floor-furnace/wall-furnace, good or bad?

[Gary M.]

A lot of smaller, older homes that I am considering purchasing for rentals feature a floor-furnace or in one case a wall-furnace. The house my wife and I rented when we first got married had a floor furnace in it and I don't remember it being a problem or undesirable. But as a landlord, are there drawbacks to these heating systems?

[Jon Holdman]

I grew up with off these gas floor furnaces. It was fine when we were little and it was tucked into a nook with a fence around it. Then, my dad added on, and it was in the hallway. Made an interesting challenge for little kids, and I had more than one pair of shoes with a grid in the bottom.

The upside was that we had heat even when the electricity went out. So, if that's a concern, then these have an advantage. If they're tucked out of the way, and are blocked off to avoid anyone stepping on them, they should be fine.

Both the wall and the floor units must be properly vented. I've seen wall units that were unvented. Just burned the gas right in the unit, and the combustion gas went into the house. These are bad and should be removed.

Gas furnaces of any sort must have both good venting so the combustion gas exits the house, and must have a good supply of combustion air.

Jon

[Gary M.]

Thanks Jon

[Eric Wang]

Since it's a rental, there is no draw backs. Wall furnace are cheap. You as a landlord only need to provide a functional furnace. Today's wall furnace has a gas shut-off sensor if it is not drafting properly. Having central heating installed is pretty expensive and I don't think you would collect more rent if you had it.

[Gary M.]

Thanks

[Sean Gallagher]

I hear you need a permit to install a wall furnance, along with an inspector when the install is complete?

[Gary M.]

Yeah thanks for the input. I know that for comfort, central heat and air are preferred but for a smaller unit a wall furnace may do the trick.