Central heating is proven to be the most environmentally friendly and comfortable way of heating in Bulgaria. Although many people complain about high bills and look for a way to escape district heating, it turns out that it is actually the most preferred way of heating households. Does the type of building, the layout of the risers, the condition of the building installation, etc. influence the monthly district heating bill? You will find the answers to these and many other questions in this article, prepared by the specialists of “Titan Properties”. 

The differences in district heating in new buildings and older buildings (panel construction, brick-built, EPK, etc.)

Layout of the risers

In older blocks, the risers are the so-called vertical risers, well known to all district heating users. In new construction, however, the main heat pipes are located in the middle of the building and do not pass through the apartments, with each property having separate horizontal pipes. This affects the amount of the building installation fee, which is charged only during the heating season and must be paid by every household under the Energy Act. The “building installation” fee is paid by all users of the service, regardless of whether the building is new or old, but it is important to note that properties located in a new-build block pay several times less. In Sofia and other cities, dozens of old buildings are being converted to horizontal risers, replacing the vertical ones during renovation, which in turn reports over 87% lower heat energy consumption.

Layout of the heat meters

New apartment buildings and properties with horizontal heating systems have an individual heat meter at the entrance of each apartment, which makes reading easy and quick. In older buildings, however, we can see a heat meter on each radiator in the dwelling, which increases the risk of heat energy theft by replacing heating units with heat meters with ones without heat meters. Unfortunately, heat energy theft and the high losses from the building installation in older buildings give district heating companies a very bad reputation, even though they are an important factor in reducing harmful emissions from burning coal, wood and even car tyres.

Condition of the building installation

The building installation is a system of pipes that run through the basement, in the walls or exposed through the common corridors and through all rooms in the homes. In order to be energy efficient and provide optimal energy distribution, the building installations in older apartment blocks must be excellently maintained or replaced with new ones, just like all building installations in new apartment blocks.

District heating in new buildings is cheaper for consumers

Every individual building/entrance/property has specific thermal insulation characteristics. The main components for efficient and optimal use of heat energy, economic benefit and easy administration are the following: good insulation of the property, the entrance and the entire building; new and high-quality window frames; a well-maintained, preferably new heating installation for the building; remote actual monthly readings. In this respect, you are more likely to find an optimal home in a new building or an excellently maintained older one and enjoy environmentally friendly heat energy without high winter bills. 

Can we give up the services of district heating?

Using district heating and hot water is not an individual service; it is chosen by the entire building. According to the current legislation, you cannot opt out of it individually. Only if the General Meeting of the building decides so can the company’s services be discontinued. If the dwelling is unoccupied or district heating is not used, the valves are closed and then customers pay only their share of the energy for the building installation.

Did you know that... 

There are three main ways to determine and pay district heating and hot water bills?

First option: Based on actual readings - through installed heat meters and water meters with remote reading. Second option:  Based on estimated quantities – since the heat meters and water meters are read once a year, the monthly bill is based on the amount of energy consumed shown in the last balancing bill. In winter, balancing bills are higher because of district heating and the heating period. Third option: Equal monthly instalments – in this case, the monthly bills are again determined on the basis of the amount of energy you consumed last year. The difference is that it is divided into 12 equal parts for each month and then each of them is multiplied by the current heat energy price. 

Source of information: Toplofikatsiya Sofia EAD