How Does Submetering Work?

You might have heard that submetering can have a number of benefits for your rental property, but you don’t know much about it. What exactly is submetering?

Submetering involves the installation of individual metering devices in order to monitor the use of certain utilities like water or electricity. Every individual rental unit can be fitted with a meter, or your property can be divided into buildings or sections. Rather than using a single master meter and charging tenants a uniform utility bill, the individual monitoring allows for more accurate readings and billing. It can also promote energy savings for units that use more than average utilities, or encourage those with leaks to inform management so they can be fixed. These meters are accurate, easy to use, and can be accessed and read at any time.

When is submetering a good option for your rental property? If you suspect that your tenants may have unreported utility issues or are using disproportionate utilities, submetering is a good way to get accurate readings and hone in on the problem areas. Once people who overuse no longer have the benefit of spreading their bill among the rest of the tenants, they’ll be encouraged to reduce their usage (and their bill). You can choose to monitor one utility in particular, or several, depending on your property’s unique needs. If you’ve recently done upgrades or are now dealing with tenants who have large amounts of high-powered electronics, switching to submetering will help spare you from having to deal with and explain raised electrical bills to current and potential tenants.

If you have questions about the potential costs of fitting your property with individual units, or you’d like the guidance of property management experts, contact us here at PURE Property Management. Our goal is to make your life easier, and submetering is one way to do so. We’ll help you make the right choice for your property and tenants.