Is it possible to turn off the heating in an apartment building. Refusal of central heating, transition to individual autonomous heating. Is it possible in a separate apartment of an apartment building? Solving the issue by law
How to disconnect from central heating and switch to standalone?
As part of the article, we will try to figure out how problematic it is from the legal side, which authorities you need to visit to turn it off, and how to implement the transition to individual heating in technical terms.
Why is it needed
Let's start with the rationale for the project. Indeed, why is it necessary to turn off the apartment from the central heating, if it provides a comfortable temperature in the house?
If a landlord wants to implement retrofit measures on a home, tenants of unaffected homes must also tolerate certain measures, such as running pipes. In his apartment building the landlord wanted to connect the apartment located on the top floor with the central heating system and, in connection with this, renew the sanitary pipes.
However, the tenant of the apartment, however, refused to bear necessary work in your apartment. He considered that the obligation to be necessarily connected only with the housing directly affected by this measure. Modernization of leased property. In addition, the tenant feared that she would later be connected to the central heating system if she allowed a pipe to run through her apartment. In the end, he also criticized the fact that the announcement of the building measures is not complete enough. Because it was not specified whether and when the droughts would be closed again.
Reasons, in essence, only two, but more than weighty.
- The difference in cost between autonomous heating and centralized heating is at least twofold. More often, more.
For what?- Any modern boiler can give exactly as much heat as your apartment needs, guided by the thermostat readings. Central heating is guided by, so to speak, the average temperature in the hospital.
- All heat losses along the path of the coolant from the CHP to the radiator in the room are also paid by the consumer. This includes the thermal energy dissipated by a heating main with broken insulation; elevator without insulation; bottling and risers in the basement, in which for the fifth year no one has bothered to glaze a broken window ... You are forced, in fact, to pay for the poor performance of their functions by housing and thermal workers.
- Finally, a significant part of the payment for central heating goes to the maintenance of the bureaucracy: management, accounting, engineers, site foremen, and so on. In the case of individual heating, everything is simple: only the actual consumption of the heat source - electricity or gas - is paid.
Please note: heating with electricity, even using energy-saving technologies (warm floor,) will cost you best case in an amount comparable to the payment of central heating. More often, it's more expensive.
That is why he should not accept the renewal of sanitary pipes. The fears of the tenant, which are later even more easily connected to the central heating, do not play any role in this context. The landlord also duly announced the event, giving the tenant the opportunity to communicate the position of the individual lines by handing out the blueprint of the building.
The fact that the openings in the ceiling and floor are closed again after the piping needs no special mention in the ad as a self-evident consequence of such work. Therefore, the tenant also had to accept the renewal of the sanitary pipes. Landlords no longer need to show each calculation step if the invoice is correct. If not, the tenant must still allow the landlord in certain circumstances. Wolfgang Buesser and Mike Heitmann.
- In addition, in the case of autonomous heating, you are not tied to the beginning and end of heating season. You can not pay for heating the apartment during the thaw and not freeze during the early spring frost.
Cheap, convenient and ... very problematic. The main problem is obtaining permission to turn off the central heating.
With rising energy prices, vacant homes are annoying neighbors because they need more heat. Some tenants felt that the landlord should bear the extra cost and sue him. Thus, in this and other fundamental questions, the German courts ruled on the issue of vacancy.
If the tenant consumes more empty space due to empty apartments in the neighborhood, and in the common refrigerator there is more energy to keep his apartment in a warm environment, he pays for it. One of the reasons for this is that heat is dissipated through the walls, and neighboring apartments are indirectly heated. However, at the expense of the tenant remains. There is also no change in the base price calculated by the district heating company. The tenant cannot ask the landlord to reduce the base price due to the fact that "there will be no furnished apartments."
Baba Yaga is against
Transition to autonomous heating at home or entrance
In the vast majority of cases, when you contact a local government organization, you will hear an unequivocal answer: you cannot disconnect from the central heating with an apartment. It is possible to switch to autonomous heating only by the whole house or entrance, connected to a separate heating unit.
