Northern states AC unit

I picked up a property that has ductwork and an oil fired hot air furnace. I’m ripping the furnace out and installing electric baseboard heat. Would any of you leave the duct work and install central air or just rip that out as well and have them by window units? Central AC is nice around here but it’s definitely not a must or expected for central air in the whole house.

--24.152.xxx.xx

Northern states AC unit (by Dodge [PA]) Posted on: Jun 28, 2026 4:37 PM
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Depends on cost. What's the price difference to swap about the oil furnace with heat pump?

You got to mail in a form, but the electric utility may rebates for the switch. I'd lean toward offering AC and avoiding BB heat if the cost gap was covered by better rent & tenant.

--174.59.xxx.xxx

Northern states AC unit (by Mapleaf18 [NY]) Posted on: Jun 28, 2026 5:11 PM
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Electric baseboard heat is super undesirable now due to the astronomical cost of electric. Heat pumps not that much better. I would go NG or propane furnace. Tenants would let oil go dry. --64.246.xxx.xx

Northern states AC unit (by NE [PA]) Posted on: Jun 28, 2026 5:15 PM
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I’m not going to leave a propane or fuel oil furnace in a small single-family home rental. I’ve ripped them out in the past and will continue to do so. They can sign up for monthly budget billing so the bill stays the same all year long and adjusts every six months or so. I also use it for screening purposes, because some people can’t get electricity switched into their name. If they can’t do that, they can go rent somewhere else. Besides, furnaces are too expensive to change over when they go down. When they finally go down, you know it’s going be in the middle of winter when you’re not really able to shop around for the best price on a replacement. You have to go with whoever gets there the quickest. With electric baseboard, if a thermostat goes bad, you still have the rest of the units carrying the house and you can switch a thermostat out for 30 bucks. --24.152.xxx.xx

Northern states AC unit (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) Posted on: Jun 28, 2026 8:04 PM
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I would leave the ducting, but would also consider a pellet stove --67.140.xx.xxx

Northern states AC unit (by NE [PA]) Posted on: Jun 28, 2026 8:10 PM
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A pellet stove in a rental? I don’t know about that. --24.152.xxx.xx

Northern states AC unit (by plenty [MO]) Posted on: Jun 28, 2026 8:35 PM
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I would stick with forced air for both heat and ac and I would go to all electric... helps with screening too. :) --172.59.xxx.xxx

Northern states AC unit (by WMH [NC]) Posted on: Jun 28, 2026 8:42 PM
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Baseboard is like burning money. We found people are less willing to pay higher rents with baseboard. Even a wall-unit heat pump goes further than baseboard. --173.18.xx.xxx

Northern states AC unit (by NE [PA]) Posted on: Jun 28, 2026 8:50 PM
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Ya. I’ll take less rent for less maintenance headache by using electric baseboard. Main focus here is whether or not I install an AC unit in the existing ductwork. --174.249.xx.xx

Northern states AC unit (by Ken [NY]) Posted on: Jun 28, 2026 8:52 PM
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I put in electric strips as backup on rentals but no way i would not have a furnace or boiler as the main sourse of heat.pellet stove will probably be a problem with your insurance company in a rental. --38.248.xx.xx

Northern states AC unit (by MikeA [TX]) Posted on: Jun 28, 2026 10:52 PM
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If you go with central AC why not also include the central electric heater. It would probably be cheaper than putting in baseboard heat in multiple rooms and could be converted back to gas/propane relatively cheaply which would be beneficial if you end up selling it. --99.64.xx.xx

Northern states AC unit (by DJ [VA]) Posted on: Jun 29, 2026 8:08 AM
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Ken said it well.

Since you insist on electric baseboard heat, then that tells me your target tenant is not in the more responsible, fiscally-aware group. So, they will also not expect central AC in that class of rental.

