Thermal energy meter - installation rules and types

Heating bills have become more and more daunting in recent years and we really want to reduce them. Perhaps, at the moment, the only way to save money is to put a meter for heating in the apartment. But this is not always possible - this is the modern legislative framework.

Installing a heating meter in an apartment seems like a smart solution.

Is it profitable or not

Heating charges in recent years have become more and more, and many are thinking about installing a heating meter in an apartment. This is possible if your house has a communal heat metering unit and the management company / TZhS / ZhEK keeps records of individual meters. The second condition is horizontal heating distribution in the apartment. Unfortunately, most multi-storey buildings are vertically wired - in every or almost every room there is a riser from which radiators are powered. With this type of wiring, you will have to install meters on each riser, and this is not cheap and this event will pay off for a long time.

If you are lucky enough to have horizontal wiring in your house, it is certainly beneficial to put the meter on heating. How much depends on how much heat loss is in your apartment. If the apartment is "internal", has few walls facing the street and / or these walls are insulated, if there are plastic windows or wooden ones, but new and windproof, if the doors are insulated, the benefit can be very large. After installing the heat meter, it may turn out that you pay only a small part of the previous charges on a general basis.

The savings can be significant

But that's not all: at the moment, heating bills will be charged by individual heat meters only if they are installed and put into operation in 100% of residential and non-residential premises of the house. This is real only in new buildings, which are handed over immediately with metering devices. In other homes, such cases are extremely rare, which casts doubt on the appropriateness of the installation.

Rules for the installation and operation of heat meters in an apartment

To install a heat meter in an apartment for the heating season, you need to start acting ahead of time, preferably before the end of the heating season. The procedure is as follows:

• Contact the UK / HOA / ZhEK where you are given technical conditions for connecting an individual heat meter. This is one sheet, which indicates the parameters of the network in your house: temperature, pressure.
• Buy a heat meter. You need to buy it certified, in a legal campaign. You must have a sales and cash receipt, operating instructions, a quality certificate, which must contain the date of the state verification, and you must also have information about who performed the verification (name of the organization).
• Next, find a design organization that has a license for this type of service. They prepare a project based on the specifications and the available meter.
  

  Installation of a heat meter for heating takes a couple of hours

• With a project in hand, look for an organization that will install a heat meter for you. She must also have a license to carry out this type of work. They must agree on the time of the work with the MC / HOA (you can check this issue). It is much easier if your work falls on the period when the coolant in the heating system is deflated - less problems and less money will be required.
• The installation of the meter itself is short-lived and uncomplicated. It takes no more than 2 hours.But you will have to pre-prepare the place of work: remove all unnecessary, everything that can burn - they will use welding.
• After installation, with all the documents, contact the UK / HOA for acceptance of the meter. At the agreed time, their representative comes, puts a seal, signs the commissioning certificate, one copy of which remains with you. After that, you need to conclude a payment agreement, after which it is considered that you are paying for heat according to the meter.

The whole process may take two-tier months or even more - therefore it is better to start acting in advance in order to be in time before the start of the heating season. In principle, in every more or less large city there are organizations that will do all this for you, but their services are far from cheap.

What is the legal basis

If you need the names of the regulations governing the conditions for the provision of utilities, here are the current regulations:

• From May 6, 2011 N 354 "On the provision of utilities to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings."
• No. 344 of April 16, 2013 - some changes have been made to the current resolution.
  

  Study the legal framework

The procedure for calculating payment for heat, determining tariffs - all this is determined by the regional authorities, in order to know exactly how things are in your region, you need to study the regulatory framework of your specific region. The only thing that is valid throughout Russia is the need to install metering for general house meters.

How often to take readings

In fact, this is a difficult question - there are different types of heat energy meters and the procedure for taking readings is very different. It is described in detail in the instruction manual, which you should have.

Now you need to transfer readings once every half a year

By the way, according to the latest decree (No. 344 of 04/16/2013), you must not submit your testimony every month. You are required to do this every six months, and the organization must recalculate according to the testimony you provided.

Verification

The primary verification of the meter for heating in the apartment is carried out at its factory, which is mandatory for a note in the product passport. A note is also made on the front panel of the instrument. The frequency of further checks depends on the type of metering device; the calibration interval is also recorded in the passport. On average, it is 3-5 years.

The place of installation of the heat meter is determined when drawing up the project

If your thermal energy meter needs to be put in check, it is better to do this immediately after the end of the heating season, since the procedure can take several months. Before removing the meter, you need to notify the UK / HOA, they will come and record the readings. Then you can remove the device. After verification, you put the meter in place, call the UK again, wait for them to come and seal the meter. At this point, the verification can be considered complete. It remains only to figure out where to give the heat meter for verification. There are only three options:

1. Service center of the manufacturer of your meter.
2. A commercial organization licensed for this type of activity.
3. Subdivision of the Rostest enterprise.

An individual heat meter can be verified in any of these organizations. Beforehand, you can ask about the terms and prices and choose the most suitable option.

Types of apartment heating meters

There are several types of heating meters for the apartment. Each of them has some flaws, there is no ideal, but you still have to choose. Let's take a quick look at the characteristics and features of each type:

• Mechanical or tachometric. In fact, they are very similar to ordinary water meters - an impeller is installed in the housing. According to the method of installation, they are turbine and screw.They react poorly to the presence of mechanical impurities in the water, so there must be a coarse filter at the inlet. Their plus is their low price, which explains their popularity.
• Vortex. There is a small obstacle in the device, behind which the coolant swirls into vortices. The speed of the coolant is calculated from the speed of these vortices. This device is installed between the supply and return (unlike all others).
  

  Ultrasonic heat meter

• Ultrasonic. They are distinguished by high accuracy, but no less high price. The amount of coolant is estimated by the speed of ultrasound transmission. They consist of two parts, which are placed on the direct and return pipelines. The measurement accuracy deteriorates in the presence of air bubbles and mechanical impurities, so the installation of a filter and an air vent upstream of the device is highly desirable.
• Electromagnetic. They have a wide functionality, but also the highest prices. The measurement accuracy becomes lower in the presence of mechanical impurities.

When buying a meter for heating in an apartment, pay attention to the fact that it has a quality certificate, which should contain data on its verification. There should be the date and name of the organization that performed the verification.

Summing up, it is worth saying that the meter for heating to the apartment is beneficial if you have eliminated all possible heat leaks.