What one should know about commercial metering of water and heat

YOUR HOME

What one should know about commercial metering of water and heat

Today, we are talking about commercial metering of communal services because provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On Commercial Metering of Heat Energy and water Supply" that was enacted back on 2 August 2017 still cause questions of the consumers. YOUR HOME program gives answers to many of these questions.

How does a heat meter work?

The object of our interest is the building-level heat meter. Most of us never see it but we guess that the heating bills are calculated based on readings of this device. How does the meter work?

Which devices identify readings of the heat meter?

Flow meter

This device registers amount of heat carrier which enters the building.

Temperature sensors

Two sensors "read" temperature at the building inlet and outlet.

Electronic calculator

Based on these data, the electronic calculator calculates amount of consumed heat in Gigacalories.

We can say that the heat meter registers cooling of heat carrier after it passes through the building heating system. In fact, we pay exactly for this difference. Accordingly, if we wish to save, it is necessary to bring heat losses to the minimum.

Commercial metering of heat and water in a Kyiv HOA building: how it works?

Multi-apartment building "Dim-Ranok" was built in the early 2000's. It has a horizontal heating system layout, i.e. it is possible to install the individual meters. In this case, the owner of each apartment pays for the readings of his/her meter plus for heating of common areas, that is, the entrances and staircases.

Mykola Vasyliovych is Chairman of the Board of the local HOA. The journalist of YOUR HOME program talked to him about the difficulties of heat metering. Apartment owners in this building pay for heating and hot water to the HOA, which settles with the monopolist according to the building-level meter. Below, is a full record of conversation with Mr. Mykola:

Video of YOUR HOME TV program: interview with Mykola Vasyliovych, HOA Chairman

So, some of the apartments in this building have the heat meters. Heating of the entrances and staircases here is distributed between all apartments, in proportion to their space. And the HOA participates in the municipal programs to reduce the cost of heating, first of all – heating of common areas.

And in the new article prepared by the joint project between "Obozrevatel" and the USAID Municipal Energy Reform Project in Ukraine "Comfortable Life Hacks for Housing and Communal Services", we will analyze what myths circulated before and even after adoption of the Law, and whether there is any ground for them?

Provisions of the Law on Commercial Metering that should be taken into account

Building-level meter

All multi-apartment buildings must be equipped with the building-level meters by 1 October 2018

Who will pay?

The consumers pay for installation, calibration and repair of the building-level meters

Як щодо How about payment by installments?

It is possible to pay for the building-level meters by installments for 5 and more years

Heat allocators

It will be possible to pay according to the heat allocators upon the condition that at least half of the apartments in the building are equipped with these meters

How it will be calculated?

All settlements with the heat supply utilities will be done according to the building-level meters

How heat meters are calibrated and how much they cost?

Specialized service centers service both the building-level and apartment-level heat meters. This is how a flow lab used for calibration of these metering devices looks like. The sensors that measure the heat carrier are also tested here. Temperature sensors are calibrated in the thermostats. The calibration period must be indicated in the technical passport of the meter and depends on the device type.

This and other topics – in full episode of YOUR HOME program broadcast by UA:PERSHYI TV channel every Friday at 7.00 p.m. with support of the USAID Municipal Energy Reform Project in Ukraine. In addition to the issues of commercial metering of heat and water, you will also find out in this episode about peculiarities of building-level gas metering.

If you are a fan of energy efficiency, section "YOUR HOME: Practice" will be the source of new ideas for implementation in your home.

What are advantages of cork – efficient sound-proof and heat-insulating material? How to use it correctly and how to attach it? These and other questions are answered in section "YOUR HOME: Practice".

We invite you to watch the full 3^rd episode of Season 3 of YOUR HOME program created with the support of the USAID Municipal Energy Reform Project in Ukraine.