Cohousing-L Mailing List: Sub-metering [was Allocating Common Costs by an Algorithm e.g. based on # adults and sq. ft.

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Mar 10, 2021, at 11:05 AM, Ken Winter <ken [at] sunward.org> wrote:
> 
> I'd strongly urge you to build in a system where each unit pays for its
> actual, measured usage of water, electricity, and gas.-- At Sunward
> Cohousing, after 20 years of "we all pay for everything", we have
> retrofitted submeters into our water billing system. 

A caution: we decided to have one meter for all and to split evenly because it 
lowered costs for the whole community. The utility companies have a minimum 
charge for service to each household. Since we have a large number of one 
person units, they would all be paying the minimum but probably more than they 
would pay if they had individual meters from the utilities. 

So our water and gas are one community bill. Electricity is metered because it 
also includes heating and cooling, and may vary wider in usage.

Question: What did installing submeters cost? How difficult was it?

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org