Utility submetering is a nifty new concept for landlords who own industrial, commercial or multi-family dwellings. Aside from the metering done by the local utility companies, this utility submetering allows the property owner to gage the utility usage on individual units of their property. By adding an additional meter or as many as desired, you can monitor the energy being used in a certain amount of square footage. It may be used for all utilities, including, water, gas, and electricity.
Meter Installation
The first thing you would have to do is to have a meter or meters installed wherever you would like. A local electrician can do this for you. He will have to know how many devices to order based on the number of tenants. Installing these meters allows the tenant to receive accurate billing due to correct cost allocation. This will help in the cases where utility costs have been previously underestimated in the lease payment.
Saves Energy
Believe it or not, this utility submetering actually saves energy. As a result of efficient monitoring, you will be able to track the amounts of energy that particular units are using. These submeters are so precise that their certification goes beyond the nationally accepted standard. Since you will not have to do an estimate based on the square footage, the accuracy saves time also. Property owners who have committed to having their buildings “go green” can further save energy while helping the environment.
Billing
With utility submetering, the landlord may read the meters him or herself and issue the bills to each tenant. However, if you do not want to deal with the hassle of an additional chore, then you may just forfeit this option and find a management company who will handle the billing for you. The company can then send each tenant an individual bill for the energy of his or her unit. Considering all of the other responsibilities of a property owner or manager, this may be an optimal choice.
Finally, utility submetering can be a useful tool to those in the property management field. With the mere installation of a meter, a little technological device, you can help save energy and our environment, save money with accurate billing and ultimately, and give yourself peace of mind. Although you could take time out of your hectic schedule to attempt to estimate and/or divide energy costs among your tenants, sadly your estimates would probably be incorrect. Due to human error and other factors which are equally hard to measure, your calculations would never match those of utility submetering. This service goes a step further in insuring the fair distribution of energy costs for your property.
