Controlling heating bills

In a private house, it is easier to monitor heat metering. To do this, you just need to have a meter that will count the flow rate of the coolant - gas, electricity, or keep records of solid fuel – firewood, coal, etc. Also, the owner of a private house can regulate the temperature in the room by "twisting" the heater regulator depending on weather conditions ...

In apartment buildings, it is more difficult to calculate how much and who should pay for heat and regulate the coolant too.

Kyivteploenergo told reporters how these processes occur and answered customer questions.

How heat is tracked in apartment buildings

In Ukraine, there are several types of heat metering in apartment buildings, depending on whether consumers' houses are equipped with individual meters.

1. If all apartments in the house are equipped with heat meters. Then, individual consumption (the sum of consumption of all apartments) is subtracted from the total house-hold heat consumption (according to the general house meter), and the difference is divided equally between the apartments, taking into account the costs of common areas.

Such a situation may occur in new buildings, in which, during the construction, the technical possibility of equipping apartments with individual heat meters was laid.

2. If the house does not have the ability to install individual heat meters in any apartment (these are old houses). In this case, the heat is accounted by the general house meter, and the amount for its payment in accordance with the established tariff is divided between the residents of all apartments, depending on the area of ​​housing.

3. If some of the apartments in the building are equipped with individual heat meters. In this case, the amount of consumption by apartment meters is deducted from the volume recorded by the house metering device, the share of expenses for common areas is deducted, which is calculated normatively as a percentage of consumption around the house, and the difference is distributed between apartments that do not have metering devices in proportion to the heated area.

“Depending on the structure of heat consumption inside the house and the actual losses of the heat carrier for circulation in the house, this share accruing to apartments without individual metering devices can differ significantly from month to month. And this causes misunderstanding and even indignation of residents,” said Kostiantyn Lopatin, director of Energosbyt, Kyivteploenergo.

But paragraph 12 of the current decree No.630 of the Cabinet of Ministers spelled out just such a mechanism.

котельная в хрущевке

What changes in heat metering are provided for by the Law “On housing and communal services”

There is an alternative method for calculating heat consumption in an apartment building, approved by order of the Ministry of Regional Development No.315. But its term of entry into force was postponed until the entry into force of the transitional provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On housing and communal services": after the transfer of consumers to new contractual models and new services, according to the law, this should happen within five months from the date of completion of measures to prevent the emergence and spread coronavirus disease COVID-19.

Today, a “centralized heating service” is provided, and after the transitional provisions come into force, there will be a “service for the supply of heat for heating needs”. It will have a different method of distributing heat volumes inside the house.

“By introducing an understanding of the minimum specific share of consumption, this imbalance (for apartments without a meter - ed.) Will be partially resolved. Even if an individual metering device is installed, even if the apartment was “blocked off”, the new method assumes that there will be an accrual not only for the IOC, but also for the minimum specific share of consumption. This is to ensure that the apartments that are inside the building are not heated by neighbors or common areas. This is especially true for new buildings,” Lopatin explained.

In order to be able to keep track of heat in a house using a new method, the law stipulates that it will be necessary to conclude a new contract for the service of supplying heat energy for heating needs and separately for the supply of hot water. But today the Verkhovna Rada has already voted in the first reading the bill 2458, which provides for amendments to the law on housing and communal services and the approval of a standard agreement for new services and contractual relations - by default. After the president signs it, the Cabinet of Ministers will approve the standard contract, and it will be possible to switch to new services without renegotiating the contract. That is, there will be the same service provider and the contract will automatically continue with him, if the consumer has no other desire.

And all these changes will come into force within 5 months after the abolition of all anti-covid quarantine restrictions.

 

Счетчик домовой

How to control a house heat meter

If you doubt that the house heat meter shows real numbers or that the heat and power workers "wind up" it - you can easily get rid of these fears if you personally control the readings of this meter.

It is pretty simple to do this: you need to submit an application to the heat and power company that serves you (its name and details can be found on the payment card or from your company serving the house (or even via the Internet). Heat and power workers will contact the person (or active group) that submitted the application and agree on the exact time for taking meter readings.

Kyivteploenergo said that about 6 thousand meters were installed in their area of ​​responsibility, which transmit readings remotely. All others are serviced by a specialist assigned to a particular house. The counter readings are recorded. Therefore, you can monitor the house heat meter on a monthly basis and check the records of employees with your own.

счетчик

What determines the heat in the apartment and how to keep it

There are a number of conditions under which heat charges in approximately the same apartments in different buildings can differ significantly.

Most often, apartments with poor thermal insulation are very dependent on weather conditions. It's warmer outside - it's hot in the apartment even in winter. Severe frosts have arrived - the room temperature is hardly 15 °C, or even less.

The most constructive approach to the problem is to invite a specialist to find out exactly where the heat from the room goes and what is the reason. But such services are unlikely to be free (although this is still the best solution for solvent residents).

The most common problem, according to the observations of district heating companies workers, is the old "clogged" heating radiators, especially the cast-iron "last century" ones. When specialists prepare the heating system of a house for the heating season, they are not able to “pump” the radiators of each apartment at a sufficient level. The way out is to consider the possibility of removing your apartment "batteries" and giving them for cleaning.

But if the radiators are very old, then the best solution is probably to simply replace them.

Also, do not forget about the elementary rules of thermal insulation: insulate windows, doors (balcony doors too), floor (especially on the 1st floor).

Whether it is possible to regulate the supply of heat in an apartment building at the level of a house boiler (boiler room) depends on which heating device is installed. There are those that make it possible to "tighten" the heating temperature of the coolant if necessary. And there are those (especially in old houses) where there are only two modes - "on" and "off". In this case, it is possible, together with the co-owners of your house, to decide whether it is possible and necessary to replace the heating device, or, possibly, the entire heating system, as far as it will be expedient from the point of view of financial costs and improvement of heat supply in the house. Let us only recall that according to the current legislation, such a decision must be made by residents, and not by district heating companies.

 

Tags: legislation, housing and public utilities, thermal energy

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