But there are also additional costs for the landlord. It can not only allocate costs for rented apartments in heating billing. All divisions must be considered. The landlord himself bears the proportionate costs of vacant residential buildings, says Ulrich Roperz from the association of German tenants. Under the heating cost regulation, which applies to almost all apartments with central heating, 30 to 50 percent of the costs are allocated according to the contract.
Shares for vacant apartments must be transferred by the landlord. This was decided by the Federal Court several years ago. Consumption units, which are included in the billing tariff of 50 to 70 percent in accordance with the regulation of heating costs, are unlikely to occur in vacant apartments. However, the heat cost allocators must be read. If consumption has been incurred, this must be taken over by the landlord.
The procedure for this is standard and well-established:
- A general meeting of residents is held.
- The minutes of the meeting are submitted to the conciliation commission, which is created by local governments or executive authorities.
- After considering the case positive decision you are given a list of organizations that must give their technical conditions for drawing up a project.
The Commission may refuse if it considers that:- The shutdown will entail a disruption in the operation of the central heating of neighboring houses or, in the event of a shutdown of the entrance of the house, heating in the remaining part of it.
- Autonomous heating will overload existing engineering systems- power supply or gas pipeline.
Useful: in the latter case, residents may be asked to upgrade highways at their own expense.
Even if the tenant is unlikely to be in his apartment, he must heat the rented rooms moderately in winter. This is one of the tenant's responsibilities to protect the landlord's property, such as mold formation. If the tenant has already received two warnings, since he mainly lived with his girlfriend and did not heat up at home, the landlord can terminate it in due time. Thus, the district court Hagen decided the case when the tenant did not heat his apartment for about two years.
On the other hand, the landlord is not in principle obliged to maintain certain temperature in vacant apartments. However, he must ensure that tenants can heat their own four walls sufficiently with an intact heating system, regardless of the vacancy in the house. A minimum temperature of 20 to 22 degrees Celsius is considered sufficient to ensure the "terms of the lease."
- Then, after receiving all the technical conditions, a working draft is drawn up, which is endorsed in each organization. Typically, these are heating networks, city gas, local housing and communal services, energy and architecture departments.
- Finally, permission to implement the project is issued. After completion, the work is accepted by the consolidated commission from all controlling organizations.
Objections to door-to-door disconnection
It is clear that the main reason is economic. The transition to is unprofitable for the city, since the DH forms a significant part of its budget.
In multi-family buildings, tenants do not have to take the basic water bill that is actually incurred in their apartments when "the majority of the apartments" are empty. The landlord must assume this share so that his tenants are not overburdened. The landlord must bear the risk of vacancies. However, the Federal Court left open the question of how many apartments need to be rented in order to talk about the "most". Due to a disadvantage for the tenants, the judges declared this clause unacceptable.
In another case, two owners' houses were apparently empty for one year. Only the fact that the houses were not occupied and were regularly requested by the administrator in order to "see to the right" did not make the decisions ineffective, the administrative court of Koblenz decided. Due to high consumption, for example, a broken toilet flush can occur.
It is not necessary to write off everything for the sins of corrupt officials and jaded officials: the money goes not only for their maintenance:
- Service and Maintenance The heating system of the house is provided by the heating fee paid by the tenants. Total stop valves after your shutdown will not change, and there will be no less repairs. The flow of money will decrease.
- The same applies to the repair, maintenance and planned replacement of heating mains.
A homeowner's residential building insurance cannot withdraw from service after a home fire, even if the building has not been occupied for several months and the owner has not reported the vacancy to their insurer. It is true that strangers can enter more easily, but the fire hazards posed by the residents of the house are eliminated in the vacancies. In the event of a water main break, residential building insurance terms usually provide for power exclusion unless the pipes were emptied and blocked in an empty home during the winter.
