Fair recompense for landlord use tenant's power?

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Fair recompense for landlord use tenant's power?

MikeAqua

7769 posts

Uber Geek

#196811 13-Jun-2016 17:53

I'm trying to figure out a fair way to recompense tenants for power used to water trees I'm planting at a rental property I own.

It's a large rural section and water is from a well pump which uses electricity adding to the tenant's power bill.

I wish to recompense them for this.

The irrigation and pumping are controlled by a PLC and VSD.

I know how long each week the pump will run for and I know the average operating draw of the pump when the irrigation cycle is running. Therefore I can figure out total use per week.

So it seems fair to reimburse the tennants at kWh used x $/kWh

Am I missing anything?

Mike

Aredwood

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#1571193 13-Jun-2016 18:01

Get the tenants permission first. As to be able to make them pay for the property's power usage. The usage must be all their own usage. I'm guessing the same pump also supplies their water? If so then maybe put a check meter on the power feed to the pump. And tell them you will reimburse them for the power that the pump uses while the trees still need to be watered.

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

MikeAqua

7769 posts

Uber Geek

#1571205 13-Jun-2016 18:16

The tenant's have the power account for the property. I would be using their power to water the new trees for the next three years. They are happy for this to occur as long as they are fairly compensated

One pump for the entire property, so a check meter would also record the tenant's pump use for domestic supply, stock water, irrigation of pasture and vege garden etc.

Trees are likely to be about 10% of pump power each month.

Aredwood: Get the tenants permission first. As to be able to make them pay for the property's power usage. The usage must be all their own usage. I'm guessing the same pump also supplies their water? If so then maybe put a check meter on the power feed to the pump. And tell them you will reimburse them for the power that the pump uses while the trees still need to be watered.

Mike

Linuxluver

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1571212 13-Jun-2016 18:37

MikeAqua:

The tenant's have the power account for the property. I would be using their power to water the new trees for the next three years. They are happy for this to occur as long as they are fairly compensated

One pump for the entire property, so a check meter would also record the tenant's pump use for domestic supply, stock water, irrigation of pasture and vege garden etc.

Trees are likely to be about 10% of pump power each month.

Aredwood: Get the tenants permission first. As to be able to make them pay for the property's power usage. The usage must be all their own usage. I'm guessing the same pump also supplies their water? If so then maybe put a check meter on the power feed to the pump. And tell them you will reimburse them for the power that the pump uses while the trees still need to be watered.

Short of having a second pump with it's own check meter, it sounds like you can only agree an amount you're happy with the tenant thinks covers it. Or reduce their rental by that amount across a month. The latter method could get murky if at some point you wanted to increase the rent.....so maybe not the best option.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

mdooher

Hmm, what to write...
1417 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1571214 13-Jun-2016 18:41

I would just put a kWh meter on the pump circuit, that way there can be no argument, don't forget to include the "variable line charge" portion of the bill...job done

Matthew

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#1571222 13-Jun-2016 19:24

MikeAqua:

I know how long each week the pump will run for and I know the average operating draw of the pump when the irrigation cycle is running. Therefore I can figure out total use per week.

So it seems fair to reimburse the tennants at kWh used x $/kWh

Am I missing anything?

Beer/wine or another gift or gesture of good will.

If it's a cannabis plantation you're watering, then 10% of the crop would be a starting point to maintain good relations.

MikeAqua

7769 posts

Uber Geek

#1571554 14-Jun-2016 11:28

It's shelter/ornamental trees, fruit trees that won't really produce for a few years and a bunch of native grasses.

Will look awesome in 5 years time when I move back in there and the wind blows in waves through the grasses.

Sounds like estimate of monthly cost is the way to go. I'll keep it separate from the rent.

Fred99:

If it's a cannabis plantation you're watering, then 10% of the crop would be a starting point to maintain good relations.

Mike

dickytim

2514 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1571571 14-Jun-2016 12:04

Make them what you feel is a fair amount and ask them to monitor the bill to make sure they don't end up out of pocket.

It sounds like you are reasonable and also sounds like so are they.

andrew027

1286 posts

Uber Geek

#1571576 14-Jun-2016 12:08

MikeAqua: The irrigation and pumping are controlled by a PLC and VSD.

I know how long each week the pump will run for and I know the average operating draw of the pump when the irrigation cycle is running. Therefore I can figure out total use per week.

...

One pump for the entire property, so a check meter would also record the tenant's pump use for domestic supply, stock water, irrigation of pasture and vege garden etc.

Trees are likely to be about 10% of pump power each month.

If you know how long the pump is running now, you should be able to identify how much longer the pump is running to water the new trees. Perhaps you'll know this anyway if you're programming an irrigation system to water the trees for "x" amount of time every "y" days. You could then compensate the tenants using a $/kWh rate, as you proposed.

Another option would be to pay your tenants the difference between two bills, e.g. June 2015 vs. June 2016 (allowing for any change in the $/kWh charge), assuming any increase is largely due to the additional workload on the pump. This would work if you trust your tenants and have a good relationship with them, but might encourage them to embark on a power-hungry large scale indoor hydroponic operation of the type inferred by Fred99, at your expense.

MikeAqua

7769 posts

Uber Geek

#1571657 14-Jun-2016 14:02

Yep they are great tenants and we get on well.

dickytim:

Make them what you feel is a fair amount and ask them to monitor the bill to make sure they don't end up out of pocket.

It sounds like you are reasonable and also sounds like so are they.

Mike