# District cooling



## edthehedgehog (Jun 12, 2011)

Not sure I get the engineering behind it but what I do seem to get is that it raises your utility bills, substantially ... Any experiences with this? Anyone in Green community willing to dish the dirt on how much they pay for district cooling? Am trying to make up my mind between ranches and green community ... Prefer the houses in green community but the expenses seem to be adding up (aside from the traffic issue).

Any input gratefully received


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## saya123 (Dec 11, 2008)

This was true till a year or so back when Dewa was cheap.. But not anymore. Dewa bill if its powering your chiller/AC is almost the same as your Dewa plus District cooling otherwise.. This has been my experience so far having lived in both types of communities. 

Can't comment on ur specific communities though since haven't lived in either of them.


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## kmdxb (Jan 19, 2014)

The key I think is if you go for something that has district cooling to make sure it is charged on a metered usage. Some places from what I remember reading in the past just seemed to average out the total usage across all villas/apartments as they didn't have individual meters so you end up getting charged even if you are not using it yourself.


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

saya123 said:


> This was true till a year or so back when Dewa was cheap.. But not anymore. Dewa bill if its powering your chiller/AC is almost the same as your Dewa plus District cooling otherwise.. This has been my experience so far having lived in both types of communities.
> 
> Can't comment on ur specific communities though since haven't lived in either of them.


In my case, it is very much cheaper. Chiller costs for a 1 bed apt were more than twice the Dewa costs in a non-district cooling zone for an apt twice as large, even in peak summer


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## saya123 (Dec 11, 2008)

Lucky u.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

It may depend whether you live in an apartment or a villa. I think for villas it's a moot point but flats in non-district cooling schemes often have "free" chiller included with the rent. The A/C is provided through the building's internal AC system and is paid by the landlord out of his maintenance fees.

The differential in my dewa bills in the winter months when the AC isn't on and the summer months when it's on 24/7 is minimal.


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