However, this only applies if the building is completely empty. If only one room is not occupied, the insurance must pay for the damage. In his ruling, the Oberlandsgericht of Thuringia referred to the "average insured" who, in his interpretation of the rule, cannot equate an empty room with an empty house. In the case discussed, a couple living in an apartment wanted to renovate the kitchen and so vacated it. In the absence of a married couple, the watercourse broke, the consequences of which are covered by insurance.
- Part of the income in the form of taxes goes to the city and federal budgets and goes not only to the maintenance of the bureaucracy, but also to social needs, planned road repairs, city lighting, and much more.
When disconnecting from the central heating unit by apartment, a number of purely technical problems arise:
- If the apartment is located on one of the middle floors, after the radiators are dismantled, the risers will still pass through it. Moreover, the housing organization will no longer be able to control illegal tie-ins and heat extraction.
Please note: in the case of bottom filling, the problem is very simply solved for top floor. A pair of risers is looped below the ceiling.
Tenants are required to heat - the landlord does not
Given rising energy prices, vacant apartments annoy neighbors because they need more heat.
What rights do I have as a tenant if the heating fails
For tenants, there is hardly anything worse than defective heating. Especially during the winter months, the apartment can become cold and almost uninhabitable. But how can you protect yourself as a tenant if heating fails? Under what conditions can the rent be reduced due to faulty heating and how much does the rent reduction cost?
- With central heating, the temperature in all apartments is approximately the same. Builders mount heating devices with identical heat output; the temperature of the coolant also differs slightly.
But individual heating will give a much more significant temperature spread, which will have two consequences:- Steady heat flow from over warm room to colder. In fact, someone who has a warmer apartment will have to partially heat another room.
- The likelihood of temperature deformations, cracks in the plaster and other troubles. If one of the apartments is not heated, the walls may freeze completely.
However, if the heating system is not running during the winter months, this has backfire. In addition to health hazards, humidity can occur in an apartment. However, the tenant should not accept this. He has a wide range of options to respond openly.
The tenant is entitled to these rights
The tenant can respond to a heating failure different ways. If the heating fails, this represents a defect in the rental property. Now the tenant can reduce the rent. This does not necessarily mean that the landlord corrects the defect and repairs the heater. Therefore, the tenant may require the elimination of the defect or even hire a master to repair the heating. Expenses incurred by the tenant may be deducted from the lease. In addition, he may refuse to pay rent until the landlord has corrected the defect.
If there is a cold room on top - a very real picture.
- If the apartment is left without heating at the time of the departure of the tenants, the water supply lines in it can be completely defrosted. Since the apartment is closed, in the absence of the owners, the rest of the tenants in the riser will have to sit without water.
That is why unauthorized disconnection from central heating is punishable by a fine; in addition, the owner of the apartment, by decision of the administrative commission, has to restore the central heating on his territory at his own expense.
What is a heating period?
However, the tenant is only entitled to these rights if the heating does not work during the heating season. The time period covered by the heating period can be regulated on a rental basis. If such a rule is lacking, the courts must determine the period. At the same time, there is no uniform judicial practice, most of which is purely judicial in nature. While for the district court Berlin as a heating period period from.
Is not heating also a disadvantage outside the heating period?
Which reduction ratio can be chosen
The courts can distinguish which rent can be reduced. The following overview gives an overview of the various possible reduction factors. Wet, cold and cloudy: summer seems to have been adopted in Germany. Especially at night, the temperature usually drops, as in autumn. Many tenants would now like to warm up in their apartment. However, this is not always possible, as some landowners turn off the heating system in the summer - outside the normal heating season.Impossible is possible
Until recently, the author was absolutely convinced that the question of how to turn off the central heating in a single apartment is meaningless. However, a thoughtful study of thematic forums made it possible to find a loophole. Moreover, it is confirmed by judicial practice.
