Budget with central heating

Why heating is the most variable cost

The cost of central heating depends on three factors that are hard to control in advance: the severity of the winter, the market price of the fuel or energy carrier and the consumption habits of the owners. A cold season or a rise in gas prices can push the cost up significantly compared with the previous year.

For this reason the fuel item must be estimated with particular prudence, starting from the historical consumption of the last two or three years and adjusting it for the expected price trend. Alongside fuel, budget for the ordinary maintenance of the heating plant, the appointed responsible operator where required, periodic checks and the reading of heat meters.

Fixed share and consumption share

With heat metering, the UNI 10200 standard requires the cost to be split into two components. The involuntary, or fixed, share covers system losses and management costs and is allocated by thousandths of heat demand, that is by the power theoretically required by each unit. The voluntary, or consumption, share is allocated according to the readings of the meters fitted on the radiators or the heat actually drawn.

The split percentage between fixed and consumption parts derives from an energy diagnosis of the building drawn up under the standard. In the budget it is best to state the estimate of the fixed component and of the variable one separately, so that owners understand how much of their share depends on their own consumption and how much is instead independent of it.

• Fixed share: losses and management, by heat-demand thousandths
• Consumption share: heat drawn, from metering
• Percentages set by the UNI 10200 energy diagnosis
• Plant maintenance and responsible operator budgeted separately

Sample structure of the heating item

In the budget the heating section can be broken down as follows: fuel or energy estimated for the season, ordinary maintenance of the system, meter-reading service, mandatory checks and inspections, and any fee for the responsible operator. Each item with its annual amount and a section subtotal.

It is good practice to attach a note to the budget explaining the allocation criterion adopted and the fixed and variable percentage applied. This reduces disputes at the meeting, because it makes the link between individual consumption and the share due transparent. Any extraordinary work on the system, such as replacing the boiler, stays outside the ordinary budget and follows a dedicated resolution.

Special cases and disconnection

An owner may disconnect from the central system if they demonstrate, with a technical report, that disconnection does not cause significant operating imbalances or extra costs for the others. Even after disconnection, however, they remain bound to contribute to the extraordinary maintenance of the system, to its preservation and to bringing it up to standard, according to the settled orientation on the matter.

In the budget it is therefore important to distinguish those who contribute only to preservation costs from those who also share fuel and consumption. A frequent error is charging consumption to a disconnected unit: metering and tables must be kept aligned with the building's real situation.

Managing the heating budget with software

The double allocation between fixed and consumption shares is hard to keep by hand, especially when the readings arrive from the metering service in a format different from the condominium tables. Management software lets you import the readings, apply the UNI 10200 percentages and produce the allocation without manual recalculation, reducing the risk of error.

With AmministraPro you can set the heating item in the budget, manage demand and consumption tables and generate instalments consistent with the criterion adopted. The accounting features are described on the /funzioni page and the plans on the /prezzi page.

Frequently asked questions