Credit Billing Considerations for a Heat Network

Any credit billing system relies on regular and accurate heat meter readings from all the properties connected to the heat network. Readings must be remotely collected from the properties, and transmitted or collected from the site by Stockshed using a mobile network or web based technology. A system like this is generally referred to as a remote Automated Meter Reading (AMR) system.

A remote AMR would typically comprise of the following components:

• Heat Meter (mains or battery powered) within the property with a wired MBUS output.
• A site-wide cabled network, called an M-BUS network, which connects all the heat meters back to a single location such as the plant room. NB: There are various cable types used for MBUS networks, Stockshed recommends the Belden 8444 multi-core unshielded cable.
• A site datalogger at the point the M-BUS network converges to record the readings from the heat meters on a daily or more regular basis. There are many makes and models of datalogger available on the market.
• A router and connectivity to a dynamic or fixed IP (static) broadband connection. This provides the remote connectivity to site in order to collect or transmit heat meter reading data used in the billing process.

Please note where wired M-BUS data networks do not exist or cannot be accommodated within the design of a site, radio (wireless) based alternatives provide another option for M-BUS data collection from within the properties. Typically these are alternative solutions and are only used in the event a wired solution is not feasible.

For more information on heat network metering, billing or monitoring design please contact us by; phone 0844 800 0565, or email us at info@stockshed.com