It turns out that it was enough to listen not to the spirit, but to the letter of the law.
From the moment when the apartment should be heated. It is cold at night, as usual in autumn. Landlords must ensure that it is also warm outside the heating season in the apartment. In these cold late summer days many people were already thinking about starting the heating season a little earlier than usual. However, in many apartment buildings there is absolutely nothing to overheat. During summer months landlords can turn off central heating systems.
In the event of a sharp drop in temperature, the landlord must turn on the heating in summer
There are no legal requirements for the start and duration of the heating season. Usually, however, it starts in the summer. In summer, landlords can turn off the heating. Many people do this to save energy. But what if the tenant also freezes in the summer? The law on rent regulates that owners must also ensure that the rented apartment has a pleasant temperature outside the heating season. If the temperature drops sharply in summer, the landlord is obliged to turn on the heating.
In paragraph 15 of article 14 federal law“On heat supply” some ambiguity was allowed: “It is forbidden to switch to individual heating using sources of thermal energy, the list of which is determined by the connection rules ... except as specified by the heat supply scheme.”
The list of requirements for permitted heaters can be found in clause 44 of Decree No. 307 of 04/06/2012:
- Closed combustion chamber.
- Availability automatic systems safety, preventing overheating of the coolant, leakage of unburned gas, shutdowns and violations of smoke removal.
- The coolant temperature should not exceed 95 C, and its pressure should not exceed 1 MPa.
The refusal of self-government bodies with a reference to the law "On Heat Supply" is recognized by the courts as illegal.
The procedure for disconnecting from central heating is determined by articles 25 and 26 Housing Code RF.
The following is submitted to the coordinating body:
- Application for refurbishment engineering communications.
- Ownership documents (originals or notarized copies).
- Prepared and executed project of reorganization of communications.
- Registration certificate of the apartment.
- Written consent of all family members registered at the specified living space, including those who are absent.
- The conclusion of the department of architecture of the city that the house is not an architectural monument and may be subject to changes in the layout of communications.
It is useful to know that it is impossible to bring the coaxial duct of the boiler through the main facade of the house. You can try to provide the architecture department with such a project; but with very highly likely he will not be endorsed.
As soon as permission is received, turning off the radiators, and transferring communications are carried out and accepted - into battle!
The technical side of the problem
How to disconnect from the central heating - we found out. And what should be the autonomous heating system in your apartment?
Boiler
The best option in terms of gas savings is a condensing gas boiler with storage boiler. It uses the so-called higher calorific value, that is thermal energy combustion gas and heat condensed on a separate heat exchanger of combustion products.
A storage boiler for hot water is convenient in that it provides a more stable temperature. When using a flow gas heater adjusting the water can be a big problem.
The price of condensing boilers is noticeably higher than that of analogues using lower calorific value. However, approximately 10% gas savings will quickly pay for the purchase.
Pipes
Usually in city apartments it is recommended to use steel pipes- galvanized or stainless steel corrugated pipe. The instruction is related to the unpredictability of the central heating parameters: both the standard temperature and the standard pressure can be noticeably exceeded under certain circumstances.
However, now our heating will be autonomous, and we will be able to control the parameters on our own!
Hence the choice of materials:
- Polypropylene. Better - reinforced aluminum foil or fiber. This is necessary not for the pipe's tensile strength, but in order to reduce the elongation of the pipes when heated.
- Cross-linked polyethylene can be used for heating without any restrictions. The only drawback of the material is that when installing it yourself, you will have to splurge on a rather expensive tool for connecting pipes with fittings - an extender.
- Finally, if you have heard that metal-polymer pipes cannot be used for heating, do not believe. The problem is associated exclusively with one type of fitting - compression, connections with which begin to flow after several cycles of heating and cooling.
Crimped special tool press fittings are on heating and hot water years and do not flow.
In the photo - connection metal-plastic pipe with press fitting.
