First Boiler: Questions?

[Adrien Hebert]

I have run across my first boiler. Im hoping some of my fellow BPers can shed light on pros and cons that come along with heating a home with a boiler. To be specific, the property is a four unit and there is just one boiler that is supplying all of the units. The boiler looks ancient, but seems to be working with no immediate issues. There was baseboard heating installed at some point, but in the initial walkthrough it was not clear whether these are function (they don't seem to be). So along with deciding whether it is worth it to convert the heating to baseboard heat, I was also trying to determine if there was a way to split the utilities. Hopefully some of you can provide some insight!

Thanks

[Mike McCarthy]

For my home, I’d go with a gas boiler any day of the week. They are pretty much indestructible, and can easily last 50-80 years. There’s also not much to them, so not a lot to break/repair. Eventually, they’ll rust through.

But as a MF landlord, there’s really no way to split them (without a whole lot of work/expense), and you’ll pretty much be paying the heating bills.

I just converted a 3 family from a single boiler to 3 separate mini-split ductless systems. They were a little pricey upfront, but I’ve been really happy with them. Plus I’ve been able to increase rent since they include AC too.

Electric baseboard is a cheap (for you) solution, but depending on the size of the apartments, can be costly to run.