Should I go elec wall heater, elec baseboard or gas boiler?

Question

Hello all,

I was wondering what yours thoughts were on a new heating system I want to install in a 500 sqft apartment in North Jersey. I plan on living in this unit for a year or two and renting it out after. Its a three family home and I will be occupying the top floor. The apartment had old electric baseboards which I plan on removing.

There is gas access to the home. Its about 100 years old but its a double brick home so its decently insulated. Winters here can get a little brutal so I'm not sure if electric wall heaters or baseboard will cut it. On the other hand a new gas boiler install (even the smallest model) will still cost me anywhere from 5-7k. Electric baseboard or wall heaters will run be about $1200.

Please let me know if you all have any experience with electric wall heaters or baseboards and if maybe i'm going down the wrong route and should just do gas boiler baseboards.

Account Closed · Answer

Boilers are a pain in the rear.  We had one for hot water for the 26 unit building I managed and lived in, and it was a pain.  If it goes out, all of your tenants are hollering at once.  The apartment building was heated with city gas.  In each unit, we had gas wall heaters - really old, but really effective.  Gas is warmer, for sure, and can be cheaper, depending where you are.

But, I owned a house in WA state that I refurbished and we just put in electric baseboard heaters in each room.  They were fine.  I liked being able to heat different rooms separately.  I also had a wood stove in the living room, but didn't always fire it up.  And this was on the Canadian border, so long winters and snow.

If you can afford to have gas for heat and cooking and hot water (but, I'm talking hot water heaters in each unit, not a central boiler), it would probably be cheaper and more efficient and warmer.  But, electric is the least maintenance and cheapest to install.

One thing I did when I refurbished the old house on the Canadian border, is really insulated it - blew insulation into the exterior walls, under the house and in the attic I put really thick fiberglass insulation.  So, it would stay warm inside, even with just the electric baseboard heaters.  Oh, and better windows, too - sealed everything up and whatever the best double-paned windows were way back then.  That little old Victorian house was nice and toasty inside after that.  And don't forget the electric tape for the pipes if they're under the building to keep them from freezing.

Anyway, for my own home, I prefer gas everything. But, for a multi-family, I'd go electric, just because there would be less maintenance calls.  Unless it is high-end, then people want gas for cooking.  They care more about gas for cooking - oh, and drying clothes - than for heating, in my experience.

Marco Y. · Answer

Haven't logged on in a while but thank you all for the responses much appreciated.

George W. · Answer

If you dont want your electric or gas meter to spin then do a manual j heatloss. Electric baseboard will work if you get the right amount of it  again you determine how many btus you need by doing a heatloss manual j. If you guess how many btus you need chances are you'll either be way under or way over what you acutally need to heat the unit.

Brian Liscio · Answer

I had the same exact experience. About 10 years ago install electric baseboard 220. You can do that and watch that electric meter spin... I recently ran a hot water pipe off another unit. One 4’ fin pipe was sufficient. Not sure if that’s an option for your place.

Pat L. · Answer

I agree boilers are a PITA & the one we have in our 6 unit is very OLD & demanding. But it heats 5 units for $250-$350/month depending on outside temps & the old 6000+ sq ft building is only so so insulated. However, the 6th unit is all electric & that runs an average of $254/month/year, but that also includes 2 8K BTU window a/c units all summer. This unit has all new (5yrs) 240v 1500W Cadet electric wall blower units installed in series & they like it warm.

A small 1 bed ranch we have is also all electric (Includes 30 gall HW Tank) & that is running around $325/month in the brutal cold winter months here in upstate NY. On another property we have a guy living in an all electric 39ft trailer & this last Winter it ran him $280/month. Last months (mild weather) bill dropped to $189.