Heating interface unit in new build HIU

Johnandabby

hlou wrote: »

We know what the service charge will be and have factored this into our budget - we are still going to be saving around £500 on the rent that we have already been paying for the last year!

Do you know how often these things need replacing?

We currently pay around £40 a month on our gas (which covers heating, hot water and our hob. this is for a 2 bed flat above a shop.

The flat we're buying is a one bedroom new build and we are on the top floor (third floor) of the block. Are the heating costs likely to be more than this?

Life expectancy would normally be 15-20 yrs, and longer than most domestic boilers.

Depends on how the landlord manages meter readings and billing, but you could pay £20-£40 a month on admin charges alone - the actual heating part of the bill should be less than you currently pay though.

Rather than a monthly direct debit (where your increased winter bills are spread across the year) you will probably get varying bills based on actual consumption, as the landlord will want to recoup their costs as quickly as possible.

poppysarah

Is it metered what you actually use?

If its not then there will be someone having it scorchio 24/7.
Then everyone's bill goes up next year.

Owain_Moneysaver

hlou wrote: »

Has anyone had any dealings with a heating interface unit? We are purchasing a new build flat and the water and heating is supplied by a communal energy centre in the basement.

I would seriously be looking for another flat.

You have no ability to control costs or reliability of this system. When it breaks down you will be left cold until the factor gets round to repairing it, then a bill for thousands for repair or replacement.

Ulfar

I too would be looking at walking away, for a couple of reasons;

1, as Owain has pointed out, you have no control over costs.

2, You haven't been given any information on current costs, which to me sounds suspicious.

The vendor should be able to either tell you what the current expenditure is, how the charging/metering works, arrangements for repairs and how any increases in costs are handled.

If they aren't telling you these things then to me it would seem they are hiding bad news.

hlou

Ulfar wrote: »

I too would be looking at walking away, for a couple of reasons;

1, as Owain has pointed out, you have no control over costs.

2, You haven't been given any information on current costs, which to me sounds suspicious.

The vendor should be able to either tell you what the current expenditure is, how the charging/metering works, arrangements for repairs and how any increases in costs are handled.

If they aren't telling you these things then to me it would seem they are hiding bad news.

We are going into the developers tomorrow, so these are all questions I will be asking. Are costs really likely to be so extortionate that it would make the flat not worth buying??

Tony_MechEng

Hi, I work in building services design and work on a HIU system for nearly every block of flats which I work on. The HIU takes heat from a communal energy centre somewhere in the building and generates heating or hot water at the HIU heat exchanger. The system has to operate 24 hrs a day in case one person wants hot water at any time and because of the long runs of pipe work and heat loss, communal district heating systems can be very in efficient ( we work on 30% for costings)..this inefficiency gets built into the service charge...if the building is new then it will almost certainly have a chp unit, this is a gas boiler engine which generates heat (at 55% efficient) and also generates electric (around 35% efficient) this is merely a result of planning and being the cheapest way to achieve the carbon reduction targets on large residential schemes, do not be fooled into thinking a HIU district heating chp system will save you money or energy as it won't. You should have a heat meter inside your HIU which measures the heat taken from the system when you use the heat for hws or Htg. You should find out what this charge is, usually it will be around the price of gas plus a bit extra to pay for extortionately unreliable in efficient chp units. Some house builders don't even switch the units on once handover. Can I ask the manufacturer of the units?

Tony_MechEng

I have to sit in soooo many of those meetings, explains to residents why their bills are high and why their cold water comes out warm and why the ventilation system is noisy and why the corridors overheat. If you could see how these flats are built you would not want to live in them!

poppysarah

hlou wrote: »

We are going into the developers tomorrow, so these are all questions I will be asking. Are costs really likely to be so extortionate that it would make the flat not worth buying??

Uncontrollable perhaps is a word to think about.

hlou

we've had the name Switch 2 or Energy 2 mentioned to us? Can I ask why we would not want to live there - what specific problems are there?

[Deleted User]

hlou wrote: »

we've had the name Switch 2 or Energy 2 mentioned to us?

Sounds like it's this company: http://www.energ-group.com/district-and-community-heating-solutions/

I found a couple of posts around about this company and as the poster on page 1 said (Tony_MechEng) you're very likely to be stung by expensive "administration" costs. Take a read through this topic for example, lots of expensive experiences.