Could a complete energy metering solution support your property development?

Managing energy services can be a daunting prospect, from organising engineers to recording meter readings to issuing bills. If you’re working within a property development numerous units and dwellings can make it even more problematic but a complete energy metering solution could provide you with an answer.

An energy metering solution that is tailored to your needs can make the whole process smoother, reducing, and in some cases, eliminating estimated readings and inaccurate billing. Using an energy metering service can help boost your revenue, thanks to reducing the time you’ll need to spend on the task and, depending on the option you pick, cutting the number of engineers you need. But what’s included in energy metering services? You can make a service suit your needs and demands but it could consist of:

• Supplying, installing and commissioning energy meters
• Consumption metering and billing of energy, water and ancillary costs
• Access to a web portal for easy and convenient data management
• Energy supply, measurement services, smart metering and billing as a complete package solution
• Analysis of the consumption data for energy and water

ABLE Instruments’ Energy Metering Solution

ABLE Instruments are a leading globally recognised company in the field of energy management services. From our head office in Reading we assist landlords, property managers, owners, contractors and developers to meter, visualise, bill and manage their energy and water consumption.

The comprehensive range of services are designed to increase energy efficiency in buildings and make readings and analysis easier.

Billing services

Kamstrup Multical Energy Maters and Accessories

ABLE Instruments stock the full Kamstrup range of energy meters and accessories. Utilising the latest in wireless M-Bus technology, these meters can provide accurate and up to date information for billing.

MinuteView Web Portal

MinuteView is a user friendly web based software that is compatible with Kamstrup energy meters and available on mobile, tablet and computer. Putting all information on the portal allows for transparency and the ability to visualise data in graphs, making presenting it simpler. Management and monitoring are integrated into the system, with warnings delivered when pre-defined tolerances are exceeded.

SmartPay Billing

SmartPay billing makes settling bills for tenants fuss free, thanks to a wireless display that allows them to view and pay their energy account balance easily. It can also be configured for full credit payments and there is no debt risk for landlords.

Diagram: SmartPay Prepayment Solution (click to enlarge)

Overall billing for property managers and landlords

The need to calculate different bills for separate units based on parameters can be complicated and time consuming, especially if you’re not experienced. A billing model provided by ABLE Instruments can make the process simple, clear and quick to undertake.

Meter Reading and Extra Services

ABLE’s energy metering solution can offer a flexible meter reading service to fully suit your needs. These range from a standard manual service, where the data is read electronically directly from the meter, or a fully automatic option, where meters transmit their consumption and operation data to a communication unit for up to date figures.

ABLE Instruments can also provide a platform for the creation and management of tenant lists, heating and operation costs. The platform means that users can view credit and make prepayment accounts and payment transactions. Both residents and property managers can view historic / current bills and energy data, allowing both parties to analysis data. In order to provide a customer-friendly service, developers can also select to use the customer relationship management (CRM) function. This allows property managers to contact ABLE directly, record all communications and store case history between tenants and our customer service team.

Case Study: Supporting A New Residential Development

Last year we were contacted by a residential development that was creating carbon neutral homes in a London Borough. The site covered more than 10 acres and had a centralised energy centre that distributed to the properties, all of which had individual energy meters to record consumption for billing purposes.

Prior to ABLE Instruments taking responsibility for the metering services at the site there were issues with the effective collection of energy meter reads. The result of this issue was that many residences were billed purely on estimates or not invoiced at all. This, in turn had an impact on the collection of revenue. As part of the solution we installed Kamstup meters to replace less effective models with minimal disruption to residents. Data is collected from the new meters on a 30-minute basis and means engineers no longer have to visit the site in order to obtain a reading. The new system and process installed results in a higher level of accuracy, reducing the number of estimated invoices.

New, open protocol hardware was also installed by ABLE Instruments. This technology means that should there be changes to current legislation or service provider the developer will not need to replace the system. Through selecting to work with ABLE Instruments, the residential benefited from:

• Accurate and frequent meter readings
• Reduction in the number of estimated bills
• Savings in terms of time and money
• Accessible data that can be viewed anywhere
• No need to replace the system if changes to legislation occur in the future

Why Use Us? In A Nutshell

Changes to legislation means both tenants and property managers are placing increasing important on accurate billing and energy management. Our robust, flexible solutions can provide a solution for a wide variety of utilities, including electricity, gas, water and heat, utilising the latest hardware and software technologies. All this, backed up by a fully trained and dedicated team that are there to support our customers.

Interested in utilising an ABLE Instruments’ energy metering solution or service? Contact us now at [email protected] or via phone on +44 (0)118 916 9420.