All Forum Posts by: Andrei Opal

Luc, thank you for your advise. I've never though that electric heat could scare away some tenants. yes i have a forced air natural gas furnace and your suggestion sounds very reasonable to me. However, if i'm going to keep the furnace for both units, who will pay for electricity that HVAC consumes? Or it is not a significant amount of electricity usage which can be neglected? Thanks

hey overyone! Thanks for useful information that you all posted here. Currently I'm in a process of buying a single family house in Kitchener. I would like to convert that property into a legal duplex. The city confirmed the possibility of conversion. What would you suggest in terms of splitting heat between units? here are some options: 

- leave HVAC for main floor as is. And put heat pump for basement? Pros: easy to install, affordable ($3500 with work), saves some room space. Cons: don't work effectively below -10deg, hydro bills, no heat in a bathroom. 

- leave HVAC for main floor and put a  -boiler (heat + hot water supply on demand)for basement. Pros: efficiency, saves some room space. Cons: expensive, possibility of water leakage (alternatively rent the boiler and then in a case of emergency, tenant will call to a supplier directly) 

- remove HVAC and put two separate combi-boilers for both units. In this case I can add another bedroom for my basement. 

Also if you have any other ideas how to make tenants to pay for their heat please share. 

Thanks