Property Efficiency..

[acurAspec]

I had a door to door salesperson come to my house from National to sell me a new water heater tank... i never signed up on it but sparked me to do some research about efficienecy of my water system and to see if i can indeed save $$ by switching to a different system.



I have a 75 gallon power vented tank for my triplex which is pretty good but is not Energy Star rated as i found out during that visit... Also I am thinking now if maybe a tankless system would be more efficient?



What is everyone here doing with their rental buildings to ensure the best efficiency? What can I do with my triplex and should I be looking into replacing with an Energy star rating tank? Should I rent or buy the tank? I guess lifespan of a tank would be 12-15 years which would make a purchase more beneficial than renting also.



Any thoughts?

 

[tonyla]

I have been researching hot water heaters for my own residence and the general advice it get with regarding tankless versus tanks is, it's not worth it. The tankless does save on energy bills but the payback period is ~15-20 years. Estimates for tankless are 3k+, while tanks are ~1.5k. In addition the tankless solutions need to be serviced once a year to ensure proper function.



The only real reason you would want a tankless is :
1) enjoy hugging trees (care about lowering energy footprint)
2) need unlimited hot water.
As for upgrading to a more efficient tank. I personally would just wait until the current one breaks and replace it with a new efficient one.



Unfortunately/fortunately energy is cheap enough that upgrades to save energy are rarely economically justified. The is why the government provides rebates for energy conserving upgrades. Inorder to tip the scales.

 

[Thomas Beyer]

Stay with proven, cheap systems unless you want to be a pioneer and prove a point. Tankless systems are great where gas or electricity is expensive, say Europe or soon, Ontario. I grew up on them .. 40 years ago but electricity is 4x more in Europe than in W-Canada. Gas is also cheap here in Canada. Tankless also makes sense in rarely used vacacation homes.

 

[acurAspec]

Thanks to both for your input.



On another note-- while we are talking efficiency-- in the next year or two, would that be the time to lock the mortgage rate to guarantee the low rate for the following 5 years? It seems to me that the rates will hold until mid '13 but there is no question that the rates will perhaps jump by at least 2% in the 5 years thereafter.

 

[terri]

regarding tankless...I looked into this in the past with a triplex and my heating guy suggested that each apt would need it's own tankless unit due to the fact that each apt had a dishwasher/washing machine. If you do decide to go with a tankless, check with your heating guy to ensure that one tankless unit would be enough to service all 3 apts.

 

[housingrental]

Repair person warns that tankless have higher failure rate

 

[invst4profit]

In addition replacement parts can be very expensive.



Personally it's better to put your efforts into only purchasing properties having separate meters and rent plus utilities. Changing appliances to save energy does not have a adequate enough pay back time to bother worrying about in a rental property. Make the decision only when appliances fail and make sure you don't pay more when you do.

 

[acurAspec]

Adam,



Since you are in the waterloo area-- what do you think of this property?



http://www.icx.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=10891069&PidKey=103477053



It's a 20 unit building in as is condition for $1.15M.



I know the area wouldnt be the greatest but the price is right!



Sasha

 

[Nir]

[quote user=ThomasBeyer]Stay with proven, cheap systems unless you want to be a pioneer and prove a point. Tankless systems are great where gas or electricity is expensive, say Europe or soon, Ontario. I grew up on them .. 40 years ago but electricity is 4x more in Europe than in W-Canada. Gas is also cheap here in Canada. Tankless also makes sense in rarely used vacacation homes.


With Thomas on our side nobody can 'sell' anything to us!..unless it's good

Highly appreciated!

Thanks & Regards,

Nir

 

[housingrental]

I'd say a caveat that some of the old fridges the payback is worthwhile - even if plus utilities as renters will be turned off and it'll impact rent on changeover - some are brutal



[quote user=invst4profit]In addition replacement parts can be very expensive.



Personally it's better to put your efforts into only purchasing properties having separate meters and rent plus utilities. Changing appliances to save energy does not have a adequate enough pay back time to bother worrying about in a rental property. Make the decision only when appliances fail and make sure you don't pay more when you do.

 

[housingrental]

Actually the location is not as bad as farther south

I've not been through it but that valuation + needs TLC doesn't imply a promising operating profit....





[quote user=acurAspec]Adam,



Since you are in the waterloo area-- what do you think of this property?



http://www.icx.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=10891069&PidKey=103477053



It's a 20 unit building in as is condition for $1.15M.



I know the area wouldnt be the greatest but the price is right!



Sasha

 

[Nir]

[quote user=acurAspec]

It's a 20 unit building in as is condition for $1.15M.








20 units or 15?

 

[wgraham]

You all may want to look at this energy rebate program



http://www.actionplan.gc.ca/eng/feature.asp?mode=preview&pageId=239

 

[acurAspec]

you are right-- it's 15! I am not sure where I got the number 20 from.