Property Value question. Opinions requested.

In My Humble Opinion
1

We have a furnace in the basement that pushes steam heat throughout the house. Our heating bills were pretty high last year, so we got a wall mounted gas heater similar to this in our dining room. It heats the dining room, kitchen, and living room, as well as the upstairs rooms. Our gas bill is indeed lower, but we’ve also had a pretty mild winter here this year (2nd or 3rd warmest they were saying on the news). I can’t say for sure if all of the savings are a result of that or the wall heater.

We’ve turned the furnace on only a handful of times this year. Less than 5, I’d say, and it was just because we had so many people over, I was nervous about someone standing or sitting too close to the heater, especially the toddlers.

We’re giving some thought to taking the furnace out entirely after putting a similar, smaller wall mounted heater in the basement, which we use frequently in the winter.

The up side of this is that the pipes that run across the basement at eye level can be removed so I can walk upright down there and radiator pipes running from the basement to the second floor to unused radiators can be removed (a living room wall can be knocked down as planned to increase that room’s size as well). The furnace is very large and set square in the middle of the basement (the water heater is in a more sensible and out of the way part of the basement). Taking it out will make the basement feel at least 2x as big, and will make it worth spending money to give it more of a finished feel.

My brother mentioned that the plan to remove the furnace lowers our property value, but wasn’t sure how much. I hadn’t thought of that.

But[ul]
[li]We fenced in the yard last year.[/li][li]We’re replacing two windows with more efficient windows this year.[/li][li]We plan on re-siding the house in the next 5 years or so.[/li][li]A deck will be built within 4 years.[/li][li]The living room will be remodeled for the first time in 15 or more years this year.[/li][li]The hitchen and downstairs bathroom will be remodeled for the first time in at least 20 years next summer.[/li][/ul]

Will these improvements raise my property value? Will they offset any loss of property value?

2

Since you intend to invest quite a bit of cash improving your home, I would suggest you contact 3 or 4 HVAC companies in your area and have them provide you w/ a plan and an estimate for installing a modern system in the house. Seems to me that this would be more valuable than a deck and/or living room remodel. Kitchen and bath remodels generally return more value than other areas. Puting in space heaters, vs upgrading a central system, is likely to lower the value of the home.

3

  1. People want heat, not necessarily furnaces. Houses in lots of areas of the country don’t usually have furnaces at all. I know that most would in Pennsylvania but I am sure many people could be persuaded that almost any effective heating system is almost as good or maybe better.

  2. You shouldn’t be overly concerned with property values unless you are planning to sell it in the near future. You, not someone else, are the one that will live with the decision.

4

I have a hard time believing that “many people” could be persuaded that two wall-mounted heaters were as good as or better than a properly working furnace. I know I’d take one look at them and say “they must have installed those because there was a big problem with the central heating system.” It’d be a big red flag in my mind.

I’d call a couple home inspectors in the area and get their opinions. They’re going to be the ones who tell the prospective owners if the heaters are good or bad things.