Heat cost allocators

Doprimo® 3 is most often installed to divide heating costs in apartment buildings with a vertical (single-pipe) heating system. In such buildings, allocators are the cheapest way to divide heat consumption accurately between apartments without an expensive upgrade or rebuild of the heating system. Because several risers run through each apartment, every radiator needs a bypass pipe and a thermostatic valve to control the heat.

Achieving the same result with heat meters would take a far larger investment — every riser and the pipe layout in the apartments would have to be changed.

Technology

Unlike a heat meter, the Doprimo® 3 allocator is not fitted to the heating pipe but directly to the surface of each radiator. An apartment may have many allocators, but each one costs very little, so the total cost of the system for a building (including extra components and installation) is considerably lower than with heat meters.

Because the allocator is fitted without drilling into the pipes, the heating system is not affected. The system can therefore be introduced at any time, even during the heating season.

To find out what an allocator coefficient is, and why and how it is applied, see Coefficients and regulations.