TENANTS – Techem & Tado
TECHEM and measuring your consumption
Some of you, on your radiator you may see a small device that is measuring your heating consumption. This is a Techem RF Meter. The Techem system will allow to measure your actual heating consumption instead of estimating it. Techem is an independent measuring company and will do the measuring for us. Info can be found here. https://www.techem.be/nl/onze-producten-diensten/warmtekostenverdeler/de-elektronische-verdeler.html. The meter has 3 numbers: meter number, actual meter stand, reference total consumption of past year so you can compare your consumption.
METER STANDS:
Upon arrival and departure, we will take the meter stands, together, or you will receive the picture with date it was taken. Upon departure we will do the same so we can calculate how much heating you have actually consumed, the cost for this will be calculated accordingly based on the unit price + the costs. This will be the most honest formula for everybody, as it means you will pay only what you have used, no more no less.
You are currently paying an advance amount per month included in your rent. This amount will work as an advance fee and will be recalculated with the actual amount due after calculation of the actual consumption. Used less, you will get a refund, used more, you will have to settle the difference.
Heating Management
The tenant himself is responsible to manage his heating, your landlord cannot be held responsible for what happens in your accommodation, your personal habits and therefore your heating or energy consumption. You have been provided with a system to manage your heating based on an automatic or manual program or some of you even with a smart heating management system. The configuration is to be done by the tenant as it covers personal planning and schedules or desires and habits. Please be aware that energy is very costly in Europe. 16/9/22 UPDATE !! With the current energy crisis, prices have exploded, this situation is the same for all people and not related to your accommodation. Many people in Belgium currently already have to pay energy bills 300, 400, 500€ PER MONTH! This information so to make sure you are aware and can adapt your habits.
Below you will find more information about the use of the Tado Heating Management system. In case you have any doubt, questions, worries, or if you think the system is not working properly. CONTACT YOUR LANDLORD. No landlord benefits from tenants having high energy cost so please know we are available to check it and help you with it.
TADO HEATING MANAGEMENT
Heating management via Radiator Nobs:
We have TADO radiator nobs on all radiators or room thermostats, this means it is possible to set an automatic heating schedule through the online APP. You have (or will) received an invitation email from TADO to connect on the APP. Seen the apps account includes all nobs, and sometimes several rooms, modify ONLY the rooms that contain YOUR NAME.
Do not activate Geolocation as it is not always reliable. Stick to modify only the basic settings.
It is be possible to ‘override’ the automatic schedule by turning the right side of nob gently and choose a lower or higher temperature, the number on the device upon touching will show the actual temperature. The number after turning the nob will show the target temperature.
20-21° is a normal ‘living room’ temperature when being at home. >> UPDATE 16/9/22
14-16° is the healtiest temperature to sleep.
You can configure the settings of your room so the schedule will automatically be picked up again after eg. 2 hours.
Thermostat
Some rooms have a thermostat r, the system works the same, only there will be no nob and the overriding of the schedule will be managed by the thermostat. touching the arrow area should enable you to override the heating plan.
BATTERIES replacement
When the battery of the device is down, the replacement of it will be at the tenants expense (as is the replacement of lamp bulbs, soap, toilet paper, hood filters, …). This will be indicated by a rectangle icon on the nob or in the app, you will then know you need to replace batteries in the coming weeks.
!!!! This is important as you don’t want your heater to run 24 h, even if you are not there. This would become a costly and not so environmentally friendly situation. Especially since the actual energy crisis, prices are huge! Be careful!
Before you replace the batteries, please check if it are RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES, as most of you have received rechargeable batteries, in that case there is also a charger in your room, DO NOT throw away our rechargeable batteries, they are expensive and they belong to the accommodation. Do not charge batteries while being absent. If not you will have to buy replacement batteries yourself when they are finished.
Not sure how to replace the batteries? If you need help! Contact your Landlord!!
If you have received the app invitation beforehand, Please do not NOT TURN ON nor change the settings on the heating BEFORE your arrival, any consumption registered as of your registration will be wasted energy.
