Heat meters in Camden’s homes

The Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 requires all homes on a district heating network to have a heat meter if it’s cost-effective and technically possible. These may be installed as part of a major works project.   

A heat meter measures the energy used to heat your home or hot water. This means you: 

• receive an accurate heating charge 
• can track energy usage using your Camden Account 
• can save money  
• reduce energy waste   

Find out more in our heat meter booklet (PDF)

If you’re a tenant 

We bill for heat in arrears. This means we calculate your heat charges based on your previous year's heating and hot water usage. This is usually from 1 April to 31 March but can be part-year if you moved in during the year. 

We send an annual review of energy charges. This explains your heat usage and charges for the previous year. The review tells you how much you currently pay and provides your new weekly heat charge.   

Your energy charge breakdown has three parts.

Part 1: an energy use cost 

This includes the heat and hot water you used the previous year and supplier costs for gas and electricity. If you don’t use much energy, you will have a lower energy use cost compared to higher users.  

Part 2: a standing charge  

This covers costs such as maintenance of the heat network and administration.  

This charge is the same even if you’re a low user, as we still have the costs to get the heating and hot water to your home. The standing charge may vary slightly for each site depending on our costs. 

Part 3: a charge for cooking gas, where relevant   

We compare the weekly charge you paid the previous year against the energy charge for the actual energy you used. We then adjust your weekly heat charge for the year ahead. This is in line with your actual energy usage the previous year. 

Read our leaflet that explains how we calculate tenants’ heat charges (PDF) 

If you're a leaseholder

Leaseholders pay for metered heat charges through their service charges. Find out more about heating and hot water service charges. 

We send out invoices twice a year. These are:   

• an estimated invoice in March. Find out more about estimated service charges.   
• an actual invoice in September once we know the actual costs for the previous year. Find out more about actual service charges. 

Read our leaflet that explains how we calculate leaseholders’ heat charges (PDF). 

How to view your monthly energy use 

Most tenants and leaseholders with a heat meter track their monthly energy usage in their Camden Account. You can find this in the housing section.   

Unfortunately, this is not available for Camden Living tenants or tenants and leaseholders with separate heating and hot water meters. 

If you're in credit

Tenants pay for their heat through a weekly heat charge on their rent account.  

If last year's weekly charge was higher than the cost of your actual energy usage, we’ll credit your rent account in August. If your rent account is in credit, you can request a refund by calling:  

• Central Rents on 020 7974 1486 if you pay by Direct Debit 
• Rent Support on 020 7974 2390 if you pay by another method  

If you're in arrears

If your rent account is in arrears, the heat credit will go towards paying this off. We may also reduce your heat charge for the current year.   

If your weekly charge was lower last year than the cost of your actual energy usage, we’ll increase your charge for the current year based on a new usage estimate.    

Worried about money

If you are worried about paying your bills there is help available.

• Claim benefits you're entitled to
• Get help to pay bills
• Refer yourself for money advice and support

You can save money by using your heating controls or insulating your home. 

• Read our energy-saving tips 
• Get free energy-saving advice
• Find out more about how to make your home more energy efficient 
• Get advice from the Energy Saving Trust 

If you only use the heating and hot water you need, you will reduce your energy use cost. We take your usage into account when we calculate your weekly heat charge.   

We can only install a heat meter if: 

• your home is on the district heat network 
• it’s technically possible and cost effective  

This means that some homes will not be metered.  Where we can install heating meters, we’re doing this as fast as possible.   

Give access to suppliers 

If we need to install a meter in your home, you must let suppliers in to install equipment. All contractors follow government and public health safety guidelines when they visit your home.  

Setting up the data flow 

Your home may already have a meter installed but the data flow to our IT system still needs to be set up. We’ll write to arrange an appointment.       

There can be a time lag before we can adjust your weekly heat charge for the year ahead as we need to collect data about your usage. 

As well as having a working heat meter in your home, we may also need the block meters to be working. A block meter provides the total heat usage for a block on an estate. Camden's energy supplier provides costs for the estate. 

Reasons why we cannot charge you for your actual energy usage 

There may be reasons outside our control that mean we cannot charge you according to how much energy you use, even if you have a heat meter installed. In these instances, we calculate your heating charge based on the average usage by bedroom size for that site. 

Technical problems 

We try to fix technical issues with equipment as fast as possible. These issues can lead to gaps in your usage data.  

We can sometimes estimate your usage. This depends on factors like: 

• how much historic usage data we have 
• how many flats there are in the block 
• how long the technical issues have been going on for   

Technical issues with the equipment can sometimes result in one block charged for usage while another block on the same estate is not. 

New build homes 

Residents moving into new build homes can have their annual review of energy charges based on part-year usage. We can only do this if we have a year’s worth of heat data for the period 1 April to 31 March. This is because heating and hot water usage is different during the Winter and Summer months.   

We charge new-build residents in the same way as residents without a heat meter until we have the necessary data. 

Residents moving in part-way through the billing year 

You must provide us with the heat meter reading on your move-in date. This is the ‘opening read’. Without this, we do not know how much heat you used and how much the previous resident used.   

If the opening read is not available, then we’ll estimate it. 

This section explains some of the terminology in the annual review of energy charges.   

kWh 

This is short for kilowatt hours and is how much heating and hot water you have used. Some heat meters measure and display your usage in kWh. You’re billed in kWh and your usage on your Camden Account is also displayed in kWh.   

MWh 

This is short for megawatt hours.  You heat meter may measure and display your usage in MWh. Your usage in MWh will be multiplied by 1000 to give the kWh read for your billing and your Camden Account. 

Energy use cost 

The cost of the energy you have used is calculated by multiplying your energy usage by a unit rate. The unit rate considers the charges that we must pay our suppliers for the gas and electricity supply and is calculated in pence per kilowatt hour (p/kWh). The costs are site specific and the unit rate and standing charge will not be the same for metered sites. 
 
We bulk buy our gas in advance to keep costs as low as possible for our residents. Gas prices are reviewed and change every year, which can have a significant effect on the unit rate. 

Standing charge 

This is an annual set charge applied to all properties in your block or estate. This means we can recover our costs for operating the heating and hot water network. It includes the costs of maintenance work and the administrative costs of running the heat metering and billing system.     We run the heating and billing system on a cost recovery basis. If you’re a low user, your heat charge will be lower. If you’re a high user your heat charge will be higher.  

Your standing charge will not change according to usage. 

Weekly heat charge 

Your weekly heat charge is set for the coming year on the first Monday in September. The new heat charge will appear on your rent account and considers: 

• your previous year’s energy usage 
• future gas and electric costs that have been forecast 
• future standing charges 
• any charges you owe to Camden from the previous year