By Tiffany Mittal - Multifamily Utility Company
Manufactured Homes and Submetering What is Submetering?
Submetering is the process of installing a water, gas or electric meter on each mobile home after the master utility meters for the mobile home park. The term submeter" is used for any meter installed after the master meter. With submeters installed at every mobile home the association is able to utilize a third party meter reading and billing company to read the meters and produce monthly bills for the selected utilities.
Why Submeter?
One of the largest expenses for a mobile home park is utilities. It is also an expense item that continues to increase over time. There are three major reasons for this:
o Rate Increases - The cost of energy (gas and electric) production and acquiring clean water has outpaced inflation for the past decade.
o Increases in Occupancy - Due to the economic environment more people are living with extended families. Higher occupancy leads to higher utility usage.
o Wasteful Usage - Residents are often less conservative with their utility usage when they are not aware of their individual consumption or do not have an incentive to save.
Studies have shown that once residents become aware of their utility usage