Window AC is fine

Why go through the time & trouble to remove the ductwork? Just abandon it. Who knows, maybe someone will want to put it to use again someday. --72.218.xx.xxx

Northern states AC unit (by NE [PA]) Posted on: Jun 29, 2026 8:40 AM
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Most people who rent my houses that have furnaces don’t even know how to work the thermostat. We’ve converted quite a few houses in this particular development to electric baseboard. The furnace is going. --24.152.xxx.xx

Northern states AC unit (by Chicago LL [IL]) Posted on: Jun 29, 2026 9:14 AM
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I would leave the ducts and install AC in the future to get a higher grade tenants. --99.128.xxx.xxx

Northern states AC unit (by zero [IN]) Posted on: Jun 29, 2026 9:59 AM
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I have two places with ceiling cable heat and at least 10 with baseboards. The baseboards are better for sure, especially since they are individually controlled. Put a couch against the wall, turn off that unit.

Forced air is better by fay, but not feasible in these units. I have one TTW air unit that takes care of the entire 1050 sf apartment because I have ceiling fans in there as well.

I looked into some of the new PTAC like handlers but the cost was up and the savings wasn't there for me. I might revisit, but we get a lot of cold days here and the heat pumps switch over to regular strip heat.

If the old furnace had the huge vents I would change those out, but only if I was changing the floors at the same time. The ductwork below can stay. Doesn't hurt anything just hanging there. --47.227.xx.xxx

Northern states AC unit (by 6x6 [TN]) Posted on: Jun 29, 2026 6:23 PM
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I am not familiar with oil furnaces, but my understanding is up north that oil is way cheaper than electric. Why would you rip out a working more efficient furnace?

Otherwise as MikeA. --73.19.xxx.xx

Northern states AC unit (by NE [PA]) Posted on: Jun 29, 2026 6:37 PM
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Oil furnaces are a PITA --24.152.xxx.xx

Northern states AC unit (by GKARL [PA]) Posted on: Jun 29, 2026 6:51 PM
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I have EBB in my units and not getting heat calls is a relief so from a management perspective, it works. If you're part of a row, that moderates the bill. --172.56.xx.xxx

Northern states AC unit (by Ray-N-Pa [PA]) Posted on: Jun 30, 2026 7:36 AM
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No issues with insurance on pellet stoves, but they absolutely have wood burners --67.140.xx.xxx

Northern states AC unit (by zero [IN]) Posted on: Jun 30, 2026 9:52 AM
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Oil furnaces were great in their time. Easier to use than wood. Cheaper than electric.

But they had a tendency to leak, they smelled bad, and they were just not as nice to use as say natural gas.

My grandparents had one. It was always needing service. Then they had to remember to fill the tank. Plus they had copper tubing buried to go from the tank to the basement where the furnace was.

I would pull one from any rental for sure. I would not want to deal with one in my place, even if just my barn. --47.227.xx.xxx

Northern states AC unit (by Robert,OntarioCanada [ON]) Posted on: Jun 30, 2026 7:46 PM
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Forced air is not very efficient where using split heat pumps minimum cost and mess. Here for a around $1,000 can buy split heat pump at Costco where will cost less the Us. Depending on size of house three split heat pumps maybe sufficient where again will depend on insulation and windows. --216.110.xxx.xxx

Northern states AC unit (by Ken [NY]) Posted on: Jun 30, 2026 8:32 PM
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zero,propane is a good alternative to oil --38.248.xx.xx

Northern states AC unit (by zero [IN]) Posted on: Jul 1, 2026 9:35 AM
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Ken- Sure is, if you don't mind still dealing with a tank.

Had a lady working for me for a short time. She lived in an old, drafty farm house. Propane heat. Burned thru it like it was nothing.

Said she would close off the upstairs and make her kids sleep in her room in the winter, to try and help save money. I guess the heat vents would blow cold air without the furnace running because the crawlspace was so open.

I asked her why she didn't move. Her response was because she was happy there.

She spent more on propane than I probably did on gas and electric, but at least she was happy. --47.227.xx.xxx

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