I've been going bananas this past week, since we got the papers for the annual meeting for our building. That includes the cost for the maintenance of the house. Some cost we share like the stair cleaning, the garden in front and the tremendously high cost for maintaining the lift. That is irritating here in Switzerland, since all lifts have to be "inspected" every two months, even though ours is new, and we have to pay for the service even if it's not needed. It's like the tv-license. I never watch tv on the actual tv, I watch on the computer and not Swiss tv. Anyway, let's not go there. My blood pressure is high enough as it is.
The issue is that my heating cost is way up there, and higher than the others. We are four apartments in the building, and my share is 22%. This year my heating cost is 34%, something ain't right, 'cause I don't use the most.
So I've been sending for papers to look at the usage in detail, I even had to use Excel again! Then I got tripped up by some manual notes made on one of the copies, saying KW, me thinking it was KiloWatt when it actually meant KaltWasser (cold water). Heating is apparently measured in MWh, which I assume means MegaWatt hours, and after ripping up the floor in my wardrobe, where the floor heating gizmo is located, I realized there is a measurer right there. Only on the papers I got it only shows cost, not usage.
And nobody has ever been here, checking the meter. Can the heating company do this remotely?
I am so not giving up on this investigation. Bigger apartments should by default use more heating, and one of the other flats definitely use more than I, they have like 28°C indoors all the time.
Until now I did some screwing (!) by myself, fiddling with the cock-pit-like heating installation, and tomorrow I'm asking some professionals for advice. I happen to have invited them for dinner, coincidentally as it happens.
Why I waited four years? 'Cause the first year you have not used anything to compare with, second year could be a coincidence, third year we focused more on other types of cost, but this year I reacted. And now I happen to have the time.
Heating company watch out!
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2 comments:
That is very strange. of all the apartments I have lived in Switzerland they never measured actual use per apartment - too mush hassle. they just calculated a percentage of the total use based on the size of the apartment. and since your apartment is not larger than the others you should not be paying more. but I guess they have some other system?
By the way, if you don't use TV and radio you don't have to pay the TV license, but according to friends who do this you then get hassled all the time because the TV license people don't believe you dont use it. But I sure as hell wouldn't be paying the cablecom (or equivalent)!
B
Yes we do, we have individual heating systems.
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