Re: Shared Internet [ was Revisiting single metering | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: R Philip Dowds (rpdowdscomcast.net) | |
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2016 05:04:44 -0800 (PST) |
Our cohousing community of 32 units buys electricity through separate meters: 32 for the individual units, plus 2 common meters. We just installed as many photovoltaic panels as we could. With all the credits, incentives and rate substitutions we could muster, we are seeing a payback of about ten years (a length of time which would be unacceptable to most for-profit developers). Not far from us, a cohousing community of 40 units is hiring the same vendor / installer to do a very comparable installation of PV panels. In original construction, however, they chose to purchase electricity in bulk, and the whole property is on one electric meter. In their case, a differing algorithm for credits and rate structures is helping to produce a much more attractive payback of around four years. Points: Individual metering is not a slam dunk no-brainer. And sharing — guest rooms, electricity, cars, whatever — remains a very good way for cohos to reduce the costs of both property and life. Thanks, Philip Dowds Cornerstone Village Cohousing Cambridge, MA > On Jan 11, 2016, at 10:43 AM, Chris Poch <chris [at] chrispoch.com> wrote: > > > I think what makes sense in terms of utility metering depends largely on if > you pay by use or pay for service. For example, electricity service is pay > by use - if I use a lot of power, I pay a lot and if I barely use power, I > pay a little. Contrast that to internet service, which today is generally > pay for service - I pay for a certain speed of connection and pay the same > price whether all I do is email or if I stream movies continuously. > > I prefer things billed on consumption to be individually metered because it > encourages better responsibility. People are more likely to be careful with > their use when they see a consequence for not being careful. My sister > lived in a high rise where the tenants paid the utilities based on a > formula of unit size and number of occupants. There was no incentive to > conserve because with hundreds of units in the building, there was no > measurable difference in what she paid based on her lifestyle choices - it > encouraged unneeded consumption. I've had friends who rented out rooms in > their houses for fixed prices (everything included) and some who also > charged for utilities. The tenants who were also paying utilities were more > responsible. The ones who didn't pay did wasteful things like set the air > conditioning (not heat) to 60F/15C in the winter because they were "a > little warm" or run a shower on the hottest setting for hours to steam a > wrinkled garment. I've never had problems getting tenants who were paying > utilities to agree to a reasonable thermostat setting or to turn off lights > they're not using. I can't imagine how some of these debates would play out > across 20+ units if bills came back higher than expected. > > The big exception I'd make is for lightly used utilities. For example, if > your community has geothermal HVAC (all electric) but has gas water heaters > in each unit (and nothing else using gas). During the summer, I pay on > average $17 for my gas bill, which in the summer is essentially just water > heating. $15 of that bill is charges for being a customer and fixed rate > taxes so my use is only $2. It would be much cheaper to share that service > with my neighbors, even if they used significantly more than me, so we > could split the overhead cost of being a customer. I would take this > approach for utilities where the fees were very high relative to cost of > use. > > At least for electricity, you can get non-utility provided submeters > installed. The utility would read the "big meter" and charge the community > based on it. The individual meters can be used to split the bill based on > actual use. I've seen this system in apartment complexes and also in > offices where tenants paid for electricity for certain things such as 24 > hour air conditioning of a server room but the building provided most of > the electricity to tenants. Just be careful that in some areas, getting > electric service this way will make you a commercial customer. When I lived > in southwest Virginia, commercial customers paid rates that were higher > than the home service rates. It's something worth exploring before making a > decision because a higher or lower rate could end up being the deciding > factor. >
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Revisiting single metering Linda Haas, January 10 2016
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Shared Internet [ was Revisiting single metering Sharon Villines, January 11 2016
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Re: Shared Internet [ was Revisiting single metering Chris Poch, January 11 2016
- Re: Shared Internet [ was Revisiting single metering R Philip Dowds, January 12 2016
- Re: [CSR] Shared Internet [ was Revisiting single metering Michael Arnott, January 12 2016
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Re: Shared Internet [ was Revisiting single metering Chris Poch, January 11 2016
- Re: Shared Internet [ was Revisiting single metering Norman Gauss, January 11 2016
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Shared Internet [ was Revisiting single metering Sharon Villines, January 11 2016
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