<p>I am considering moving my gas heater and water heater…which are in a closet in the middle of the house, to the garage…</p>
<p>This would open up my living room, dining area and kitchen…i would just get rid of that closet and the surrounding walls.</p>
<p>So…has anybody done this?</p>
<p>I thought it might be $5,000…but my contractor thinks it will be $20,000.</p>
<p>Kind of a big difference. $5,000…I think it is worth it. $20,000…not so much…</p>
<p>I have. The hot water. The price may depend upon the available drainage.</p>
<p>gas heater: to heat the house? what kind of system?
water heater: tank or tankless?</p>
<p>edit: you have one floor? or two? or more?</p>
<p>does that closet have a load bearing wall? perhaps that is where the expensive part. also, if you are using forced air, the duct work is very expensive.</p>
<p>I would talk to more than 10 contractors before making a decision. Listen to their thinking/presentation carefully.</p>
<p>Yes…I have forced air…</p>
<p>No…weight bearing walls…</p>
<p>I guess there would be a lot of duct work…</p>
<p>I have two floors…this is on the upper floor…</p>
<p>Make sure that there is enough space in the garage for the two heaters and your cars! The city code might require you to install some sort of a protective barrier if the heaters are to be located where they can be hit by a car, which might not leave much space for the car when all is said and done. :)</p>
<p>What artlovers said: talk to several contractors (I think you already know the drill). Good luck! I would not want a hot water heater in the middle of my house.</p>
<p>two floors - duct work on both floors? Right now how does this work? vents in the ceiling of the lower level? vents in the floor of upper?</p>
<p>I am spending a lot of time lately learning on how ductwork can be installed, both what contractors prefer to do, and what works adequately for my needs even if they don’t see it as the best method.</p>
<p>I really like artsloversplus suggestion of 10 contractor interviews, if you have enough time in your life for that. Any advice and opinion you get in an estimate interview is on their dime. Later you are paying while they stand still to answer your questions. Probably this is the first thing that occurs to anybody having work done except me.</p>
<p>edit: I guess you are going to need additional plumbing, too?</p>
<p>^^True but you get hot water fast everywhere in the house. My kitchen is at the opposite end from the water heater.</p>
<p>When we replaced our old water heater, I asked them to move it to the side by about a foot. They added $500 for that.</p>
<p>I’d move the gas heater up in the attic, if you have one. Less duct work. The water heater can be moved easily, use a tankless to save space. </p>
<p>eitherway, I don’t think $5,000 will do, you will have to buy all new units and by itself is pretty expensive.</p>
<p>Along the same line, I once tried to put central air in a house, and was told individual room units would work better because of the duct work - there were several additions to the house. And, if you are going to have any type of centralized humidifier or dehumidifier, that has to be included.</p>
<p>The vents are actually on the ceilling in the upper floor…</p>
<p>I haven’t paid attention to where they are on the bottom floor. 
I think they are on the ceiling too.</p>
<p>I guess I should get multiple people to look at it, but 10 is a little excessive. :)</p>
<p>Hotel type heating/cooling units have been recommended to me by two contractors recently. That won’t work for me but might for someone else. The cost quoted: around $1500 for a unit that is adequate for a very large space: maybe 600 sq ft?</p>
<p>Although hvac units in the attic seem to be the norm… they really make me nervous and I am trying to avoid it if possible. Yes there is a overflow pan, but still… And they are sometimes hard to access to repair… And you have to make a decision about putting them in conditioned or unconditioned space. After much investigation, in a hot climate, I am pretty sure I am only comfortable with it in conditioned space. That means a higher cost for insulation… at least for my project.</p>
<p>I think the major cost is the duct work has to be redone…</p>
<p>depending how old it is, you might like that anyway.</p>
<p>alh, you are putting your heater in the attic?</p>
<p>Yes…additional plumbing will be needed…</p>
<p>I am doing several small renovations: the first had a heater go in attic about six months ago and it has already proved to be a very very bad idea.</p>
<p>The current project will not have a heater in the attic. If necessary I will just run an extension cord from the main house to plug in some space heaters till someone is willing to come up with a better (and affordable!) solution for me.</p>
<p>hmmmm…alh, you are not giving me a lot of confidence…</p>
<p>I interviewed 7 contractors just for a small roof repair work, it was not leaking and just replace some broken tiles. I got wild quotes ranging 2000 to 500, I finally got the $500 guy did the work, he was very good.</p>
<p>Your job is a major endever, I would spend 2-3 months to talk to every HVAC guy I can get a hold of and thinking over their quotes before making a decision. You may save over $10,000 :)</p>
<p>artloversplus…</p>
<p>you are probably right…</p>
<p>of course…I could just leave it alone…</p>
<p>I already have a kitchen remodel going…:)</p>
<p>we were almost done with the kitchen plans…this will really slow things down…because what we do with the heater will affect the kitchen…</p>
<p>I do see the same thing you do…the difference between bids from these contractors is quite large…</p>
<p>usually I interview 3 contractors…</p>