I think I’ve got a deal excet that the proerty currentyl has a boiler with old radiator heat for the units. I was thinking that I could put baseboard heaters and just not use the boiler at all. Does anyone have exeriance using baseboard heaters as I have none.
Is there anyone that would stick with the boiler? 8 unit builing. Property is in midwest so it gets cold in winter
Do baseboard heaers need a seperate circuit?
Being 1 bedroom how many heaters are needed per unit 1 or 2?
Any other suggestions on how to avoid paying heat?
Baseboard heating requires seperate 220 v circuits for (x) number of baseboard heaters.
When I was remodeling apartments in Kansas City we used a baseboard heater in the living room, in dining room / kitchen and one in each bedroom.
We put in a electric wall recessed heater in the bathroom.
If I remember correctly each unit had a 100 amp service and you could put some number in series to a single circuit.
It is a lot more cost effective to replace the boiler, there are modern gas or electric boilers that will connect to existing piping and allow use of the current boiler system.
I would keep with the boiler system unless your re-wiring services and units for new electric.
Yes, baseboard units need to be on dedicated circuits although depending on size two or more may be in series.
2 or 3 in unit and 1 wall recessed unit in bath.
You were on the right track changing to electric metered on tenants electric bill but cost to rewire and install new service panels could run $3k to 3.5k just for electrical not including wall prep (trenching) and repairs.
I just renovated a duplex to split the wiring and replace a gas furnace and water heater.
Baseboard heaters require 20A 240 circuits as someone said, but the ones I got from Lowes run at 9.3A, so you can safely run 3 on a circuit. I ran one in each room (they are very cheap), including the bath. My little 2 footer in the bath was like $20 I think. I also had a basement and an attic, so I didn’t have to do any demo to the walls.
I had 6 x ~$30 heaters = $180
1000’ 12/2 Wire = $163
4 x ~$20 20A 240V breakers = $80
If you have to pay for the boiler, but tenants have to pay for baseboard heaters, I think I would definitely install them. I do all my own work though, so your expenses may differ.
I always just buy the cheaper, after all, I am a landlord. :biggrin
I once tried to find actual factual information about those hydronic base boards and proof that the liquid will reduce heating costs but was unable to find any. Just like those oil filled space heater radiators. I could find NO proof of higher efficiency and I wouldn’t buy the “hypothesis” with out proof. Also, I have not seen any “proof” on the packaging of these types of heaters. I own an advertising agency and I can assure you that if I can make a claim that proves higher efficiency than the competition, I WILL do it!
And to top it off, I would need actual numbers to justify its higher cost. In all actuality, I could care less about my tenant saving $10 bucks a month on their bill if it’s going to cost me $180 more per baseboard!
As far as how many to get you have to base that on the square footage of the apartments. You need about 35-40 BTU’s per square foot no matter what type of heat is used. A six foot baseboard has about 5,000 btu’s, a five footer is about 4,000 btu’s.
And I wouldn’t replace any heating system until it’s broke UNLESS you are doing this because you have to split up the tenants bills. I NEVER pay a tenants utilities!!! I have seen many landlords go under from this.
And if the place has an attic and or crawl space you will have no problems running new lines to your panels. Just drill through the corner of the floor and the wall where the baseboard will go, no trenching required. If the panels are in the apartments run it through the crawl space and back up to the box from there. Easy!
Unless the property I buy comes with window A/C units, the tenants are responsible for their own.
Even when the building comes with one, the lease says the tenants are responsible for it, and I make it clear that if they break it, they won’t be getting a replacement.