Cost to make Tenant's gas seperate?
I have a two family brownstone, and I have one gas meter, one gas furnace, and onen gas water heater. SO I pay fo rall that, and don’t charge the tenant. The heat is forced air. What are the estimated costs for installing a seperate gas line, with its one furnace, hot water heater and…
I have a two family brownstone, and I have one gas meter, one gas furnace, and onen gas water heater. SO I pay fo rall that, and don’t charge the tenant. The heat is forced air.
What are the estimated costs for installing a seperate gas line, with its one furnace, hot water heater and cooking gas lines – approximate costs?
Is such a project worth it?
When we renovated a few years ago–gut reno–we had separate systems installed for all apartments. It was about $9,000 additional per apartment. This included boiler, hot water heater, piping, and inspections. We felt in the long run, we would have better tenants and wouldn’t need crazy rent increases if heating costs changed. It evened out our expenses, and the tenants can have the thermostat programmed for their lifestyle.
I rented an apartment with a similar setup, and it worked out great as a tenant also.
To anon 5:46–the landlord only has to provide the ability to heat. Also the law of 68 degrees during the day can still feel cold if the apartment is drafty or if you have an infant.
Let’s look at the numbers. 5k to convert. For 2-family, you now pay half. Say 1200/yr for heat/hot water?
If you have to lower the tenant’s rent, you gain little. Since you now control the heat, if it’s set up properly, the tenant cannot “waste” the heat anyway (unless he’s out of town for days). If he’s opening windows because it’s too hot, fix the heating system.
So finally we have wasteful 1) cooking and 2) hot water usage, about $15/month?
We own a four story brownstone with forced air, the garden level is a separate apartment. When we bought the house we looked into installing a separate furnace & hw heater, gas line & meter. It would have been an expensive and complicated proceedure, as it would have meant re-doing all the duct work as well. It was our experience that if you are doing major renovation anyway, it might be worth it, but better to separate out electric if you can, and just figure gas into the rent. You will control the heat, which will be the major portion of the gas bill.
We own a four story brownstone with forced air, the garden level is a separate apartment. When we bought the house we looked into installing a separate furnace & hw heater, gas line & meter. It would have been an expensive and complicated proceedure, as it would have meant re-doing all the duct work as well. It was our experience that if you are doing major renovation anyway, it might be worth it, but better to separate out electric if you can, and just figure gas into the rent. You will control the heat, which will be the major portion of the gas bill.
No. If there is seperate hot water heaters and boilers/furnaces, then the tenant controls the temperature. My friend rents a place with ELECTRIC baseboard heating (there is a nasty landlord indeed!) and he pays for the heat…ie big electric bills in the winter.
ANON 5:37 is right, it is a GREAT choice conservation-wise. And yes about 5K seems right. Get an estimate from Gateway, sounds like they were baiting you to do it.
I might be wrong but I believe landlord has to provide heat at a specific level–or is it only the ability to heat?
Boy, people are having a real hard time understanding your question, so let me take a stab at it. I think it is a great idea to install a seperate furnace, hot water heater, and meter for your tenant. It is a great way to save energy because tenants don’t really pay much attention to there thermostat when they don’t have to pay their heating bill. And if your building doesn’t have different zones then chances are some floors are too hot while others are too cold, which is also a big waste of energy. We have a seperate furnace and hot water heater for our tenants and I love the fact that they turn down there thermostat when they leave in the morning as opposed to opening their windows to cool down the apartment. A furnace will cost about $2000. Another $500 for the hot water heater. The meter is free, but the additional gas piping is not. And who knows what plumbers charge these days. I would guess about $4-5000 total cost.
It is NOT very very expensive. It is probably a couple of hundred dollars to get separate line and account for cooking gas. It has nothing to do with heat and hot water.
Very very expensive. You’re talking furnace, heater (5-6k) alone, not to mention replumbing. Why not ask Gateway guy since he brought it up?