How to use your heat and hot water meters

Transcription

1 How to use your heat ad hot water meters Repairs Service For geeral advice: % (Optio oe) Date published: Jue

2 The amout of heatig ad hot water you use is measured by the Bruata system fitted to your flat. This leaflet explais this system, as well as how you ca cotrol the temperature of your heatig. Cotets Page What is the Bruata system? 3 Heat meters (allocators) 4 Temperature gauge 6 Water meter 6 How ca I check how much eergy I am usig? 7 How is my heatig ad hot water bill worked out? 7 How ca I cotrol the temperature of my heatig? 10 Eergy advice 12 Get i touch 16 How to cotact us 16 Customer Service Poits 17 2 Heat ad Hot Water Meters

3 What is the Bruata system? Bruata are a Daish compay that maufacture the system fitted i your flat. It allows us to measure ad the calculate the amout of heatig ad hot water that you use throughout the year. The system eables us to provide you with a accurate bill ad is made up of three parts: Heat meters (allocators): fitted to each of your radiators these meters measure the amout of heat produced. Temperature gauge: fitted o a wall i your flat, the uit records the iteral temperature of your home. Water meter: fitted to your hot water supply, the meter measures the amout of hot water you use i both your kitche ad bathroom. How does the system work? Each part is remotely liked through wireless trasmitters to the iteret. This allows us to cotiuously moitor the amout of heatig ad hot water you use. It also meas we do t eed to come ito your flat to take ay meter readigs, as everythig is liked to the iteret. 3 Heat ad Hot Water Meters

4 What if there is a problem with the system? If you have a problem with ay part of the system please cotact our Repairs ad Maiteace Service o (Optio oe). Please do ot tamper or try to remove the batteries from the heat meters. They caot be used i ay other device. If you do a automatic alarm will be triggered ad you will be charged if we have to reset or replace them. Heat meters (allocators) How do the heat meters work? The heat meters, fitted to each radiator, have two sesors measurig both the heat produced by the radiator ad the heat i the room. The amout you will be charged is calculated by takig the measured heat of your room away from the heat produced by the radiator. Please ote that heat from other sources such as the su or electric heaters is ot measured. What do the heat meters show? The heat meters cotai a display which shows: The amout of heat you ve used so far this year. The amout of heat you used last year. The scale ad cotrol figure. The heat meters uique referece umber. Heat ad Hot Water Meters 4

5 The amout of heat you ve used so far this year: The amout of heat you used last year: The scale ad cotrol figure Heat meter umber The amout of heat you ve used is show o the display by the symbol Measured i uits ad show as a couter, the display automatically chages to a zero at the start of each ew billig year. This is usually o the 1st of April. The amout of heat you used last year is show o the display by the symbol The amout used is automatically recorded at the ed of your billig year, ormally o the 31st of March. This allows you to compare the amout of heat you are usig to the amout you used last year. To esure every heat meter is accurate, each oe has a scale ad a cotrol figure. This is show o the display by this symbol Each heat meter has its ow referece umber which provides iformatio about such thigs as it s locatio. 5 Heat ad Hot Water Meters

6 Comparig readigs The Bruata system has replaced evaporative meters kow as Clorius. They work differetly so please do ot try to compare readigs from Clorius or ay other type of heat meter. Temperature gauge The temperature gauge, fitted i your flat, measures the temperature iside your home. This is show o a display scree i degrees cetigrade. It is ot liked to ad does ot cotrol your heatig i ay way. The display shows six pieces of iformatio, oe after each other. Meter umber Curret temperature Average temperature for the last 24 hours Average temperature Average temperature Average temperature for the previous for the last two weeks for the previous two 24 hour period weeks Water meter A water meter, fitted to your hot water supply, shows o a display the amout of hot water you ve used. Heat ad Hot Water Meters 6

7 How ca I check how much eergy I am usig? You ca see how much eergy you are usig by: Lookig at each of the heat meters ad the water meter. Go olie to you will be able to see how much eergy you have used for the curret ad previous years. You will also see the average amout used i your block of flats. To do this you will eed to eter your persoal logi ad password. If you do t kow what this is please cotact us o (Optio three) ad we will let you kow. How is my heatig ad hot water bill worked out? Whe do I have to pay for my heatig ad hot water? We charge for heatig ad hot water each week, kow as a prepaymet charge. You will eed to pay this alog with your ret ad ay other service charges you have (e.g. CCTV, caretakig, Digital TV ad laudry). At the ed of the year (i.e. 31st March) we will check ad calculate your bill. As this will take some time, you will receive your bill betwee September ad October. What if my bill is larger tha the paymets I ve made throughout the year? You will be asked to pay the differece if you ve used more heatig ad hot water tha paid for durig the year. You ca do this either as a oe off paymet or through istalmets. We will let you kow how you ca do this whe we sed your bill. 7 Heat ad Hot Water Meters

