Adding Air Conditioning to My Rental was Easy

I bought a new house a couple years ago. It was a good deal in a great area, so we decided to buy it. There was a run down two story carriage house in the back yard. It’s a handsome structure that I used the garage portion of. I wanted to rent it out for some extra money. It seemed like a great studio apartment for a student or working young person. First I had to remodel the second floor.

Luckily the electricity was already wired. The previous owner had used the area as a workshop. There was even a nice skylight on one end of the studio.

Added some energy efficient insulating wall board and laminate flooring to reduce the sounds of the garage below and make the loft into more of a studio. Naturally we added a splash of paint to the walls. We refurbished the miniature kitchen by adding a new electric range, sink, and refrigerator. Also, we added a bathroom, which seemed pretty necessary. We added a shower instead of a bathtub to save space.

Although the loft/studio was pretty big, it turned out that I only needed to install a single zone ductless split air conditioning system to keep it comfortable. It even provides efficient heat pump heating during the winter. I was very proud of that buy. It was cheaper than worrying about buying heater and a separate window unit, and it let us install a smaller water heater for the shower and faucets only, which also has been saving us money.

I got the whole place ready for rental at the beginning of the summer, and I had a tenant in two days. He has been comfortable since he moved in, and his utilities have been low, meaning I’ve been able to save more of his rent money. We’re using some of the profits to take a trip to the Caribbean this spring!