Communal heating metering

danco

I live in a recently built block of flats, and the heating is communal.

This is metered and the meter is hidden away in the pipework and not visible to residents. I am wondering if it is possible to get some kind of in home display (similar to those for energy smart meters) for these meters. It would be really useful to be able to see the daily usage, especially as there seem to be some major problems with our billing. At present all we can see is the billed figures for each month.

MWT

There is nothing you can get and fit yourself...

Whatever it is possible to get would have to come from the operator of the heating system.

I am a little surprised to hear there is nothing in the flat though, not even a display of the cumulative metered usage?

I have to be honest though, I would not willingly move into a flat with this sort of system as the risks from over-billing and the lack of caps on cost would give me great cause for concern.

GingerTim

This sounds strange to me, I'm in a new build with a communal system and we all have a readable meter in our flats.

danco

I am not surprised that the meter itself is hidden. After all, presumably it has to fit on the pipework, which is all hidden.

However, I am glad to hear that other people do have some kind of readable display. I suspect that this was just not part of the original specification for the system. But you have now given me enough evidence for me to ask, on behalf of all residents, for such a display to be added.

GingerTim

Just for info, here's what the display on my HIU looks like. The management company get automatic reports from the meters, and they've always been correct in my case.

danco

Yes, I have a HIU with a visible meter, but it is only for hot water, not for heating. The heating is by hot air (and cool air for cooling).

annetheman

danco said:

Yes, I have a HIU with a visible meter, but it is only for hot water, not for heating. The heating is by hot air (and cool air for cooling).

I would have thought that they HAVE to give you access to the meter, to be honest. What if you rent the property out and need to check what your tenants used?

This is very strange. I do have a meter that is outside of my flat (sitting in the pipework outside the elevators on each floor), but I was given a key to that locked cupboard off the communal hallway, so I can access any time.

Maybe see if your estate agent forgot to give you that one?

danco

We had a consultant look at the system, and he said the meters were not visible. And the managing agents and the onsite staff have no knowledge of any visible access. Still, the management is poor enough that does not mean much, and there might be a meter in a locked cupboard that they have never looked at. What this shows is that I have to press them further.