Can I get insight on metron submetering and billing service?
Based on their contract, the community don’t own the meter but on the hook for maintenance and replacement cost which make no sense to me.
How’s their meter holding up in cold climate like southwest michigan?
Any better alternative?
May I also suggest you look into MarineSync. Jason Latimer. (619) 379-7732 We are going to be using them in the Sunbelt states. They have software in the cloud that works with some of the operating park software and can develop hooks for others. We think its advisable to have the ability to see the meter and remotely control the power at the pads. We set an allowance for use up to a certain Kw based on size and air conditioner count. Anything exceeding that is billed.
Thanks for the suggestion. MarineSync sounds like an interesting solution, especially with the remote monitoring and control features.
Not a park owner (I’m researching the space while building software for park owners), but this has come up in some of the Metron threads on this forum.
They sell in three pieces: meters, radio/cell readings, and billing service. I think the contract you saw bundles all three, but you can also choose to buy the meters yourself (other posts indicate it’s $125-200/home) and pay for the other two. Or buy it yourself, do your own readings, and use a different billing service. Other people also mentioned that it’s $700/m on 80 homes for reading and billing, but I imagine you can find a cheaper local solution.
Michigan does get pretty cold. Most of the complaints on the readers are about the plastic housing and it sounds like owners usually put them under skirting with heat tape. ABT out of Wisconsin comes up a lot from cold-climate folks and quotes both meters and billing.
Did you end up going with Metron?
I looked at Metron and a few others. Renting the meters from them seems expensive once you do the math vs buying meters. I know you can pass it onto your tenants in their bill but I would rather take the hit up front for the cost of the meters and capture that money in a rent raise then have them pay it to Metron. I ended up going with Sonata ultrasonic meters with the optional brass piping instead of plastic for my park in Minnesota. Ultrasonic have no disc/wheels or moving parts which I liked. Anytime I had a plumber do work I would get dirt clogging my old badger read o matics down the line of homes. Can’t give you a review because they just arrived. Was coming here to post a question about billing services when I saw your post.