Being a customer of SDEN provides the following benefits:
The heat is delivered to you in exactly the same as a conventional heating or hot water system which would use a boiler with either radiators or underfloor heating. It is just the source of heat that is different, being supplied into your development from our off-site heat sources rather than an individual boiler in your property. The amount of heat energy taken from our network is controlled by you through the controller in your home.
The network also offers better reliability compared to conventional heat supplies. When our off-site low-carbon sources of heat are occasionally offline for maintenance, supplies of hot water will be maintained from our backup and top-up boilers.
Inside your property this hot water from our network goes through a Heating Interface Unit (HIU) which supplies your home with hot water for your hot taps and shower and for your central heating.
No, your home does not have its own individual boiler. The heating for your home is supplied by our area wide heat network.
Hot water for your shower, baths and sinks comes from your Heating Interface Unit (HIU) in the same way that it would from a normal boiler or hot water cylinder in your home. Cold water from your water supplier is heated inside the HIU by the hot water in our network. This hot water is then piped to your taps.
The hot water from our network passes through the Heating Interface Unit (HIU) before returning to our network, heating water which is circulated through your home like a conventional central heating system.
The room temperatures are controlled by wall mounted controllers and the operating instructions for these are contained in your resident’s handbook.
Heat supplies will be available 24/7 with back-up boilers which are located on your development providing security when the sources of low carbon heat (such as the ERF) are not available during maintenance periods. SDEN is committed to providing customers with a continuous supply of heat, however, in the event that there is a break in service, SDEN is committed to help get things up and running again as quickly as possible.
No. SDEN just supplies the hot water for heating your home and your hot water. Your property does not have gas. Electricity and Water are supplied to your home by your chosen supplier.
The scheme is continually monitored to ensure that it is working properly and that heat is being delivered across your development. However, if you notice any problems with the District Heating scheme (e.g. water leaks, damage, etc) we ask that you contact us. For any other problem please contact the Estate Management Company.
For details on the SDEN Company Policies and Pricing Policy, click here.
We charge a combination of a fixed and variable rate – the same as any other energy supplier. To maintain price parity, the variable rate will track wholesale gas prices and our fixed rate “the standing charge” will track changes in national consumer price indices and labour costs.
Our charges are set to be comparable with the cost of generating heat from an individual boiler, which includes the cost of gas, and running, maintaining and replacing that boiler
This is the industry standard method of determining a comparable charge which is known as “price parity”, and uses the same method as set out by the Government sponsored Heat Cost Calculator
Although you will receive a regular monthly bill, we do record the initial meter reading and final meter reading for your account when you move in and move out of the property. Please tell us if you would like to receive these readings when you register with us.
Our Charges to You are made up of a Standing Charge payable monthly irrespective of the consumption of the Heat Supply to Your Home and a Unit Charge representing the consumption of the Heat Supply to Your Home.
Each year, SDEN may conduct an annual price review, which is made in agreement with the developer of your property, Barratt David Wilson Homes/Barratt London.
A price review has been conducted for the 2020/21 Service Period and we anticipate these changes to result in an overall reduction in cost for the majority of our customers. More details of these changes are set out below.
The Unit and Standing Charges quoted below are shown inclusive of 5% VAT (unless stated otherwise) and have been rounded to two decimal points, although will appear to four decimal points on your statement. Please note that prices quoted as inclusive of VAT will appear different to those shown on your statements where VAT is added to the overall cost of the service.
Unit Charge (inclusive of VAT)
The Unit Charge has been reviewed against wholesale gas prices in accordance with your RSA. As wholesale gas prices have decreased, we are pleased to confirm that this results in a reduction of 21.8% in the Unit Charge. The new Unit Charge for the 2020/21 Service Period is 4.76p per kWh (4.53p per kWh exclusive of VAT).
To ensure customers benefited from the Unit Charge reduction as soon as possible, this was backdated to apply from 1st April 2020. Our Unit Charge is correct as of 1 April 2020 and is valid until 31 March 2021.
