Submetering Heat with BTU/Flow/Energy Meters

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Submetering Heat with BTU/Flow/Energy Meters

Elliot B.
Rental Property Investor · Biddeford, ME · Member since 2017 · 37 posts · 14 votes

Hey all,

It's winter time and the oil is flowing. This gives me plenty of incentive to find a way to cut some of these heating expenses. Most of the time when the topic of submetering heat is brought up the consensus is to install one heating system per unit. This is expensive from an initial capital and maintenance standpoint and I've been on the hunt for a better way.

One option that I've found is installing BTU/Flow meters (Istec 4440) on the supply and return lines for each heating zone (one zone per unit). This will effectively measure the exact energy usage per unit. Several companies offer these meters in combination with a software platform for monitoring and billing. It is my understanding that the company works out the tenant billing rates based on your master utility bill to keep it consistent and fair.

So, the technology exists BUT is it legal in Maine to bill the tenants in this way? i.e. Measure usage with a BTU/Flow meter and bill them directly. Further, how can you enforce collections if you're not a utility? One suggestion I was given was to add a clause to your lease that payments are first applied to utilities then rent.

Is anyone in Maine / New England doing this type of submetering? Can anyone chime in on the billing/legality aspect?

Stay warm,

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Colleen F.Pro Member
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
7y

Ok, so maybe I am not getting it but I have a hot water boiler with separate zones for each unit. I hear people talking about air flow etc. I did not think we were talking about forced air.  I thought  @Elliot B. was talking about installing meters on the supply and return pipes for each unit and measuring BTUs there. As for heat loss along the way why does it matter? Aren't you  billing in proportion to use?    I think it works if you have 1 zone per unit. However how do you come up with the billing amount per BTU?

@Tyler Bushey nice try, those of us with oil are often a mile or miles from natural gas and propane is $$$ and even if you had gas if  you have one boiler it doesn't solve the problem. 

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  • Jeremy Bloom
    Member since 2018 · 21 posts · 13 votes
    6y

    @Colleen F. You make a good point. BOTH rags and open windows foil the situation. For me I've come to feel that we deal with people not robots, so they will do things. Even I open a window in winter if I burn something in the kitchen. I think it's about preventing abuse so you don't lose thousands. 

    @Elliot B. I found this the other day. Hardware is $900. It monitors boiler pressure, temp outside and in each unit, if the system is off or on, and can work to monitor each zone(with some addition to initial setup). You can see it all on an app or website and transmits over wifi or cell network. Then you get stats on all these things showing a unit was "on" all the time and can compare to temperatures in and out of apartment. Overall it makes you a better property manager controlling your utility and the bills with it.

    https://remforce.com/base-boiler-kit/

    Lastly, I take this approach because actually metering people doesn't work for me in my business planning or this neighborhood and clientele. People keep telling me things like "make everyone pay for it" but I don't think I have to. This is a pretty simple building actually and I'm not worried about a hundred here or there. I'm worried about water leaks I don't see that cost me $300 this quarter. I'm worried about tenants using twice the amount of oil using a rag. These are big things that if managed like this can allow a manager to either fix the problem or evict the abuser. And ideally monitoring all the utilities and zones will be good for the long term.

    This is all my hope anyway we'll see! :)

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  • Kurt Bauman
    Investor · Old Forge, PA · Member since 2016 · 1 post · 0 votes
    1y

    Landlord-tools.com

    The system accuratly measures each units fuel consumption and automatically invoices the tenant.  The system only requires about 1 minute a month to recoup heating cost.  One meter will work with up to 8 zones. 

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