roof top heater or heat pump for San Diego

[liv2ski]

Yo DD, being the shitty landlord I am, I am going to replace a 25 year old roof this summer on a rental property and while they are doing that, I may as well install a new roof top heater or heat pump unit.

From what I have read, it sounds like a heat pump may be ideal for San Diego, as it rarely gets below 45 degrees and the summers are getting warmer, so the AC would be nice to have also.

Can the maggots school me on roof top units. What they think would work best and approximate prices installed you may have paid?

The property is about 1,300 sq ft, little to no insulation due to the flat roof and lack of crawl space room (maybe 18 inches).

I was thinking a 3 ton unit should work. Your thoughts and advice are appreciated.

[iceman]

Well a heat pump would work well in that climate. No idea what a rooftop heater would cost but I'm sure a heatpump will be significantly more expensive. Will it pay foritself in the ability to charge higher rent? Maybe to a degree, but it seems like it would be a long payback. If you're thinking about selling in the next few years you should see some payback there too.

3 tons sounds approximately right but get the calculations done by a pro, obciously the smaller the cheaper and maybe 2 or 2.5 would do it. Is there ductwork? Obviously that would be a big expense. Installing a new 3-ton unit to existing ductwork would be north of $8K, plus thye'll probably have to boom it onto the roof and that ill cost, and ductwork, prroblems etc will get you well above $10K in a hurry.

Get three quotes and see.

Does it have to be on the roof? It will cool more efficiently if it's in the shade and it seems like cooling would be the primary function but maybe I'm wrong on that.

[digitaldeath]

New roof

Jack up rent

[iceman]

New roof

Jack up rent

It hardly ever rains there. Leave the roof. Jack up rent anyways.

[irul&ublo]

From what I have read, it sounds like a heat pump may be ideal for San Diego, as it rarely gets below 45 degrees and the summers are getting warmer....

FAKE NEWS FAKE NEWS FAKE NEWS

[hutash]

It's fucking San Diego, who needs heat or A/C?

[mcski]

Evict and convert into an Airbnb. No one will stay long enough to matter and you can charge more too!

[Viva]

I had a little Coleman attic heater in my house in Encinitas. Worked pretty well for a smallish structure. Of course the only time it was used was when a woman was living with me. Rarely used it myself.

Would have loved to have had AC! The humid May-July months could be brutal. And my living room faced west, making August-September uncomfortable at times.

[liv2ski]

Iceman, there is already ducting installed. The present unit is also on the roof, hence why I am going that way again. I found a 3 ton unit for $2,500, so with installation it should not be more than $5k or so I would expect.

[iceman]

Yeah figure somewhere around double the unit cost even if you supply it. I based the original $8k on double the cost of the $4K units I found in a quick google search. But you may be able to do better if there's much competition around there, you could probably find some Mexicans to do it for reasonable I'd guess.