Tenants complain the electricity bills are too high
I’m a landlord who owns several old flat-roof city multi-family buildings. All of the buildings were rehabbed ~2012. furnaces are mostly 2012, but the crooked contractor slipped in some furnaces from 2007. All windows were replaced in 2012. 2 buildings have new roofs installed last year. I have had several tenants complain about utility bills. I looked into utilization at the electric company and the bills seem generally high. i don’t see any one characteristic that causes higher usage (e.g. the units with the 2012 furnaces don’t appear to be materially more efficient than the 2007 – ~10% when adjusted for relative sq footage). Both downstairs and upstairs units have bills that are too high.
Buildings are brick and tuck pointing is in decent shape.
My contractor was a crook, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he cut corners. What else is there that I can do (hopefully within a reasonable affordability) to improve energy efficiency. My tenants in a 1000 sq ft apartment averaged ~250/month in electric bills from Dec1 – Feb 29 last year. The highest monthly bill was $350!
Where do I start with something like this?
Answer from Green Energy Efficient Homes
Without looking inside the apartments I can’t give very concrete guidance. From your description it appears that the apartments are heated by electricity, since you don’t mention gas bills. You do mention furnaces but electric furnaces are a thing, and they are typically quite cheap, so it’s possible that someone decided to opt for the cheap cost of installation since the cost of operation is borne by the tenants. (This might have been you or a previous landlord from before the rehabilitation: if the building was already wired for electric furnaces it’s much easier to install new electric furnaces than gas furnaces.)
I would suggest hiring someone to do a home energy audit on some of the apartments where the tenants complain most about electricity bills. In all likelihood your auditor will recommend that you switch to a ducted high efficiency heat pump, which should cut electricity costs by about 50-70%. I wouldn’t recommend buying a new furnace given how far heat pumps have come in the past few years in terms of efficiency.
A home energy audit would (among other things) do a blower door test to figure out where drafts in the apartment are letting warm air out and cold air in. Plugging drafts is relatively easy and can save a lot of energy. You could also invest in an infrared heat gun to walk around the apartments on a cold day and take measurements of outside walls, window seams, and so on to find where the cold areas are. It may be the contractor cut corners on insulation or on proper sealing. You or your tenants may want to invest in better window coverings as a lot of heat escapes through windows, and proper blinds or curtains can cut back on those heat losses.
I gather you are based in Missouri, which has a state website devoted to certified home energy auditors. Look for one in your area and give them a call. Note that there are some personal income tax advantages to having a home energy audit, but I’m not sure how you would take advantage of those as the landlord. One option that might work is to get the tenant to pay for the audit, and for you to provide them with a corresponding reduction in their rent. But I haven’t looked into the program since I don’t live anywhere near Missouri.
The Inflation Reduction Act has plenty of provisions to help incentivize people to upgrade the energy efficiency of homes, including up to a $5,000 credit for upgrading a leased dwelling to make it more energy efficient. I believe this would apply per apartment, but it’s best to check the details. I’m based in Canada, where we have the Canada Greener Homes Grant; it unfortunately does not provide any provisions for leased dwellings.