I just bought a three-unit that another investor was mid-rehab on. I’d like to finish the job and keep it as a rental. The property is currently heated by one gas furnace via baseboards throughout. I’m looking for ideas on the most effective way to separate the heat. I’m in PA, so we get some cold winters.
Here’s your problem.
With baseboard heat it IS easy to break that building up into 3 separtate “zones” each zone has it’s own thermostat and each tenant could control their own heat. That’s the easy part.
The hard part is billing for that heat. With only one furnace there is no way to break that use up into separate bills. the lady on the first floor likes it at 75 degrees, the guy on the second floor is never home so he keeps it at 60, you get the picture. This is why it’s usually very easy to spot multi-family homes from the street. They have 3 gas meters, 3 electric meters, 3 water meters. There is no way to break those three units up using one furnance. If your including heat and hot water with your rent then using one furnance could work, but that is usually not a good idea. Tenants will go to work with the thermostat set at 75 and YOU pay for it.
You can get electric baseboard and remove the gas furnace.
Rich,
Is there any ballpark measure to estimate the cost of installing electric baseboard in a unit - perhaps by square footage, or some other measure? I’m sure there’s considerable variation by geographic area, etc - but I’m just curious if there’s any “rule of thumb” to use.
Thanks.
rballard…
where at in pa?
i am from pottstown pa. about 45 mins north of philly.
electric base board is pretty cheap. but if you are considering installing it in all 3 units . keep in mind you have to run wire to all units and all rooms that you want heat in ,buy baseboard an thermostats and circiut breakers (make sure you have enough room in the panel to accomidate electric heat). your local electric supply house should be able to tell you how many feet of baseboard you need in a room if you give them the room size. if you can do electric work your self this may be the way to go . if you have to hire a electrical contractor ,labor can get exspensive. just my thoughts . hope it helps