Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

We remind that residential houses / buildings in Salaspils are equipped not only with heat energy meters, but also with heating control devices, including individual heating units. Residents can connect and disconnect the district heating service at anytime as they want and determine the heating season themselves.

The apartment owners of the residential house decide on the disconnection / connection of the heating together, notifying the house manager or maintenance company.

After heating system turned off / on in the building, the managers of the residential house should inform Ltd. “Salaspils Siltums” technical part by phone +371 67944930.

Ltd. “Salaspils Siltums” supplies heat up to the limit of liability specified in the contract (basically up to the entrance to the heating unit of the building). The internal heat supply networks in the house are serviced by the house manager – maintenance company, and all issues related to the maintenance of the internal heat supply networks, including non-receipt of services in internal systems, apartment owners have to sort out with the manager of their residential building.

Unless the general meeting of apartment apartment owners has decided otherwise, the costs for heat energy for hot water circulation are calculated according to the number of owner’s apartment properties in the house; for all apartments, regardless of the types of utilities connected to them. It is determined by Cabinet Regulation No. 1013, article 18. “The owner of the apartment, who is also a co-owner of the joint ownership of the house, will have to cover the costs of maintaining the circulation system related to the maintenance of the joint ownership of the house, if any. The hot water actually consumed from the boiler, as well as the cold water, will only be charged according to the set water supply and sewerage tariff.

With hot water continuously circulating in the house system, even if hot water is not used, the heat consumption in the house occurs by cooling the heated water in the circulation system, i.e. in mezzanine pipes, towel warmers, basement and attic pipes and heating units. Therefore, it is not allowed to spread the full cost of the district heating only to the hot water consumers, as the circulation system is not only for individual apartments, but for the whole house, and the maintenance costs, as for any common property, are fully divisible for all house properties (apartments and non-residential premises).

The general meeting may decide on a different distribution, but it must be taken into account that if for one apartment reduce the fee, for others it will increase.

Latvian construction standards determine that the hot water temperature at water distribution points must be + 55 ° C.

Hot water preparation is provided by the heat exchanger installed in the heating point of the residential house. In turn, the circulation of hot water in the pipelines of the building and the supply to each individual apartment is provided by a circulation pump.

Ltd. «Salaspils Siltums» produces and supplies heat up to the limit of liability and ownership specified in the contract, up to which the technical parameters of the heat carrier are also ensured. Ltd. “Salaspils Siltums” does not determine the hot water and heating temperature in the internal system of the building. Apartment owners make a decision on selected hot water and heating parameters at the general meeting of apartment owners. According to the decision made by the apartment owners, the house manager sets the selected parameters in the heating unit of the building.

According to Latvian construction standards “LBN 211-15””, the air temperature in the living rooms of a residential building must be + 18 ° C during the cold season. There are no indications of higher temperatures in regulatory enactments, this can be agreed by the owners individually.

If temperature fluctuations, overheating are detected, the manager of the residential house must be notified. Then house manager must carry out inspections, adjustments and temperature measurements.

Considering the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia 21.10.2008. “Regulations for the Supply and Use of Heat” No. 876, contracts for the supply and use of heat are concluded with house owners or managers, but not with the owners or tenants of individual apartments.

The conclusion of contracts for the supply of heat with the owners or tenants of individual apartments is not provided in the legislation, as well as the heat supply system in Salaspils technically does not allow supplying heat to one apartment and not to another. Heat supply technology does not allow to supply heat to individual, specific apartments. Heat energy supply is possible only for the whole object (building) as a whole, because the building has a unified, indivisible heat supply system.

There is no flat rate for hot water. It is determined by the house manager and depends on the methodology used by the manager distributing the heat supplier’s bill among the apartment owners. The heat energy supplied to the house (for heating and hot water preparation) is counted by the heat meter installed in the heating unit. The district heating supplier sends the relevant invoice to the maintenance company for the supplied heat. According to the methodology adopted by the house manager, this bill is divided into two parts – how much is used for hot water preparation and how much for heating. Each part is divided accordingly among the apartment owners: for the preparation of hot water by cubic meters, for heating – by square meters.

For an explanation of your house tariff calculation methodology, please contact your home manager.

Due to different heating fees in the similar but different apartments, there are several factors that determine this fee. First, what kind of temperature is maintained in the apartments. Secondly, what kind of insulation is in these buildings. Thirdly, what methodology does the building manager or maintenance company use to determine the fee for heating 1 m2 of living space.

District heating system (DHS) is a set of heat sources and heat consumers. DHS produce, transform, transmit, distribute and consume heat in a harmonized way. District heating is the most cost-effective way to provide heat to the population in densely populated areas. The main advantages of district heating are:

• lower costs of supplied heat. In DHS with higher heat production capacities it is possible to use different types of fuel using modern technologies (simultaneous production of heat and electricity –  cogeneration), the implementing of which is limited to small, individual systems. The sharp rise in the prices of certain types of fuel does not have such a significant effect on the final tariff for district heating compared to systems using one type of fuel;
• high fuel efficiency. In DHS using equipment with high efficiency and maximum heat generation in the cogeneration process, it is possible to achieve the lowest specific fuel consumption for one-megawatt hour (MWh) of heat production;
• low levels of harmful emissions, which have a positive effect on air quality. Large heat plants are equipped with state-of-the-art flue gas treatment plants, and emissions disperse are also more efficient from a single emission source than from many point pollutants
• high heat supply security, guaranteed by the connection of several heat sources to common heat networks and rational connection of networks;
• high and attractive level of service for consumers, as end consumers do not have to worry about fuel purchases and other problems.

Due to the fact that the disconnection of one apartment can disrupt the hydraulic balance of the central heating system of the whole residential house, the central heating system of the entire residential house must be rebuilt and readjusted at the owner’s expense.

Heating elements (radiators) installed in apartments are part of the entire building heating system. Disconnecting individual heating elements from the heating system disrupts the designed hydraulic mode and creates other technical changes in the building’s overall heat supply system.

Disconnecting the heating elements in one of the apartments, as a result of the heat exchange process, the disconnected apartment receives from the heating system approximately 10-15% (and more) of the designed amount of heat, in addition, it also receives part of the heat from neighbouring apartments.