Is it possible to refuse heating in an apartment building and how to do it?

The heating system in multi-apartment buildings (MCD) causes fair criticism, both in terms of the cost of the service and its efficiency. Currently, there are various options for individual heating of housing, and there are residents who prefer alternative heat sources.

After privatizing the apartment, they want to equip it according to their own wishes. They are faced with the acute question of how to abandon central heating in apartment buildings. When solving it, you will have to consider both technical and legal aspects.

Is it possible to refuse central heating?

The legislation does not provide a clear answer to this issue. On the one hand, owners are free to choose the range of services they receive from utility and service organizations. On the other hand, the heating plant is part of the common property, which means that unauthorized changes to its design are unacceptable. You will need to obtain permits, their approval, etc. The issue is easier to resolve in the private sector, but it is more difficult legally and technically to complete this step in an apartment building.

The costs of disconnecting and reorganizing the heating network will fall on the shoulders of the subscriber who wishes to disconnect.

What can the consumer demand?

According to Federal law, each user has the right to demand from the utility company the following:

1. Provision of resources in the volumes specified in the contract.
2. Timely receipt of the necessary payment information.
3. Obtaining the necessary information about the quality of the services provided.

A citizen has all the rights to demand a reduction in the amount of payment for use if something is not satisfactory. For example, if the organization does not perform its responsibilities well or violates the terms of the contract.

How to do this in an apartment building?

Clause “l” of Article 33 of the Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 No. 354, expands the rights of the consumer with contractual provisions. Any contract contains a clause on the possibility of its termination, and you can always find a reason for refusing the services of the heat supply organization.

However, according to industry regulations, disconnection from the heating plant is possible only in relation to the building as a whole, and not its individual part. Therefore, to refuse centralized heating in an apartment building, you will need to use one of the options presented in the table.

Responsibilities of a citizen

According to the same Federal Law, the consumer also has certain responsibilities. For example, he must promptly notify the service provider of any problems if such a situation arises. The following can also be considered as consumer responsibilities:

• informing the company about how many people live in a house or apartment;
• make required payments on time;
• install all necessary metering devices and check them periodically.

Read more: Sample work schedule for gas boiler room operators

Refusal in favor of individual heating in the apartment

From a legal point of view, the procedure for abandoning central heating in favor of an individual heating system is as follows:

1. Preparation of documents:
   registration certificate for the apartment;
2. ownership documents;
3. consent of all persons living in the apartment.
4. Selection of an autonomous heating source in accordance with fire safety requirements and operating standards.
5. Obtaining a technical opinion on the possibility of carrying out such re-equipment.
6. Development of a reconstruction project with calculations confirming the preservation of the functionality of the heating plant without a disconnected subscriber.
7. Filling out an application.
8. Obtaining permission to carry out work.

Selecting a heating device connection diagram

The autonomous heating circuit must be arranged in a horizontal pattern, that is, pipes from device to device will need to be pulled through the entire apartment. With this in mind, the traditional two-pipe system, which is usually located in plain sight, may not be to the liking of many.

Since an apartment heating circuit is usually small, it is quite possible to make it single-pipe - then the pipe can be laid in a hidden way.

On short circuits, the disadvantages of a single-pipe circuit are almost invisible. The ideal option is a collector or beam circuit. It allows you to lay pipes in a hidden way, while the heat is distributed evenly between the radiators.

Declaration of refusal

An application for refusal of services from a heat supply organization as a document does not have a unified form. Climatic conditions in the Russian Federation do not imply a complete abandonment of heat supply; we are usually talking about replacing central heating systems with local units. However, this procedure will already be considered reconstruction and redevelopment, therefore the form of the application is determined by the regulations in force in this area.

Form

The application form was approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated April 28, 2005 No. 266 and is a form that contains all information about the object, its owners, attached documents, etc.

How to write correctly?

When making an application, you will need to enter the following information into the form:

• the name of the departmental committee of local authorities authorized to resolve issues of refurbishment of premises;
• personal and contact details of the applicant;
• information about the exact address of the redevelopment object and its owners;
• expected duration and mode of repair work;
• information about living adult household members with a note indicating the presence of notarized consent from each of them;
• listing of attached documents with details (if any) and the number of sheets occupied;
• date of filing and signature of the applicant.

Download application

Since the application form is regulated by federal regulations, the form to fill out is available here.

After downloading, you can print it out and fill it out by hand, or enter the necessary information (except signature) on your computer, and only then print it out.

What happens after the debt is paid off?

As soon as the consumer has paid the entire required amount, the supplier will reconnect the heating within two working days.

Every consumer should know that if the organization with which the contract has been signed performs its work poorly or even illegally, then he can go to court for further proceedings.

Every year, city residents experience some discomfort due to turning off or, conversely, turning on the heating system. Many questions arise about the validity and timeliness of starting or stopping the heating infrastructure. Let's look at when the heating is turned off, at what temperature and, accordingly, we will touch on the topic of turning on the system in the fall.