Radiators
The best choice for autonomous heating with its low overpressure — aluminum radiators, inexpensive and with excellent heat dissipation (up to 210 watts per section with a standard center distance of 500 millimeters).
Each radiator is supplied with a throttle or a thermostatic head. The shut-off valve on the second supply line will also not interfere, which will allow you to turn off if necessary heater without resetting the entire circuit.
Please note: water heated floors in a city apartment are not the best choice. They will warm your equally flooring and adjacent ceiling. In addition, the height of the ceilings rarely allows you to raise the floor by the thickness of the screed.
Shut-off valves
Here the recommendation is extremely simple: use only modern ball valves. They are reliable, have less hydraulic resistance in the open state compared to screw ones and, unlike them, do not make noise when water circulates quickly in the circuit.
Conclusion
As usual, you can find additional information on the topic you are interested in in the video at the end of the article. Warm winters!
Constantly rising prices for heat energy and poor housing and communal services make many people think about refusing to service housing and communal organizations. The question of how to abandon central heating is most often asked by owners of apartments in apartment buildings. The reason for this is the fact that the quality of heating and the level of comfort in the room do not always meet the expectations of residents, and the cost of services continues to rise.
The transition to decentralized heating provides independence from the work of utilities, allows you to independently regulate the temperature in the apartment and save money. The process of abandoning central heating and creating autonomous system involves two stages - legal and technical.
Why disconnect from the central system
There are two main reasons for abandoning central heating in an apartment building:
- The ability to independently determine temperature regime. The beginning and end of the heating season under a centralized system is characterized by clearly defined deadlines. With autonomous heating, residents can heat the apartment even in summer and reduce the intensity of heat in the autumn-winter period. All this ensures maximum comfortable conditions residence at any time of the year.
Important! Flexible system heating allows you to adjust the temperature in accordance with the actual need for heat. For example, on sunny and warm winter days, you can turn off the heating of some rooms or reduce the heat output to the minimum value. Such a system is also convenient for frequent departures of tenants.
- Reduced payment costs utilities. Individual heating allows you to reduce costs by almost half. With a centralized system, both in an apartment building and in a private house, one has to pay not only for the amount of resources actually consumed, but also for heat losses along the route and transportation of the coolant. In sections of the heating main with damaged thermal insulation, the losses will be maximum, which significantly increases the payment. The cost also includes the cost of maintaining highways, risers and elevator units, emergency and scheduled repairs, welding and replacement of elements. Thus, the homeowner bears the costs for resources that he did not use.
Individual conversion
The question of whether it is possible to abandon central heating should begin with a study of the regulations governing this procedure. The legislation does not prohibit the owners of apartments and houses from refusing to central system heating in favor stand-alone equipment. But in practice, a huge number of problems arise that impede this event, especially when it comes to individual disconnection of an apartment from the central heating network.
The main problem of the transition to individual system is to change the building's amenities. A centralized network is a complex system that consists of common risers, utilities, fittings and resource metering devices. Disconnection of one room from such a system will lead to a violation of the technical circuit. This will require significant reorganization and rebuilding of the entire network.
All nodes centralized system residential building are part of its property, determined by the owners of the apartments, management company etc. Therefore, the refusal of central heating is an issue that must be resolved at a general meeting of residents if the property has the status of belonging to the house. This moment is considered in article 36 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the exit of one apartment from the general communication chain reduces common property at home, so such issues should not be addressed individually.
Note! Disconnection from centralized utilities is possible only after receiving permits. All installation work, as well as the dismantling of heating units is carried out by specialists on the basis of a permit.
There is no need to obtain the consent of other residents if the central heating system is not an asset of the house. But the permission of the competent authorities in this case will still be required. Any breach of integrity engineering networks requires changes to the technical documents. The technical passport of the building must reflect all interventions, including the dismantling of radiators and the installation of additional elements.
