Electric Baseboards of Forced Air

[Joe Schaak]

Advice needed : I have an older duplex in Minnesota that has had all the radiators removed. The old boilers are shot as well. I’m putting in a heating system from scratch.

Electric heat is the least expensive to install. Does electric heat make the property less valuable upon resale? More importantly, does it make it less attractive as a rental? This property will be a Class C property.

[Joe Schaak]

Thanks, everyone, for the helpful feedback. I’m leaning electric with programmable wall thermostats so they can control the temps easily. Each bedroom, the bathroom, and the living room/kitchen will each have their own thermostats. I’m replacing windows or installing new storms and new insulation in the ceilings (walls already have it). That said, I’m going to spend some time researching what other properties in the area are using to be safe. I would LOVE to do solar and make this a greener building but, unfortunately, the numbers don’t allow for it.

[John Hickey]

@Ray Harrell my bad Ray i just re read your post, I was real critical.

IMO eclectic base boiled heating is shortsighted in cold climates. I’ve owned stuff with them and talked over with other landlords on the plus minus. They are cheap to install as long as you can go from below or above without to much patching so that’s good.

but in my houses the winter is cold they are old brick buildings with single pane windows...of course no insulation.

We fix all that but the combo of that and elec baseboard kills the tenants they can never get ahead. So when I buy I change the heat. I figure I’ll have to replace them every 7-10 years with a bit of maintenance

And they are very efficient. Better then the heat in my house....which is electric. Wife’s always complaining about the high bill.

[Joe Schaak]

Just a final update to close the thread. I ended up do forced air in both units of the duplex with separate heating. I also added AC as well. By adding a bedroom to each unit, I was able to cover the added expense of forced air. Thanks for all the conversation and advice!