Submetering helps recover utility costs and conserve energy
Natural gas submeters and submetering have become worthwhile methods for property managers to recover utility costs and conserve energy.
Property managers have been challenged over time to recover utility costs from their tenants. Unless the building or facility has a way of measuring each tenant’s natural gas consumption, there is no incentive for tenants to conserve energy. Typically, property owners respond by increasing rents, but natural gas submetering is offering a reasonable alternative.
Gas Sub Meters
Submetering is a metering system implemented in buildings or communities with multiple tenants so the property owner or management company can bill the individual tenants for their utility usage. While submetering was originally invented in the 1920s, it didn’t become popular until the late 1980s due to increasing utility costs and environmental conservation.
In most situations, the system is designed with a “master meter,” a primary meter owned by the utility company. This meter measures and bills the responsible property owner or management firm for utility usage. The accountable party places submeters (a/k/a sub-meters) or privately owned meters to determine the individual occupants’ utility usage.
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| The Gallus 2000 Gas Meter measures natural gas volume for domestic appliances and sub-metering applications. |
Many gas submeters communicate usage through Automatic Meter Reading (AMR), which transmits the meter reading to the billing department electronically.
When a building is not submetered, the property owner’s utility costs may be passed onto the tenants through their rent, or it may be divided among the occupants. Studies have shown that when a building becomes sub-metered, the tenants are more likely to conserve energy which benefits the environment. It’s also been shown that when residents follow prudent conservation tips, they can reduce their costs.
Over the years, diaphragm meters are most often used to measure the natural gas flow of residences and submetering. These positive displacement meters have two or more chambers formed by movable diaphragms. A popular gas meter for domestic appliances and submetering applications is the Itron Gallus 2000 Gas Sub-Meter (formerly by Actaris and Schlumberger). One of the attractions to this meter has been its unique modular design which enables complete customization to fit most installation needs.
Sub-metering natural gas has become pivotal for property owners to recover utility costs. It encourages energy conservation by tenants and provides a way for tenants to pay for their fair utility usage.
If you would like to discuss your sub-metering needs message us by requesting a quote
