best heat for a small apartment

[Jeff Kehl]

I'm rehabbing an old house from the 30's I got from a tax deed auction. It was divided down the middle into two apartments at some point. There is no ductwork and no evidence of hvac of any kind having been there. One of the units has the old parlor and dining room and there's fireplaces in both rooms one of which seems operational and like its been used recently. There's a gas valve installed there so I think they might have been using gas logs.

The neighborhood this house is in is not great at the moment so I plan to keep it as a duplex and make the units decent but not great. So I'm looking for ideas on what to do for hvac. I'm in Georgia and heat is not such a big deal here. It will get into the 20s several times during the winter but that's it.

Some other apartments I have without ductwork I brought in my hvac contractor and he suggested built-in large commercial electric window units. They work great., provide heat and ac and are adequate for 2br apartments. But they were about$1500/ unit installed and the bigger problem is the electric is not separately metered. A/c can be a very expensive thing here especially in older houses.

These apartments wont rent for much probably around $300/month so I'm worried about paying for utilities and getting stuck with big electric bills.

Looking for ideas/suggestions if others have tackled this problem.