In dwellings connected to district or communal heating schemes occupants are commonly charged based on actual heat consumption, providing a direct link between heat consumption and weekly heating cost. This article investigates how the use of fixed-rate, shared-cost charging without dwelling-level metering affects the heating and controls use in communal network social housing. Living room and radiator temperatures in 50 flats were monitored over a winter heating season and occupants surveyed at monitoring install and removal. The primary stated and observed heating strategy was to leave the heating always on and control through the radiator thermostatic radiator valves. Of people who used timer control, total heating hours reduced with increased frequency of manual intervention. Mean indoor temperatures up to 27.7°C were observed, implying many residents are adapted to higher indoor temperatures. Thus, the current model encourages wasteful behaviour and education on use of controls is key to transitioning residents to charging for actual heat use.

Practical application: This article intends to inform the landlords of communal network social housing schemes on the impacts that shared-cost recovery methods of charging for heat has on heating and controls use. This charging method can impact the behaviour of the network occupants resulting in higher heat consumption, overall higher heating costs and subsequently higher carbon emissions from the site if occupants are not adequately trained in how to operate their heating effectively. Where similar charging methods are implemented, the article hopes to inform operators of the potential vulnerabilities of the network occupants to changes in the method of charging for heat.

在连接到区域供暖或公共供暖方案的住宅中，通常根据实际热量消耗向住户收取费用，从而在热量消耗和每周供暖成本之间建立直接联系。本文研究了不使用住宅水平计量的固定费率，分摊费用收费如何影响公共网络社会住房中的供暖和控制使用。在冬季供暖季节，对50个公寓的起居室和散热器温度进行了监测，并在安装和拆卸时对居住者进行了调查。陈述和观察到的主要加热策略是始终保持加热状态，并通过散热器恒温散热器阀进行控制。在使用计时器控制的人员中，总的加热时间随着手动干预频率的增加而减少。观察到室内平均温度高达27.7°C，这意味着许多居民适应了更高的室内温度。因此，当前的模型鼓励浪费行为，而对使用控制的教育是使居民过渡到实际取暖费用的关键。

实际应用：本文旨在向公共网络社会住房计划的房东介绍热能分摊费用回收方法对供暖和控制使用的影响。如果未对乘员进行有效的加热操作方面的培训，则这种充电方法可能会影响网络乘员的行为，从而导致更高的热量消耗，总体更高的采暖成本以及随之而来的更高的碳排放量。在实施类似的充电方法的地方，该文章希望将网络用户潜在的脆弱性告知运营商，以改变热量的充电方法。