Cost of a new heating system in a 42-flats apartment building
September 7, 2015 4:44 PM   Subscribe

I need a ballpark estimate what a new heating system for an apartment building with 42 flats would cost. It would be heated with gas.

Background is, we just bought a flat in such a building and my girlfriend worries about sudden costs, so as when the roof has fungus, or the heating system has to be renewed. If we theoretically have to pay 5000€, with every other household, that comes to 210 000€. I say for that kind of money you can get 3 heating systems and reconstruct the roof. But I really don't know and am just guessing here. What do those things cost (very roughly/anecdotally) assuming that only the heating unit is broken and all the tubes are functioning properly?

[If it matters, we live in Germany]
posted by SweetLiesOfBokonon to Home & Garden (3 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Really, it's hard to plan for these things, but it's even harder to figure the extent of a problem like this. If the heating system just needs a new furnace unit, or a new fridge unit, or a new air handler - that's all wildly different costs.

If she really wants to feel secure, save up so you have 10% of the cost of the flat sitting there to pay for major projects.

That said, back-of-envelope suggests a cooling/air handling system for a single unit would be around 5k installed (just the unit, no ducts/wires/piping). For larger buildings with multiple flats ganged together, the cost per unit would drop, but it's hard to gauge the decrease.
posted by notsnot at 5:55 PM on September 7, 2015


Another thing to factor into your math is whether the building keeps cash reserves for these types of projects. If they do, the amount you have to pay might be significantly less (or zero). A well-run building should have an idea when large maintenance expenses are going to come due.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 6:35 PM on September 7, 2015 [4 favorites]


I don't know how it works in mainland Europe, but my UK flat is in a block of 69 and we have district heating with original 1930s boilers in the basement that used to be coke-fed and have now been (very inefficiently) converted to gas that we're replacing over the next two years. The way it's being paid for is that our regular service charge has been increased by quite a bit to account for the cost. It went up at the beginning of this financial year, and the replacement work will start next financial year and be spread over two years. It is pretty expensive (and more so because the boilers are 1) made of cast iron so are very heavy and cumbersome and 2) full of asbestos so will need specialist removal) but the management are doing as much as they can to make that affordable. We got a printout of a spreadsheet with the costs on it for our block which includes some other bits of maintenance that need doing, but I don't know how relevant that would be given I doubt you'd also be having ancient heating removed. I can say my increased share of the costs to do the work is about £300/year for 3 years for the boiler bit of the work (on top of what I was already paying for other maintenance e.g. window cleaning, lift maintenance, heating and hot water, building up a reserve fund for major works). Smaller flats pay less.

Caveat: the management of my block is in the hands of the people who own the flats in the block, not a private company who might seek to maximise profit. We have a management company who assessed all the work that needs doing and a residents' association committee who agreed the timescale for the works, and then the rest of us got letters telling us about the charge increase and a meeting to discuss it.
posted by theseldomseenkid at 11:42 PM on September 7, 2015


« Older nook glowlight space issues   |   Current fashion help: from very business casual to... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.