It is worth noting that the beginning and end of the heating season is not just the opening and closing of several large valves in the elevator. This is preceded by a whole range of preparatory measures and repair work. When starting up, many problems arise, the most common of which are the system becoming airy and leaking. During this period, emergency repair service specialists work from dusk to dawn, seven days a week. And often they cannot immediately respond to a signal of a malfunction due to the order in which a huge flow of requests is processed.

How to legally refuse?

Refusal of the services of a heat supply organization requires a large amount of preliminary work:

• obtain the consent of neighbors;
• receive a positive opinion from the service organization;
• order a refurbishment project;
• coordinate it with the gas (if necessary) and fire services;
• wait for a favorable response from the redevelopment commission.

The wait for a fully completed package of documents can last for several months, not counting financial costs.

It is impossible to refuse central heating due to long-term non-residence of people in the apartment and for the purpose of recalculation, since heating is a public service that is not turned off even if a debt arises. You will also have to pay for the heat supply of entrances and basements as general house needs (clause 86 and clause 88 of the Rules according to the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 No. 354).

Criterias of choice

To successfully select a suitable generator to be used at home or cottage, first determine the following questions:

1. Required device power. Determined by a preliminary calculation of the expected load, which is calculated by summing the power of devices (up to 10 or more) that can be connected to the station simultaneously.
2. Output voltage (220 or 380V). Determined depending on the requirements for the equipment or instrument that will power the station.
3. What electrical appliances will the generator power (the stability of the output parameters matters).
4. How often will it be used? When using the device as a backup power source, and when operating for a relatively short period of time, it is better to use a gas generator. A diesel device can also easily cope with this, but for short-term use it is less preferable.
5. What resource does the device have? Generators with a short service life (500 operating hours) are lightweight, mobile and have a low price. It is quite suitable if its inclusions are short-lived. When operating the device for more than 7-10 hours, you should choose an engine with a long service life. Typically, for continuous operation of the device for a long time, and when sufficient power is required (more than 10 kW), a diesel generator is installed, which has a long service life, reliability, efficiency, and stable output voltage.
6. How important is the noise level during operation of the device.

If a generator is required only to compensate for the lack of light several times a year, then its purchase will not be advisable from the point of view of saving money. In such cases, food in a dacha can be prepared on a camping gas burner, the phone can be charged from the car cigarette lighter, and the food can be stored outside (power outages occur mainly in winter), or you can purchase a cheap inverter option.

Certificate of refusal

Until 2011, after re-equipping the heating system, it was necessary to submit an act of abandonment of central heating, drawn up in the presence of the owner, management company and a representative of the resource supply organization. However, after the approval by the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 No. 354 of the Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, heating fees are not recalculated.

Charges for general house needs and heating of apartments occur at a single rate, regardless of whether the radiators are operating in a given room or not. The only way out in such a situation to reduce payments (it will not be possible to refuse completely) is to install an individual heat meter at the heating plant with subsequent transfer of zero readings to the Unified Center.

Thus, abandoning central heating is a time-consuming procedure complicated by bureaucratic delays. In an apartment building, this option may not be feasible at all, since it will require consent from all residents of the building. And it will not be possible to refuse heat supply services in order to save utility bills.

What other issues need to be addressed?

Obtaining approval to turn off the centralized heating supply in your own home is not an easy task. It will not be possible to resolve this issue in a few days.

The procedure will take some time, since the entire system, together with the boiler, must comply with established safety standards:

1. You need to purchase a boiler to switch to an alternative heat supply.
2. Buy a circulation pump or use a modern boiler.

A hermetically sealed boiler must have equipment that ensures complete safety. The pressure cannot increase more than 1 MPa, and the temperature of the liquid in the circuit cannot exceed 95˚C. You can choose any radiators; aluminum ones are more often installed.

For pipe routing, the layout features of a residential apartment are taken into account. You can use a beam circuit or a single-pipe circuit.

Heating season schedule in 2020

Period when heating will be turned on in 2022:

• Moscow - the heating season begins on September 25.
• St. Petersburg - start of inclusion from September 16 to October 1.
• Tver - starting from September 23, heating will be provided in public buildings; starting from September 26, heating will be provided to residential buildings.
• Vladimir - from September 23.
• Yaroslavl - starts on September 23-24 and the last inclusions will take place on October 1.

The table provides information when the heating was turned off in 2020:

How to heat water?

Modern boilers solve the problem of heating water for household needs in different ways. There are 2-circuit units that, in parallel with the main function, operate as instantaneous water heaters.

But in order to provide a more or less acceptable supply of hot water, a device of this type must produce at least 25 kW of heat, and for the heating circuit of an average apartment such power will be unreasonably high.

Indirect heating boiler

It is better to install a boiler with an indirect heating boiler. Unlike a “flow tank”, it cannot supply unlimited quantities of hot water, but this is not required for domestic needs.

