In the light of the regular rise in the price of utilities, consumers are increasingly asking questions about how you can pay less for electricity, gas, water and, of course, heating, the price for which bites the most. And if the owners of private households have a very simple and realistic task to do - to increase the heat conservation of their homes, put a good boiler and change the used batteries to new ones with regulators, then owners of apartments in high-rise buildings can only rely on the sanity of the service provider and it is logical reasonable rates. Many uninitiated people are interested in the quite reasonable question of why we pay for heating in the summer. In today's article, we will try to answer it, as well as understand such nuances as the cost of heating apartments and possible ways to reduce it.
Reasonable question
So, let's first find out why we pay for heating in the summer, although the batteries in the apartments become cold in mid-May, if not earlier. This "injustice" worries a large number of people. It is especially relevant for those who have just begun to comprehend the basics of the science of paying for utility bills, because older people know that this way the amount in payments that come monthly to the population is reduced.
According to the decree adopted at the state level, at the end of each winter season, the services responsible for supplying heat to the apartments calculate and adjust the cost of the services they provide. Heating tariffs that holders of personal accounts will see on receipts depend on many factors, but the cost of energy is fundamental. It also includes a fee for a communications service, their current repair and modernization, salary payments, and taxes. The final price as a result is not broken down by the number of months that actually make up the heating season, but by the entire calendar year. Thus, the financial burden on apartment owners is reduced.
Solution from above
This is a national practice, which can be changed at the discretion of local authorities, when a collective decision takes a different payment schedule, and people deposit funds for using the service, albeit in a larger amount, but not throughout the year. Then, the tenants of apartments do not have a question about why we pay for heating in the summer, but this does not mean at all that during the warm season they will have zero in the “Heating” column.
The service provider may charge a certain amount, which will be calculated not for the direct heat supply, but, for example, for the maintenance of the main. Of course, the cost of heating in the summer will then be significantly lower than that of others, but in winter they will have to seriously fork out.
How is the tariff calculated?
The amount that is prescribed in the column "payable" consists of two components. First of all, this is the direct cost of heat supply services for each individual apartment, but the receipt also includes compensation from residents for the fact that the management company heats the common areas, and not just square meters that fall under private ownership. What does it mean? That heating tariffs include the supply of heat to the staircase, to flights of stairs, corridors, basements. By the way, apartment residents have to pay their hard-earned money not only directly for hot batteries, but also for other components that make up the cost of heating, which we already mentioned a little higher.
This is the main answer to the question of why we pay for heating all year round. After all, if the payment was calculated only at the time of the actual use of the service, it would be too high, especially given the current price for this utility service.
Since July 2017, the country's tariff on average increased by 4%. At the moment, it is not the same in different regions, although there are no significant differences. So, in the capital it is 1747 rubles / Gcal, in St. Petersburg - 1678 rubles, Tula - 1782 rubles, Pskov - 1720 rubles, Kazan - 1647 rubles, Perm - 1820 rubles, Saratov - 1819 rubles, Novosibirsk - 1394 rubles; Chelyabinsk - 1211 rubles.
Constant variable
Payment for heating in summer and winter is usually the same and is calculated by the basic formula, which looks like this:
- Payment = consumption rate x total housing area x tariff.
The consumption standard is also calculated by the service provider once a year. Note one more nuance. In the case when an individual meter for heating to an apartment or a house is not installed, the tariff is recalculated upwards according to a coefficient of 1.6. That is, in fact, the amount in the payment increases by 60% due to the lack of a device that reads the amount of thermal energy that the residential building uses.
An important nuance in the issue of pricing is the duration of the heating season. Many Russians are worried about the question of whether it is legal to pay for heating in the summer if the batteries were turned off in the middle of spring due to favorable weather conditions. In theory, the heat and communal services should recalculate and take into account the actual overpayment for the next period, thereby reducing the next payment, but in reality it is almost impossible to control this.
As practice shows, an increase in the cost of utilities occurs annually. At the moment, the authorities do not foresee any sharp jumps in heating prices, according to government officials, this difference should not exceed the inflation rate set in the budget.
However, in any case, the population is quite urgently faced with the need to optimize the use of energy resources. A heating meter may help . On an individual basis, it is installed by special services after agreement with the service provider. However, there are pitfalls in this matter.
Do not flatter yourself!
One of the main misconceptions of those who just set out to install such a device in their housing is that they will have to pay only for the amount of thermal energy that actually gets into the apartment. Nevertheless, payment for heating during the summer period can still be included in the general utility bill. Another question is that the amount there will appear insignificant, as this will be the payment for heating the entrance and some other price components.
There is also a significant difference in where exactly the counter stands. It can be general house or apartment. How is the heating charge calculated in the first case? The person responsible for the calculations calculates how much the heating of the whole house for the reporting period cost, and dividing this number by the number of apartments (taking into account the square meters of each of them), it will distribute the entire amount between their owners.
How to reduce heat consumption?
If your house has an individual heating system, it is important to learn how to save on heating, because how much you have to pay for this service depends largely on you. First of all, you should minimize the possible ways of heat dissipation into the street:
- put good windows;
- replace entrance doors or eliminate gaps in the opening;
- insulate walls and ceilings.
It is very important to be able to correctly use modern technology. The thermostat with a sensor that detects the presence of a person in the room gives commands to the system, which reduces or increases the heating of the room as necessary. You can do this manually, by installing regulating valves on the batteries.
Less use = less pay?
These recommendations are useful not only to “individual”, they are good for those who use centralized heating. Qualitatively insulated walls and windows will better maintain a normal temperature in the apartment, especially considering the fact that not all boiler rooms can withstand standards.
So, according to standards, in winter the temperature in the living room should be between 20-23 degrees, in the kitchen and toilet - 19-21 degrees, and in the bathroom - not less than 24 degrees. In fact, we have 16-18 degrees, which, according to the law, are possible only in the vestibules, porches and interroom corridors. So it turns out that by warming yourself or using thermostats on batteries, you will not save money, but you can create a more favorable microclimate in your home, but the question of why we pay for heating in the summer will remain open (given the level of services provided).
Prospective investment
When the house has an autonomous heating system or at least a meter, it is more beneficial for apartment owners in terms of cost savings. So a communal apartment will be cheaper in any case. But it’s even more profitable to have meters directly in the apartment. Before installing this device, you need to find out how the system is organized in your home. Pipes can be looped and go along the perimeter of the apartment from one room to another, but there are buildings where heating risers are installed. Then the counter will need to be put on each of them, and this will turn out an impressive amount. However, such an acquisition will pay off pretty quickly anyway.
I do not want and I will not?
In today's article, we discussed whether we should pay for heating in the summer. Yes, such a fee is quite justified, because it helps to reduce the burden of material costs placed on our wallets. However, in some cases it is possible to negotiate with the service provider not to split the annual cost of heating for 12 months and pay for it only upon delivery. To do this, it is necessary to renegotiate the contract with the utility service, in which the subscriber and the provider will settle the new schedule and the amount of the monthly payment.