To make a decision to turn off an apartment, the coordinating departments require a package of documents:
- application in any form;
- registration certificate of the apartment;
- documents confirming the right to housing;
- written consent of adult residents of the apartment;
- conclusion on the possibility of reorganization (from the department of architecture);
- reorganization project agreed with the competent authorities.
Collective shutdown
It is almost impossible to obtain permission to disconnect from the system individually, since the housing organization in this case actively opposes the wishes of the residents. Owner who moves to heating system, ceases to pay for resources, respectively, the volume of income decreases by wages employees of housing and communal services and repair of networks. In addition, through concrete floors and the walls will leak heat, and the owner of the apartment gets the opportunity to use the resource paid for by the neighbors.
Thermal fluctuations contribute to the formation heat flow, destructively affect the state load-bearing structure and leads to peeling of the finish. And although, according to the law, this is not lawful, employees of self-government bodies refuse the owners of apartments to individually turn off the heating.
The only possible option in this case to disconnect from the central network is the refusal of all apartment owners. Such a process involves the reconstruction of the general water circuit of the house, the elevator is either completely disconnected from the heating network, or disconnected from the heating circuit with a plug of the valves with pancakes and sealing of the flanges. The second option is possible if there are hot water tie-ins in the elevator.
To make a decision, a general meeting of residents is held, the result of which is recorded in the minutes. The commission from the local government considers the application for disconnection and the protocol, after which it makes a decision.
Important! A refusal can be obtained only if the transfer to autonomous heating disrupts the heat supply of the house or district, or the heating plants are not able to withstand the increased load. In this case, the commission may offer the owners to upgrade the network at their own expense.
The technical project drawn up by the design organization must be agreed in Gorgaz, Heating Networks, the energy company, the city architecture hotel and the housing organization.
How does the shutdown happen?
After receiving all necessary documentation implementation begins technical project. The dismantling of the nodes of the old network and the installation of new elements is carried out by professional specialists of licensed organizations. This procedure practically does not differ from the installation of boiler plants in private homes and has the following features:
- For organization decentralized system in apartments, wall-mounted boilers are most often used, which are located above the radiators. From the point of view of convenience and efficiency, it is advisable to use condensing equipment with a storage water heater;
- Forced circulation of the coolant is provided following methods: installation of a circulating pump or boiler of modern production, in which a pumping device, expansion tank and safety module (air vent, pressure gauge and safety valve);
- The boiler unit must be equipped closed camera combustion and an automated safety module. Thermal parameters in the coolant should not be more than 95 ° C, and pressure - 1 MPa;
- When choosing a radiator for individual heating, preference should be given to aluminum models, which are highly reliable and provide good heat dissipation;
- For arranging communications the best option inexpensive and easy-to-install plastic pipes are considered;
- The layout of engineering networks must be done based on the characteristics of the premises. The simplest and cheapest option is single-pipe wiring, in which radiators are connected in parallel. Beam wiring - the most optimal solution from a technical point of view, however, it is not suitable for apartments with low ceilings, because it requires an increase in the level of the floor.
When an apartment is disconnected from the central system, a complete redevelopment of the wiring is not always technically justified. In many cases, it is not possible to block the riser, so only radiators can be disconnected from the general circuit. This technology assumes that a small part of the heat energy will be supplied to the premises from centralized risers, respectively, the owner must pay for the consumption of these resources. The central water circuit pipes remain in the apartment, providing residual heating, which is also subject to payment.
Such problems do not arise in those buildings where the risers are located in the entrance, but such a system is extremely rare.
Conclusion
Disconnect from common system heating involves the solution of legal and technical issues. It is impossible not to take into account these nuances, since unauthorized shutdown, inconsistent with the relevant authorities, can lead to serious consequences.
If the owner arbitrarily disconnected the premises from the centralized network without observing regulatory requirements, he will be obliged to return everything to its place and pay a large fine. Registration and obtaining permits, project development, approval and implementation involve financial costs. However, all costs pay off after two or three heating seasons.
