Ductless HVAC or Ducted?

[John Brinkos]

I have a 1800 ft 5 bedroom place that is a college student housing property. Currently there is baseboard heat and window AC. My electric bills were in the $900/mth realm this winter (avg temp 30). The house is 1930's so insulation is iffy. Single pain windows. There are efficiencies I can take with lower cost like upgrade windows but the heart of my question is does the cost of a HVAC system overcome the cost of equipment and installation of the equipment? Should I move toward a whole house ducted HVAC system and control settings or a ductless room by room heat pump/ AC setup? Which provides more long term (5 year horizon) cost effectiveness when monthly cost savings are offset with cost of unit and installation? Thanks for any thoughts. John

[Seth Borman]

Baseboard heat is not efficient. It uses electricity at 97% efficiency (the rest is light and that crackling noise) but the power used to generate it isn't efficient. The gas plants that generate electricity are 38-60% efficient. Distribution losses are around 8-10%. That means that your baseboard heat is 33-54% efficient. That compares to a gas furnace at 97%...

John, I recommend that you start with insulation and windows first. That will lower the cost of whatever heat you use. In fact, if you make the place efficient enough you can lower the capital cost of heat pumps if you decide to go that route.

What I would do in your shoes is look into how much it would cost to fully insulate and replace the windows.