How much to replace electric heat to gas?

Question

I am on the market looking to buy a house. I just may have found the "perfect" house. It has EVERYTHING I want, size, parking, LOCATION, but has electric baseboards in the whole house!!! I imagine they did this since it was built in '87 (which is great for Massachusetts- everything is old here with lead paint)
How much is it to change out the entire heating system in a 3 level 1900 sq ft house (ballpark) I would use central heat and central air (why not) unless an alternative method of gas heating was significantly lower. I am keeping in mind it will cost me $20k-$30k to de-lead another home since I have kids, this isn't the case in this house since it was built after 1979. Any ball park number for those who know about construction would be great.

wow. I was expecting 30K... Would love to hear from someone in New England though...even better, Cambridge, where I am...
I am worried there are no gas lines leading to house, in which I suppose I'd have to install oil heat (?) Also if anyone knows of any alternative heating methods such as solar? What is the cost? I know the tax advantages could be good.
Also for the record, De-leading in MA is mandatory. After 90 days and if I haven't done anything to control the lead paint(even if it is not chipping, etc), I will be fined. I am saying this house I speak of has NO lead, so the money I would have spent de-leading could go into the new heating system. Deleading is $20-30K.

Answer 1

All electric heat in Mass, insane. Probably means there's no gas nearby. Oil restricts your choices, for the kind of money your going to spend, you should go alternate combo, taxbreak will be a big plus and energy saving will be progressive, and theres the environment; win, win, win. You need a serious consultant. Geothermal, solar, wind, the possibilities are exciting. Good Luck!

Answer 2

The descrption of th house is a little vaque,the style of the housewould give clues as to how difficult and expensive an installation will be.Cape Cod style houses are often difficult to reyrofit duct work into,finished basements also make it more difficult.Almost anything can be done if you want it to happen,you may have to give up closet space or build a chase for duct work.You may have to put in more than one system,if so I would recommend air handlers with hydro coils and an indirect fired hot water heater powered by a boiler.You may end up spending as much as the de-leading.Get some local hvac contractors to look at the house give you ideas and ballpark you.Heat pumps are worth the effort if you want air but in MA. you defininitely need a foosill fuel secondary.

Answer 3

The points that McLone are addressing are fair prices and to keep the prices dn and if not necessary, put in an ad-to forced air unit, it'll save you money in the present day.
However, if your a dickering man, grind the guy for the ad-on now for next to nothing just to let him get the job.
Here in Oregon an entire ducking system with a couple of returns and easy access would be 6kish.
remember, where you are depends on the rate per hour that is chged by the HVAC men. also it depends on the time of year you install. when they're out of work, you can obviously make a better deal. Contract it, and design the AC unit & duct work to your specs. Take your time...they will take the easy route.

as for the lead on the walls, paint over, don't disturb it, its cheaper and you won't live there that long. as long as its not disturbed its OK.
Or lmove on to another home. Old homes have it, Newer ones are less apt to.

Answer 4

About 3 years ago we put in a gas furnace and had to have all the ductwork done as well (the heat was just a woodstove in the livingroom). It is a 4 bedroom 2 story home and it cost us about $3000.00 - 4000.00. Now keep in mind we are in Southwestern Virginia and services and materials tend to be a good deal cheaper here than in Mass. We opted for forced hot air, no a/c but we have the option of adding in on later to the same system. The other option was water rather than air...in retrospect we might have been better off with the water but I don't know. Also we used propane as we are to far out of town for natural gas. I don't how that might effect price. I would call the gas co. and talk to a sales rep for quotes. good luck.

Answer 5

3-level houses are difficult to duct while they are being built much less AFTER the fact.

Sounds as though you'd be better off with a propane-fueled, forced-air system. If possible, I'd leave the baseboard system intact in case you have some cold spots in the house. (which is common with split levels) Ductwork could be a big problem so don't commit until you know exactly what the tin knockers are going to do for you.' and how much it will cost. You may wind up with more than one system in the house.

My guess is12-15K. Good luck.

Answer 6

Consider this: There's a possibility you could use the same baseboard plumbing you already have in the house. If so, all you would need to do is to change the furnace.

They money you could save might pay for through the wall air conditioners throughout the house.

Answer 7

I don't know much about cost, but it seems like it would be cheaper to replace the electric baseboards with ones that run off of a gas furnace. You would still need to do the plumbing, but copper pipes are a lot smaller than ducting. Like I said, I don't know much about this, but I think it would be worth trying to find someone who does.