Charging for Utilities in Duplex. Advice needed!

[Pete Lesniewski]

Hey guys,

I have an interesting situation. I own a 1600 sq ft duplex which has 1 furnace. I want the tenants to be responsible for paying the utility bills. However, the tenants in the lower unit control the heat/ac for the whole house. Each unit has it's own separate meter but it still doesn't allow the the upper tenants to have control of the heat/ac.  The upper level tenants were asked to be charged a flat rate of $75 since they don't have control of the heat/ac which I agreed to.

The lower unit is 65% of the home's sq footage(1,000 sq ft). My plan is to put the gas/electric back to one meter and charge the lower levels tenant 65% percent of their utility bill each month as opposed to just charging a flat rate like the upper unit. That way, the lower level unit is responsible for how much heat/electric they use and I won't be stuck with a really high electric bill in the winter which is what happened last winter.

I can't really think of a better option. Any suggestion/advice?

Thanks,

Pete