8 What if my bill is less tha the paymets I ve made throughout the year? If you ve paid for more heatig ad hot water tha you used, durig the year, we will repay the differece. Providig you have o outstadig debts, i which case the differece will be used to offset these debts. How do you charge for the hot water I ve used? 1. We take the cost of providig hot water for your block. 2. We divide this by the amout of hot water used (i.e. show i cubic metres) throughout your block of flats. 3. This gives a cost per cubic metre. 4. We will the charge you based o the amout of cubic metres of hot water that you have used. Example; 1. Total cost of hot water for block: Total amout of hot water used i your block: 2000 m3 3. Cost per m3 ( 4000 divided by 2000): 2 4. So if you have used 40m3 durig the year: 80 ( 2 x 40) How do you charge for the heatig I ve used? Your heatig costs are made up of both fixed ad specific parts: Fixed costs Eve if your radiators are ot o, hot water still eeds to be circulated aroud the heatig pipes i your buildig. This esures your buildig is kept at a comfortable miimum temperature ad heatig is available whe you eed it. Heat ad Hot Water Meters 8

9 As everyoe beefits but obody has direct cotrol over the cost we share the costs based o the size of your flat, calculated i square metres. Example; 1. Fixed cost for heatig your block of flats: 4, Total floor area of all flats i your buildig: 4000m2 3. Fixed costs per m2: 1 ( 4000 divided by 4000m2) 4. So if your flat is 50m2 your fixed cost is: 50 ( 1 x 50) Specific costs Most of the heatig costs come from whe you tur your radiators o ad at what level you set your thermostatic valves. 1. We take the specific cost of providig heatig for your block. 2. We divide this by the amout of heatig uits measured o all the radiators i your block of flats. 3. This gives a cost per heatig uit. 4. We the charge you based o the amout of heat uits measured by the heat meters o your radiators. Example; 1. Specific cost for heatig your block of flats: 12, Total heat uits registered: 120, Cost per heat uit: 0.10 ( 12,000 divided by 120,000 uits) 4. So if your radiators recorded 2000 uits: 200 ( 0.10 x 2000) Who ca I cotact if I have a query about my bill? If you have a query about your bill please cotact our Ret Maagemet Service o (Optio three). 9 Heat ad Hot Water Meters

10 What happes if I move durig the year? If you move out we do t eed to eter your home ad will take readigs o that day, providig we have bee advised. If you ve moved we will oly charge you for the amout of eergy you use from the day you move i util the ed of the year (31st March). How ca I cotrol the temperature of my heatig? What are Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRV s)? Each of your radiators are fitted with Thermostatic Radiator Valves. These allow you to vary the temperature i each of your rooms. They work like a thermostat by sesig air temperature, turig the radiator o ad off, whe the temperature has bee reached. Heat ad Hot Water Meters 10

11 How ca I adjust them? The TRV we fit has settigs from * to 6. Turig the valve up or dow chages the temperature your room will reach as follows: Settig ºC ºF * 7.1 to to to to to to to to to to to to to to 89.6 Tur the valve to the settig that keeps the room at a comfortable temperature for you. Durig the summer Durig the summer, uless it gets cold, your heatig wo t be o. To prevet your TRV s from seizig up it s a good idea to set all of them to the maximum settig. If you otice that your heat meters are registerig ay heat please cotact our Repairs ad Maiteace Service o (Optio oe). It may idicate that there is a problem with your heatig. 11 Heat ad Hot Water Meters

12 Eergy advice The followig guidace is from the Eergy Savig Trust ad the Home Eergy Team at the Cetre for Sustaiable Eergy i Bristol. Itroductio Givig your home a bit of love is importat. Did you kow there are a umber of o-cost ad low-cost thigs you ca do aroud your home to save moey ad eergy? From some simple chages to the way you use eergy i your home to gettig the best out of your eergy supplier. Tips for lower eergy bills Tur dow ad switch off; Always tur off the lights whe you leave a room ad at ight. If you wat to light a child s room or a ladig, use a low-wattage ight light. Do t leave appliaces (e.g. TVs ad stereos) o stadby ad remember ot to leave appliaces o charge uecessarily. Switch off your computer ad moitor whe they re ot beig used. Catch em youg: ecourage your childre to switch off electric toys ad lights that they re ot usig. They ll soo get the hag of savig eergy. Heat ad Hot Water Meters 12

