Heating cost control in HMO’s

You are far too humble 😉

Reply to the comment left by “Alex Williams” at “17/05/2014 – 11:29“:

Now that is a new one on me! 🙂
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Reply to the comment left by “Alex Williams” at “17/05/2014 – 11:29“:

One should always be proud to be so humble !

Hi there…

…my comments are:-

…first of all, is there a room thermostat installed in a suitable area? If not, I recommend this as an absolute MUST. Without this, the boiler will be ‘live’ for 100% or any ‘timed on’ heating period, and will cycle on and off on it’s own internal thermostat regardless of whether or not the house requires further warmth. Also it follows that the pump will be running continuously when the heating is timed on, this alone being approx equal to a 100w light bulb.

It is possible to get roomstats with a blank place over the knob, allowing you to choose the temp. I use Honeywell ones, usually obtained second hand off eBay for a few quid.

Another suggestion I would make is to offer the residents, as part of the tenancy deal, a set number of hours heating per day, and set the timer or programmer accordingly. Clearly if you find that controls are being varied you would have to act accordingly, such as by fitting some kind of lock or cover.

I am also assuming that a how water cylinder, if any, has it’s own thermostat fitted on the side and acting on a motorised valve. If not, another place for great improvement. Also what is it set for. I usually go for about 50 to 55 deg c.

The blogger who mentioned about including a set cost only also had a good point…..

One other thing….I suggest you make it a requirement that the residents do not employ their own heaters eg fan heaters etc in their rooms…..> I had a situation once where an occupant was leaving these on out of spite. The upstairs flat got so hot that the heat began to descend the stairwell, where it came to my attention!

Hope the above is relevant and helpful.

The hot water tank MUST be set to at least 60 deg to stop Legionella, you are now required to do a formal Legionella risk assessment as well.

Reply to the comment left by “Ian Ringrose” at “19/05/2014 – 21:18“:

A lot of combi boilers don’t have a temperature gauge that measures in degrees, just a dial that indicates a gradual increase from cold to whatever the hottest temperature the boiler heats up to, so how do we know if it is set at 60 degrees or more? Are landlords expected to take a thermometer and measure the temperature each time they visit the property?

Normal Combi boilers are very low risk for Legionella as they don’t store warm water.

However the full HSE guidelines could be read to say you had to check the temperature of water at all the taps.

Reply to the comment left by “Ian Ringrose” at “19/05/2014 – 22:09“:

My combi-boilers have a thermostatic valve fixed after the boiler which mixes cold water into the hot to deliver it at a constant warm temperature. That way even if the boiler is turned up it just delivers less hot water mixed with more cold. The tenants are quite happy with this and also there is less chance of people scalding themselves. The thermostats being mechanical require no power and hence no cost.

Having the water hotter can sometimes lead to less water being used, as people don’t wash up under a running hot tap if it feels too hot. However there are regs for max temperature for hot taps on new baths.

I think the problem lies in having the energy included in the rent, we rent a house where the tenants wanted the energy included, but I charge them this in addition to the rent, as a seperate ítem, they also consume a lot, but I do not care, they use more so up goes their payment, not my problem.