Chiller fee / district cooling

Many UAE towers and communities are cooled by chilled water piped from a central plant, either in the building or serving a whole district. Providers include Empower, Emicool and Tabreed. The air-conditioning in your unit then draws on that supply, and it is billed by the cooling provider, not through your DEWA electricity account.

A district cooling bill normally has two parts:

• a consumption charge for the cooling actually used, measured by a meter in the unit
• a capacity or demand charge, a fixed annual amount based on the cooling load allocated to the unit, payable whether it is occupied or empty

There may also be a refundable deposit and a connection fee when the account is opened at handover.

Arrangements differ by building, and this is where buyers are caught out. In some, each owner or tenant has an account with the provider. In others, the building pays and recovers the cost through the service charges. Adverts describe a property as "chiller-free" when cooling consumption is included in the service charge and the occupant receives no separate bill; the cost has not disappeared, and the service charge is higher as a result.

Before buying, ask three questions: who the provider is, whether consumption is metered per unit, and who pays the capacity charge when the home is let. Where it falls on the owner, it is a fixed cost that reduces net yield and continues through any vacancy.