13 Cookig; Oly boil as much water as you eed ad remember to cover the metal elemet at the base. Use the kettle to boil water for cookig, istead of heatig a pa o the stove. This is more efficiet ad takes less time too! Whe cookig choose the right sized pa for the food ad the cooker, cut food ito smaller pieces ad put lids o pas. The food will the cook a lot quicker. If you are defrostig food, or just warmig thigs up, microwave oves are ideal as they use much less electricity tha covetioal oves. Use a toaster rather tha a grill for makig toast. Good housekeepig; Keep the heat i by fittig draught excluders to the frot door, letter box, key holes ad widows. Small draughts ca be dealt with by stick o draft excludig tape from most DIY stores. Drawig your curtais at dusk ca also help. Recyclig aythig you are able to (e.g. ewspapers, bottle ad cas) saves eergy. Elemets i kettles ad washig machies coated with limescale are iefficiet ad use more eergy. Leavig a full cup of viegar i your kettle overight will remove limescale. Replace your light bulbs with recommeded eergy savig oes, they last up to 12 times loger tha ordiary oes. Just oe ca reduce your lightig costs by up to 100 over the lifetime of the bulb. 13 Heat ad Hot Water Meters

14 Put alumiium foil behid ay radiators fitted to outside walls (with the shiy side facig the radiator). Ordiary kitche foil will do or you ca buy specially desiged paels from DIY stores. Hot water A drippig hot water tap wastes eergy. I oe week it wastes eough hot water to fill half a bath, so fix leakig taps ad make sure they re fully tured off! Fridges ad freezers Let hot food cool dow before puttig it i the fridge or freezer. Do t leave the door ope for loger tha ecessary as cold air escapes. Defrost your freezer regularly to keep it ruig efficietly ad cheaply. Those filled with frost work harder to stay cold. Keep your fridge ad freezer well stocked as they eed less eergy tha empty oes. If your freezer frosts up quickly, check the door seals. Replace a old fridge freezer with a moder A rated oe which will use two ad a half times less eergy. You ca fid more eergy savig advice olie at Heat ad Hot Water Meters 14

15 Gettig the best from your eergy supplier Whoever you buy your electricity from you eed to make sure you are gettig a good deal. Are you o the best tariff? If your existig fuel supplier has t put you o the cheapest optio (or tariff ) you may be payig more tha you eed to for your electricity. You ca phoe them to check; the umber will be show o your fuel bill. Payig by mothly direct debit; eergy compaies prefer customers to pay a fixed amout each moth ad will offer discouts of 5 to 10% to customers who do this. If you re ot curretly payig by direct debit, it may be worth doig so. If the amout you chose to pay is ot eough to cover the bill or you are beig charged too much, you ca call your supplier ad request that the amout you pay is chaged. Switch to a iteret tariff; this ca save you aother 10%. The oly thig that will chage is that you will get your bill by . Do a meter readig every time; you receive a bill. Most bills are based o estimates ad are ofte iaccurate. If your supplier has uderestimated, you ll have to pay the differece at the ed of the year. If they have overestimated, you ll get refuded but ot for several moths. Avoid pre-paymet meters if you ca; some people like pre-paymet meters because they do make budgetig easy. However, pre-paymet customers do t beefit from direct-debit discouts, olie discouts or prompt-paymet discouts. So it usually pays to switch to a billed meter, though there may be a charge to do this. Heat ad Hot Water Meters 15

16 Get i touch If you have a questio about savig eergy or wat further iformatio please cotact the Home Eergy Team at the Cetre for Sustaiable Eergy by: Telephoe: (free from a ladlie) Telephoe: (cheaper from a mobile) home.eergy@cse.org.uk You ca also fid them o Facebook ad Twitter How to cotact us If you eed to cotact the Repairs ad Maiteace Service details are set out below. Geeral equiries: (Optio oe) Textphoe: Fax: By Post: Repairs, PO Box 595, Bristol, BS99 2AW By repairorders@bristol.gov.uk By Iteret: Heat ad Hot Water Meters 16

17 Customer Service Poits If you would like to see someoe i perso you ca visit ay Customer Service Poit. Opeig hours are: Moday, Tuesday ad Thursday from 9am to 5pm Wedesday 10.30am to 5pm Friday 9am to 4.30pm Please ote Lawrece Westo closes o Moday ad Cetral Bristol closes 5pm o a Friday. Our opeig hours may have chaged sice this publicatio. You ca check olie at or by telephoe Fishpods Robiso House Hockeys Lae Fishpods Bristol BS16 3HL. Cetral Bristol Phoeix Court, Bod Street South Bristol BS1 3PH. Southmead Southmead House Greystoke Aveue Southmead Bristol BS10 6BQ. Lawrece Westo Ridigleaze House, Lawrece Westo, Bristol BS11 OQE. Hartcliffe Out of hours emergecies Symes House Tel: Peterso Square Textphoe: Hartcliffe Fax: Bristol BS13 0BD. If you are usure which team you eed or you have a customers service related equiry you ca customer.servicepoits@bristol.gov.uk. 17 Heat ad Hot Water Meters

18 Traslatios If Eglish is ot your first laguage ad you eed a traslatio, we ca get oe for you. Begali Polish Chiese Portuguese Gujarati Pujabi Hidi Somali Kurdish Urdu Kosova Vietamese If you would like this iformatio i a differet format, for example, braille, audio tape, large prit or computer disk please cotact us usig the details provided i the booklet. Desiged ad prited by Bristol Desig BD