Splitting hot water

[Ian Handel]

Hi, I have a 4 family in southern NH. Two of the units have separate oil furnaces and the tenants pay their own heat and hot water. However, on the other side of the building there is only one oil furnace for two units and I pay heat and hot water for both units.

I would like to install electric baseboard heaters in one of the units so I do not have to pay for heat any longer. That way one tenant would have electric heat that would be their own responsibility and the other would pay for the oil for the furnace.

The issue is that the oil furnace supplies hot water to both units.

Do I install a new electric hot water heater and the new plumbing to go with it? Do I reimburse the tenant with the oil furnace for the hot water the other tenant is using? Do I just not talk about it and hope neither tenant notices where the hot water is coming from?

Thanks for your advice and happy holidays.

[Steve Babiak]

Do it the right way by getting another hot water heater and splitting the plumbing.