TADO HEATING APP
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You have will/have received an invitation email from TADO, to access the app, where you can setup your automatic heating schedule: SMART SCHEDULE for block YOUR ROOM/NAME (ROOMNBR- NAME). Please DO SO!
1. Access and modify ONLY the settings for that block with your name !!
2. DO NOT remove the main login it contains DO NOT REMOVE!, as it is the admin account to keep track of technical issues and setup the general system. We do not advise to use Geolocation tracking, as it doesn’t work well and can impact the other Rooms temperature.
- check the user manual :Manual : https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1245688/Tado-Smart-Thermostat.html?page=3#manual
- Ask my help if you do not manage to set it up, I will be happy to help you. Most people have never used SMART heating systems, some people especially from warm countries don’t even use heating nd have never used a thermostat, it is NORMAL if you may need help configuring it. Please set your schedule and confirm so we can check for you if it is logical and confirm.
- Normal comfort temperatures:
Winter : 20-21° in HOME time when you are sitting down. When sleeping depending of your preference, 15-16° (comfort temperatures advised by the university KU Leuven).
16/9/22 UPDATE!! with the extreme energy cost especially for gas (=heating and warm water) the government advices to use a general day temperature of no more then 19° daytime. Please put a sweater, fleece, extra cover if you are cold, before turning on or higher the heater.
COST for energy in western countries is high, so western people put a sweater or extra cover rather than turn the heater extra high. In winter, especially people from warm countries, tend to keep everything very closed and warm up rooms to like they are used having temperatures always in their own country. You are not in your own country, you are in Europe, we have a different climate. Don’t forget to ventilate regularly to avoid humid spaces and condensation problems. Summer: usually the heating is set to a general temperature of 16-17° or lower as that way you will not waste energy when it is already warm outside. - VENTILATE!!!!!! Heating up rooms without regular ventilating is asking for problems, and not healthy. Rooms that are heated a lot and not regularly (several times per day especially if you stay there a lot (a body loses several liters of water per day especially when sleeping!!!) and always after showering and cooking) ventilated will give a colder feeling experience and cause problems with humidity. Rooms that are never heated will not allow the humidity from cooking and shower to evaporate and escape the room while ventilating thus have the same problem. Even if you do not like to have a warm atmosphere, keep your general temperature around 16° and warm up at least a few times per week to 21° so to keep good air condition in your accommodation and allowing humidity to leave the accommodation, after that ventilate about 30 minutes
- Always set an automate schedule to manage your energy and energy cost, as next to that the heater can always be turned off and on manually with the nob on the radiator or the thermostat and will then react accordingly the setup in the app (auto switch to the next step setup in the automatic program, or we ADVISE after a set timer of eg 2 hours to switch back to automatic program, so to avoid you will consume heating when you forget to turn it off while leaving) be aware your schedule in summer will differ from the one in winter. Put the temperature to 14° when you are away for a weekend or holiday, so to avoid you need to heat for hours in winter when you come back (walls and building construction cool down also). Avoid TURN OFF periods in your schedule as it will create huge temperature differences and cool down too much in winter so make difficult to heat up your room in winter.
- the feature is available but it has never worked properly for us so we suggest to NOT activate Geolocation in the app
- Please note that some accommodation has floor heating which means it is heated at low temperature to avoid damage to the floor, and the floor functions as a radiator, this also means it will heat slower but also will give heat longer. The stone needs to heat up if cooled down too much or too long, but it will also continue to give off its temperature even after turned off the heating. Be aware to setup your automatic program accordingly.
- Do not change the settings on the heater itself, in case you have doubts, contact us.
- After setting your schedule, let us know so we can help you with a check if it is all well configured or if we see anomalities.
- Please note that you alone are at all time responsible for managing and following up on your energy consumption.
- Due to the energy crisis, the landlord will make intermediate consumption calculation every few months, and will ask you to settle the intermediate cost in case the consumption would be too high, so to help you adapt your habits and to avoid you will have to settle a huge bill at the end of your stay. Hope you are fine and happy in your flat meanwhile.
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