Will tenants pay more rent for lower utilities?

[Mark Wikkerink]

Hi everyone,

We are renovating a duplex, and so far we have gone with heat pumps and natural gas furnaces, so heating and cooling should be lower priced than usual.

However, I have to decide on water heaters, and I can do a regular electric model which could cost them $400+ a year to run, or I could do a heat pump water heater, which would only cost $100-200 per year to run. 

However, the cost to install the heat pump water heater is nearly $1000. 

Is this worth it, hoping they will pay more rent for lower utilities? Our duplex is a medium range rental, but is close to downtown Indy in an area that is seeing fast increases in values.

Thanks,

Mark

[Curt Davis]

Go with the normal water heater.