Two recent incidents have prompted Straton Prepaid to expand on this subject.
The first one was a personal wake-up call:
I recently renovated my flatlet and installed a new Sub DB with new wiring. Unfortunately, the existing prepaid meter was ‘tossed’ out in the rubble.
It took me a few months to upgrade my main distribution board and re-connect my manual meter reading the flatlet consumption. Yes, the one is a fail safe for the other!
When I finally got around to reading my manual meter I received a bit of a shock! My tenant has been consuming just over R2000 in electricity per month, for which I have been paying.
A new prepaid electricity meter has been installed and recoveries have begun again.
Now – the price to the consumer for supply and installation to a flatlet with a sub distribution board that complies is under R2000.00
So – for less than one month’s worth of electricity I will now recover my tenant’s usage for years to come (or, until the next renovation).
The second was from a recent quotation:
The client owns a building in an industrial area in Gqeberha.
At present the tenant pays R12000 per month in rental.
The rental includes electricity and water.
The municipal electricity bill to the owner is just over R13000 per month.
Factor in water consumption, rates, maintenance, estate agent commission etc and the owner is on a slippery path to nowhere.
Three phase Prepaid Electricity Meter:
Sure, the electricity supply is three phase to te building and installation will cost a tad more but certainly NOT R13000.
So, the client could save R13000 per month for years just by spending half of that amount on the supply and installation of a 3 Phase Prepaid Electricity Meter. A MAGNIFICENT ROI for any landlord.
Presently we install the Hexing HXE310-P (PLC) – a three-phase, 100A, split-type prepayment meter commonly used for smart electricity metering. It operates with a Customer Interface Unit (CIU) that communicates via Power Line Communication (PLC).
Biggest Bang for Your Buck:
If you have a tenant downstream of your main distribution board then it is a no brainer to install a Prepaid Electricity meter – your retirement nest egg will thank you.
What about rental increases?
We do come across many owners of property who have never factored in tenants paying for their own electricity and water consumption.
Obviously landlords do not want to chase good paying tenants away so we suggest that owners engage with tenants and maybe tell them that a prepaid meter will be installed and the normal rental increase will be waived for the next 12 months.
OR, just be honest with your tenant and play open cards with regards to just how expensive electricity and water usage has become on the property.
At the end of the day landlords have seen how ‘electricity bracket creep’ is eroding their profitability and should be taking active early steps to recover the cost of utilities.
The user must pay for their usage.
Links:
Boilerplate and Editor’s Notes.
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Alan Straton
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