Collective shutdown

Usually there is only one entrance at the elevator hub. If it has hot water connections, the elevator is not completely disconnected, but only from the heating system, while the valves are closed with plugs and sealed.

To correctly perform a collective shutdown, do the following:

1. Organize a meeting of residents at which a decision on disconnection will be officially made and recorded in the minutes.
2. Initiate the creation of a conciliation commission in the local administration and submit to it an application to disconnect the facility from the CSO, attaching the minutes of the residents’ meeting.
3. If the application is approved, the commission must provide the representative of the residents' association with a list of organizations from which it is necessary to obtain technical conditions (TS) for the development of the project. Note that a positive decision is not at all mandatory: if the reorganization may negatively affect the work of the central distribution center or the gas supply system does not have sufficient capacity, the commission has the right to refuse it. The only way out in such a situation can be to re-equip the system, paid for by the residents, because of which the process has stalled.
4. Next, you need to order a project from a design organization, to which all collected specifications are transferred.

The finished project must be approved by organizations servicing utility networks. Here is their list:

• heating network: checks whether the implementation of design solutions will lead to a deterioration in the operation of the heat supply system;
• gas facilities: makes sure that when connecting all the gas equipment provided for in the project, the gas supply system will not be overloaded;
• architectural management: the visa of this institution means that the installation of coaxial chimneys will not disturb the appearance of the architectural monument;
• housing organization: confirms the safety of the technical solutions proposed in the project in relation to load-bearing structures and the technical possibility of disconnecting the facility from the central heating system.

If the project also provides for electric heating, it should be approved by the energy sales office.

Then you need to enter into an agreement with a licensed construction and installation organization to carry out all the work provided for in the project. After checking the correctness of their implementation, representatives of all mentioned organizations must give permission for commissioning.

Where to call if the heating is turned off - hotline for complaints

You should initially call about heating to the office of the management company and the district emergency service. Sometimes the service organization has no information that the heating supply to the house has been suspended. In other situations, management company employees do not respond to complaints.

In this case, you need to call special hotlines about heating.

The following services operate in Moscow and Moscow Region to regulate the situation with heat supply:

Table 1.

A complaint can be submitted remotely through the websites of local municipalities: Table 2.

Pre-trial dispute settlement

The first thing the management organization should do in such a situation is to follow the pre-trial procedure and send a claim to the owner of the premises in the apartment building demanding repayment of the debt.

The claim must contain not only the demand and the amount of debt. In addition, the management organization must:

• justify the legality of your claim;
• try to convey to the debtor that non-payment of invoices issued by the management organization aggravates his situation, since the law provides for the accrual of penalties for late payment (Part 14 of Article 155 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).

The debtor can react to the received demand in different ways: ignore it or write an angry objection, in which he will refer to the fact that there are no heating radiators in his premises, which means that he is not obliged to pay for this service.

We recommend that even at the stage of pre-trial settlement of the conflict, we invite the debtor to conduct a joint inspection of his premises with the management authority using special instruments to determine the temperature inside and draw up an appropriate report that the management authority can attach to the statement of claim as additional evidence.

If the owner agrees to the survey, measure the following parameters:

• outside air temperature;
• temperature of the outer wall adjacent to the room from the outside;
• indoor air temperature.

Additionally, other parameters can be included in the act. For example, are electric heaters installed and used in the room, are there other electrical appliances in the room that emit heat.

If it was not possible to resolve the conflict peacefully and the owner refuses to pay the amount accrued by the management organization, the payment for utility services will have to be recovered through the court.

Methods of working with debtors for housing and communal services
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Reasons for turning off the boiler

First you need to figure out what are the reasons for turning off the boiler in the summer and whether it needs to be done at all. They do this for reasons related to gas saving. But it seems so only at first glance: in fact, frequent boiler shutdowns affect the condition.

This increases wear on the equipment and can cause breakdowns:

• Firstly, the longer the system is idle in the cold, the lower the temperature of the coolant and the harder it will be to heat up when the boiler is ignited. In this case, fuel consumption will be significant.
• Secondly, the temperature of the heat exchanger decreases. When reheated, drops of water will accumulate on its surface. This is condensation, which can cause destruction and corrosion of the heat exchanger.
• Thirdly, drops of water also settle on the burner. This significantly reduces its operating efficiency and, as a result, increases fuel consumption.

Corrosion of the main components of the boiler structure requires their replacement in most cases. The possibility of repair by soldering is unlikely. Correct smooth startup of equipment after long periods of inactivity will help reduce the risk of such problems. Most boilers have special operating modes

If available, it is important to be able to turn them on correctly on various types of automation and units of different brands

Important! To save fuel, you can leave the boiler on during the summer. There are many ways to save

One of them is the use of modulating burners. When deciding whether or not to turn off the heating system in the summer, you need to evaluate the possible risk and the amount of gas saved.