Skip to content
Managing Your Property

User Stats

2
Posts
0
Votes
Jeremy Salerno
0
Votes |
2
Posts

How can I best optimize the utilities in my two-family (MA, USA)

Jeremy Salerno
Posted May 28 2022, 09:07

I just purchased a weird two-family house utilities-wise, and would GREATLY appreciate some advice. The house is c. 1910, about 1500 sqft total, both units app. the same size. Note: I had MassSave do an assessment, they are going to blow-in insulation in both units, and they mentioned there are rebates on mini-splits, hot water tanks, etc.

Unit #1 (Rented until June-2023 w/ Lease) - First floor, 2br, 1ba:

Heat: Force air by oil. Oil tank looks new-ish with no year or install date. Oil furnace is 30 years old, but was just serviced last month. Ductwork looks average, it's that soft padded stuff, not the hard aluminum metal looking stuff. The inspector is the one that said it looks average. There is also a single electric baseboard heat in the bathroom (the bathroom looks like it was an add-on at some point).

Hot Water: Boiler heated by gas, installed Year 2000. Warranty says 6yrs.

Unit #2 (Owner-occupied by me) - Second floor, 1br, 1.5ba:

Heat: Electric baseboard. Can't tell how old, maybe 80s-90s.

Hot Water: Boiler heated by gas, hooked up to the SAME boiler as for Unit #1 (i.e. there is only 1 water boiler serving both units.

Notes:

- The hot water boiler that serves both units is GAS, and the GAS is hooked up to Unit #2 (therefore paid by me).

- The tenants in Unit #1 pay for the oil for the oil furnace (i.e. they pay their own heat), they also pay their own electric.

- There are solar panels on the roof are hooked up to Unit #2 (my unit), therefore I do not really pay much electricity, or heat, since it's electric baseboard.

- I have a gas stove in Unit #2, and Unit #1 has electric stove.

- I will most likely be renting out Unit #2 at some point in the future.

Now, you can tell that everything is sort of different for each unit and not standardized. My largest concern is the 20+ year old hot water boiler that serves BOTH units. That will really go at any moment, and I want to replace it ASAP.

Here's the difficult part. Ideally, I would want to split the hot water so that I pay my own, and my tenant pays their own (i.e. I'm not paying their hot water), but with the lease in place, I do not think I can legally do this.

Questions:

Should I: 

  1. 1) separate the hot water and buy two new tanks, and 2) pay for their hot water after it's separated so that I'm not breaking any laws, or 3) replace single hot water tank and continue to pay their hot water? Keep in mind, if I rent Unit #2 in the future, I will have to disclose that Unit #2 pays for Unit #1's hot water too, might look not appealing for renters.
  2. For whatever I go with for the above question: should I do a tankless water heat or tanked? And, MassSave mentioned that there are models that suck in the ambient air and dehumidify, are these worthwhile? The basement is slightly moist.
  3. Unit #2: The electric baseboard heat works, and it's also paid for by the solar panels. MassSave recommends I go to mini-splits in the unit as they're more efficient that electric baseboard. But, are they more maintenance? Is it worth it? I don't want to have to bug tenants in the future to do maintenance inside their unit. Keep in mind this is New England too, so if they don't really throw heat it would kind of be a waste, as I could just buy a window AC for the unit.
  4. Unit #1: The oil furnace. It's 30 years old, but works, and was just serviced. MassSave recommended that I swap it for an electric system, hopefully if the duct work can be used as is for that too. The oil tank is relatively new it looks like, should I just keep the oil in place until it goes? The unit is tenanted.

Thank you!!