Heat pump vs. Straight electric vs. Natural Gas??

[Ed L.]

Closing on another rental property tomorrow. Older 3br. 1ba home built in the 1960's.

Home currently has natural gas central unit with "NO" central cooling. The only cooling comes from window units. Pretty unusual setup for the area.

I'm planning on replacing the unit with a heat/ air combo.

I'm trying to decide which type of system to go with.

I prefer gas heat personally, but the furnace is the last piece of gas hardware. Once it's eliminated the tenants would no longer have to hassle with a separate gas bill.

Straight electric is the cheapest to install, simple/reliable, Just not sure how bad the electric bills will be during the winter. I definitely don't want the tenants being unable to pay rent because they are paying $300 utility bills.

Then there is the Heat pump setup. Good energy efficiency, a little pricy, more parts to break.

My preference is just going with straight electric heat, but I'm just not sure how much more expensive the utility bill would be during the winter.

I'm down in South MS so winter is almost non existent. We probably get 15 days a year of freezing temperatures.

[Roy N.]

Ed Lee

If you have an efficient gas furnace already and the heat is forced air, you can add a central cooling unit into the plenum (with an external compressor like a heat pump) to provide central air to the building.

This should be a more cost efficient solution than replacing the existing system. Though, if the blower in your furnace is not a DC variable speed unit {i.e. an old single speed 75-100amp motor}, you should consider replacing the blower since it will be running year round and the blower tends to be the biggest energy consumer in older forced air systems.

If the gas furnace is older (only 65 - 75% efficient vs 95% in a modern furnace), you could always replace it with a hybrid solution ... natural gas heat with an electric central air cooler.