China, ME · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
I'm working with another BP member and we've identified what we think is a good flip opportunity. The current heating system is propane fired FHW and the system is junk - he'll have to replace it completely.
That lead us to a discussion about which heating systems would be the most desirable. There's no piped-in natural gas available on the street, so we're down to the other alternatives.
I'm assuming that the cost-per-BTU would be the way to decide between the different options.
Does anybody know what that cost looks like for gas (I'm assuming is the most attractive), oil, mini-splits (which can also add whole-house AC - but need backup for extreme cold), and (gasp) baseboard electric heat?
I don't know of any real way to determine cost to install per BTU. There are way too many variables to make a simplified estimate that way.
Most people in the northeast part of the country are using either gas or oil fired systems for heating because, as a general rule, they produce better results at lower operating costs than the alternatives. (In my opinion, if you do decide to go with electric baseboard, you will probably have a very tough time selling your flip because the cost to operate will turn most prospective buyers away.) In my experience, given a choice, the majority of prospective buyers would prefer a gas-fired heating system over an oil-fired system.
Forced warm air systems will allow the option of installing central air conditioning at the same time or at a later date. Hot water heating systems will provide a more consistent even heat throughout the home than forced warm air but will make it necessary to add a completely separate system if central air is added.
I think the question that needs to be asked is, what type of a product do you want to present to the market when you sell this flip? If you're selling a down and dirty starter home you will need to make decisions on HVAC much differently than if you are selling a higher end home.
We renovated a 3 family in upstate ny a couple years ago. For the downstairs one bedroom unit we installed a high efficiency propane furnace with a AC Condensor unit outside. We chose this path only because it was cleaner than oil and because natural gas is unavailble currently. If they do bring natural gas down the street in the next couple years, the furnace can be easily converted over from LP. Also, there were too many interior walls to make mini-splits the economical choice - we would have needed 3-4 interior heads.
For the two studio apartments upstairs though we did use Mitsubishi mini-splits and they are amazing. We do have supplemental heat in the bathrooms in those units in the form of 36" hydronic baseboards which the tenants can control themselves. If you are flipping though and are worried about appearance more you can always add an in-wall heater in the bathroom/kitchen that sits flush inside the stud bays.
We have had plenty of really cold -0 nights and the mini-splits have performed extremely well though. If the project house isn't to chopped-up in terms of layout they could be a good option. As I understand it, one outdoor mini-split compressor can service as many as four interior head units.