Submetering Apartment Communities

To Submeter or Not To Submeter That Is the Question

In the latest issue of the National Apartment Association’s Units Magazine, an article was written regarding the operating income and expenses in rental apartment communities.  The NAA took a survey of over 180 firms who own or manage garden style and mid/hi-rise apartment communities with 50 units or more within the categories of market rent and subsidized.  A key highlight within the results of the survey is the difference in expenses between properties that are submetered vs properties that are master metered.  In fact, there is such a difference in the average utility expense that the NAA created two separate tables based upon these factors.

Benefits of Submetering Properties

To look at the savings of installing submeters on apartment communities, you can simply compare the difference in expenses between the property types. Utility expenses in garden style market rent properties which have submeters installed cost on average $300.00 per unit compared to $606.00 without submeters installed.  Mid/Hi-rise market rent properties which have submeters installed cost on average $476.00 per unit for utilities compared to $1,203.00 per unit without submeters installed.  Within the subsidized category, garden style apartments with submeters cost $779.00 per unit for utilities compared to $1,378 without; whereas, mid/hi-rise apartments cost $853.00 with submeters compared to $1,390.00 without.
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With the data provided from the study, installing a submetering system to an apartment community will have a payback period of less than one year! The monetary benefits of submetering are very clear and a no brainer when it comes to measuring utility usage in multifamily properties. 

Additional benefits of adding submetering systems include:

1. Increasing net operating income with an improved way of collecting money from residents.
2. Increasing property value of the building for future investors.
3. Improved efficiency when it comes to data consumption, eliminates manual reading and enables property managers to have the bill ready with a few clicks. 

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Are you ready to submeter your apartment community? Byram Labs has years of experience when it comes to meter systems and can help answer any question you may still have about our submeter systems and solutions. Contact a Byram representative today for a quote today!

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Check out the NAA Survey of Operating Income & Expenses in Rental Apartment Communities​.