludes "short circuiting due to voltage fluctuation." Heat waves stress transformers; surges follow.
• Improper installation: Many makers require a licensed pro. A handyman who does it right can still void it. Frigidaire denied a claim over an unauthorized dealer.
• Missed maintenance: Dirty coils, unchanged filters. Wildfire smoke loads air-purifier filters faster than the manual assumes.
• Misuse / wrong size: GE says don't run a window unit below 50°F. Few makers name an upper limit.
• Flood: Voids most warranties and is excluded from standard home insurance.
• Non-transferable: Buy the house, inherit the AC, inherit no coverage.