All metering devices are divided into two types: individual and collective (common house) meters. An individual metering device is equipment that takes into account your personal consumption of resources. A collective (common house) meter for calculating thermal energy considers the consumption of the communal resource of a residential building as a whole, including common house needs.
In accordance with Law No. 261- “On Energy Conservation and Improving Energy Efficiency and Adjusting Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation”, owners and tenants of residential buildings are required to install common house heat energy meters (the law was adopted in November 2009).
The purpose of collective meters
The installation of this type of equipment has the following objectives:
- Payment calculation is based on the actual heat consumption.
- Uniform distribution of the amount of payments between tenants with respect to each individual apartment building.
- Responsibility for common property is transferred to the inhabitants of a residential building.
The main types of collective meters
Choosing a common house meter for thermal energy, it is necessary to take into account its design features and installation specifics. There are four main types of these devices.
Total station
This is a fairly simple device, the design of which provides the following elements:
- The calculator of the amount of thermal energy.
- The calculator of the volume of the coolant, which happens to be winged or mechanical type.
Such a device is relatively inexpensive, but its operation requires the presence of an additional filter that protects the common house meter of thermal energy and the heating system as a whole from all kinds of pollution.
disadvantages
It is also worth paying attention to the disadvantages of these counters. They are not suitable for use if a high level of hardness of the water circulating through the system is noted. Another negative point that may affect the installation of this equipment is the presence of various impurities in the coolant.
All these conditions can lead to frequent clogging of the filter, which provokes a decrease in the level of pressure of the coolant. For this reason, meters of this type are usually used in private homes.
Advantages
The main advantage of total station equipment is its ability to function with a special battery for 5 years. In addition, these devices can be used in rooms with high humidity. While the risk of damage to the main elements is minimized, since the design does not provide electronic components.
Electromagnetic
A common-house electronic-type thermal energy meter works by generating an electric current in it as a result of passage through the magnetic field of the coolant. This circumstance necessitates constant maintenance of the unit, and its installation requires professionalism and competence from the contractor.
Untimely prevention can provoke contamination of the flow meter, which as a result will affect the readings of the meter. The occurrence of this problem is associated with the presence of iron in the coolant and poor-quality compounds in the wiring.
Compliance with all operating requirements is a guarantee of high-quality and uninterrupted operation. It is important to note that the readings of an all-house electromagnetic energy meter are of a high degree of accuracy.
Vortex
In this case, the operation of a device of this type is associated with the appearance of a swirl relative to an obstacle in the path of the coolant. In this case, the frequency of occurrence of such vortices depends on the amount of coolant passing through. The installation of a common house heat energy meter can be carried out both on horizontal and vertical pipelines, but provided that a straight pipe section is available in front of and after the meter.
Equipment of this type consumes a small amount of energy, on one battery it is able to function for five years.
Vortex meters negatively react to large impurities in the coolant and pressure drops. Therefore, for the high-quality operation of the unit, an obligatory measure is the installation of a special filter.
It is important to note that the presence of iron in the coolant and deposits in pipelines in no way affect the accuracy of the readings. Also, this device is equipped with a specialized interface, which allows the management company to take readings of common house heat energy meters remotely. In addition, this application sends messages that notify of any malfunctions. This circumstance guarantees timely intervention of the relevant service, which will quickly eliminate the arisen troubles.
Ultrasonic counter
The principle of operation of this device is based on the passage of a special ultrasonic signal through the flow of coolant. The signal transmission time is directly related to the fluid velocity.
For those who install a common house meter of heat energy of this type, it is necessary to know the conditions of its operation:
- Constancy of pressure.
- Lack of air in the system.
- Maximum purity of the circulating fluid.
- The absence of deposits on the walls of pipelines.
The presence of these factors will ensure the effective operation of the counter, which will show an undistorted result.
The operation of equipment of this type may require the installation of additional elements that will provide the flow of coolant through different channels.
Organization of heat energy accounting
The procedure for installing a common house meter for thermal energy:
- Obtaining technical conditions for the development of the project.
- Design and installation of the meter.
- Commissioning.
- Operation of the meter, including regular readings and their use for calculation.
- Calibration of common house heat energy meters, as well as their repair and replacement.
Installation of a common meter
- To begin with, it is necessary to organize a meeting of tenants of apartments and owners in order to make decisions on the installation of a collective meter.
- Contact the decision to install a collective meter and pay it to the organization for managing tenants and apartment owners.
- The management organization, in turn, must contact the resource supply company for the issuance of technical conditions, in accordance with which the design and installation of a common house meter for heat energy will be carried out.
- The management company, with the financing of tenants and apartment owners, for the installation of a meter enters into an agreement on the development of project documentation with a specialized organization.
- After receiving the project documentation, the management company sends it for approval to the resource supplying organization and, with a positive conclusion, installs a collective common house meter for accounting for thermal energy, and then allows it to be used.
Commissioning
The installed collective meter allows commissioning of:
- A representative from the company that carried out the installation and commissioning of the equipment commissioned.
- Consumer representative.
- Representative of a company supplying thermal energy.
The commission should be created by the owner of the heating unit. During commissioning, the commission checks the following:
- Availability of passports, factory seals and calibration certificates.
- Compliance with the design documentation of the components of the thermal unit.
- Compliance of permissible temperature schedules, measuring ranges and hydraulic operating modes, parameter values determined by the conditions of connection to the heating system and the contract.
- Compliance of the characteristics of measuring instruments with the characteristics indicated in the device passport.
In the absence of comments, the commission shall sign the act of commissioning the meter installed by the consumer. This document is the basis for keeping records of the heat carrier by the meter, thermal energy, quality control and heat consumption using the data obtained from the moment of signing the document.
Filling
After signing the commissioning act, the thermal unit is sealed. Filling is performed:
- Consumer representative.
- The representative of the heat supply company, if the heat unit belongs to the consumer.
Check
The meters are subjected to initial verification by the manufacturer before they go on sale. Confirmation of this procedure is the presence of the following elements:
- The record that is on the unit, as well as in the passport to it.
- Special sticker.
- The stigma.
After a certain period of time, the next check is made. Before each heating season and after the next repair or check of metering devices, the readiness of the heating unit for operation is checked. As a result, an act of checking a heat point at the interface of an adjacent network is drawn up.
After commissioning, tenants and apartment owners must implement energy saving measures: installing springs and closers on the front doors, warming windows, doors, etc.
Maintenance
The meter’s maintenance consists in maintaining the heating equipment in working condition, regular inspection, eliminating the causes of wear and breakage, checking the operation of primary converters on the return and supply pipelines of the heating network, checking the correct operation of the meter, checking the operation and resistance thermocouple circuits, a weekly printout of testimony for analysis and development of recommendations for maintaining the required temperature and much more.
If necessary, during the maintenance process, dismantling (removal and disconnection) of faulty devices and re-installation of the meter after a secondary check and repair are carried out.
A common house heat meter: how to pay
Calculation of payment is quite simple and consists of several stages:
- The cost of heating one m 2 is determined. To do this, counter indicators must be multiplied by the current tariff and the resulting number should be divided by the area of all the premises heated in the house.
- Then the share of each individual apartment is calculated. To do this, the total area of the building’s premises (including porches, basements, attics) is multiplied by the result obtained by dividing the total area of the apartment by the total area of all non-residential premises and apartments. Thus, we get a general indicator of the area of all the premises that falls on your apartment.
- The area of the apartment is added to the area of the premises that make up your share. The resulting number must be multiplied by the cost of heating one m 2 .