Hi, I am wondering what increases in energy costs there might be this year. I pay electricity on my own. When I moved in two years ago, EKZ had me at 180CHF quarterly. After monitoring my use, it is now 90 to avoid overpayment.
My question is this. Other nebenkosten in my flat complex is divided up by sqm. Out of 5 flats, I have one of the largest, though the number of people living is similar. So I pay more in nebenkosten than everyone else, though my guess is my usage is the same or less than the others. This is heating and ancillary costs. We actually didn't turn on the heat over the last two years because we used an electric heater.
Due to increases should I write my landlord (Company) and ask if any accommodation might be made? My landlord said it is common in older flats to divide up the cost this way. Any advice?
I’ve been there… You just hit the limits of the cost sharing method based on flat surface. This model is fixed, you can’t ask for a pay-per-consumption reduction as it would be a completely different model for everybody. You can propose it to the landlord but he has to agree and then it has to be properly implemented, e.g. installing new meters and so on.
You can’t just say spontaneously “I used it less, I wanna pay less”. Even if it’s true, it’s not how it works. Also, the sum is shared, so if you pay less someone else has to pay more; this type of model forbids per-person adjustments.
One could even say that you did a mistake: you turned off the shared heating, which you will pay anyway, to use electric heating, which is your individual expense. Of course you had your reasons, I’m just saying that it was your call to put yourself in this position. When you share costs you do that at your own expenses. From a selfish point of view, you should have boosted your shared heating instead. In a shared model, every time you consume above the average then the others end up paying a share of your heating, and vice-versa.
It sounds silly and it’s again the limit of the model; that’s why it is being abandoned where possible, but you need individual meters for everything.
Regarding the expected increases in the energy costs: this is an article about electricity in Kanton Zürich: https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/und-dan…e-285483793916
there may be a paywall so here’s the summary:
So, +30% for electricity from EKZ.
Thank you. I just didn't know if it was a thing or not to have this reconsidered. Our flat actually stays quite warm on its own (maybe due to the downstairs neighbor?) so little heating is needed. Once we learned we actually pay for this no matter what (in our second year) we started to turn it on a bit. In our contract we did agree to this so it might be a moot point. I just get nervous since there are no ways for us to lower our costs . Our electricity bill has gone down every quarter because we are quite conscientious.
Keep in mind that Nebenkosten are always delayed by about a year. So any increase in prices this year would only be reflected in your Abrechnung next year.
The flats in the middle of the building typically get partially warmed up by those directly on the cold (frozen) ground or just below the roof (and snow), and they are also protected on the sides by the outer flats that catch the worst of the cold winds. This is one of the lines of reasoning that went into the system of dividing heating bills up by floor area of each apartment. Of course, there's the cubic meterage, too, so that a larger apartment just does have more air to keep warm, than a smaller one.
This I understand. When we first rented in Switzerland, someone suggested setting aside another 100% of the Nebenkosten, just in case. We were told that it was unheard of for any extra adjustment to be that much, so 100% would definitely cover additional bills that the landlord would send.
The landlord can give you an indication, but cannot know the real charges until after the heating season is over. After all, besides the fact that fuel costs may change, the Winter weather may be mild or bitter, and we know that only in Spring.
Each tenant can, indeed, lower the costs, but only the collective costs. Indirectly, that will help to keep your individual costs down a bit.
Pay attention that the front door of the building is not left open. Also not windows in the cellar, shared laundry or bicycle room, etc. Don't leave your own apartment door standing open. Never leave windows tilted (because that causes a slow, steady "leak" of the warm air, pushing the heating bill up). Instead, close up everything, and every hour or so fling all the windows open wide for just 2 or 3 minutes, to get in some fresh air, and then close it all up again. This saves heat and prevents condensation, and thereby promotes the health of the building and of the people living in it.
If you have any contact with the neighbours, you could ask them about this, too.
Livit wrote to me last week telling me that the energy cost part of the Nebenkosten would increase significantly for the current year but they had no way of quantifying that as prices were both much higher and in flux. To prepare for the expected shortfall in the next annual bill, they recommended to save or increase on account payments.
Their website also suggested to look at the most recent Nebenkostenabrechnung and to identify the energy cost lines. They suggested you might want to double that for gas and increase by 40% for oil. But they also cautioned that that was based on prices end of August.