Standing Charge (inclusive of VAT)
The Standing Charges has also been reviewed in accordance with your RSA, resulting in an increase of 5.8% (rounded to one decimal point). The new Standing Charges are set out below and were introduced from 1st July 2020.
Our Standing Charges with effect from 1 July 2020 are as follows:
£0.99 per day (approximately £30.68 per month* and approximately £361.17 per annum**) for a 1 Bedroom Home
£1.00 per day (approximately £31.15 per month* and approximately £366.73 per annum**) for a 2 Bedroom Home
£1.02 per day (approximately £31.62 per month* and approximately £372.29 per annum**) for a 3 Bedroom Home
£1.04 per day (approximately £32.09 per month* and approximately £377.85 per annum**) for a 4 Bedroom Home
*Based on a 31 day month
**Based on a 365 day year
In calculating this adjustment to the Standing Charge we have made a change to the definition of “Relevant Factors” that we use to adjust the Standing Charge. This is to replace the Retail Prices Index excluding mortgage interest payment (RPIX) as a Relevant Factor with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). CPI generally rises at a slower rate than RPIX and this replacement results in a slower increase in the Standing Charge for customers therefore better reflects the change in SDEN’s fixed costs over time.
Other Charges and Payments
SDEN’s other Charges and Service Payments have been reviewed in accordance with the RSA and the new values are set out below.
We offer a number of methods to pay your bill.
If you wish to pay by Direct Debit, please complete the relevant form in your Residential Supply Agreement. If you pay by Direct Debit, you will qualify for our annual Direct Debit discount, which is currently £37.94.
We also offer payment by:
Cheque – payable to Sutton Decentralised Energy Network Limited. Please put the account number shown on your bill on the back of the cheque and either post this to 24 Denmark Road, Carshalton, SM5 2JG or drop it into us at SDEN Ltd, 24 Denmark Road, Carshalton, SM5 2JG between Monday and Friday 9:00 – 17:00.
Bank Transfer – please see your bill for our bank details and use your account number as the payment reference.
Online – you can pay your bills by going to our payment portal. Details of how to access this are on your bill.
To ensure that you have heating and hot water when you move into your new home, you will need to set up an account with us. To do this, you will need to complete and sign the form at the front of the booklet containing your Residential Supply Agreement, available as a separate document. Please return the form to us via email or post in the address provided in the Contact Us tab.
We will aim to set up your account within seven days of receiving your completed form and you will receive a unique customer reference number that you will need to quote in all correspondence with SDEN.
If you are moving out of your home, you will need to terminate your Residential Supply Agreement with us by providing 7 days’ written notice. You can do this by completing the Moving Out Form. Please click this link for a copy.
After you have given us such a notice you must provide a forwarding address so that we may contact you in respect of any charges that you may owe us, or any amounts that we may owe to you. We will take a final meter reading on the date this agreement terminates.
Please be aware that unless you give us notice that you no longer own or rent your home you will continue to be liable for our charges, whether or not you occupy it until you notify us that you have moved or another person takes responsibility for the heat supply to your home.
In the unlikely event that problems occur in our network, requiring repairs, we will follow the standards as set out below.
There may be some instances where we are required to suspend heating and hot water supplies to fix a problem in our network.
If this is necessary, we will provide prior notice of not less than 5 days of scheduled maintenance works to the system or the development heating system that interrupt the supply of heat to your home.
We’ll always aim to keep any interruption to a minimum. However, where a planned interruption lasts longer than five working days from the start time, we’ll refund you with £21.17 per instance if claimed by you within 3 months, payments will be no more than £317.56 per incident.
The heat supply will be available to the point of connection to your home’s heating system within 24 hours of the start of any unplanned interruption.
On failure to achieve this, a fixed compensation payment of £31.76 per instance will be paid to you if claimed by you within 3 months, payments will be no more than £317.56 per incident.
The meter accuracy will be maintained within the requirements and an initial accuracy is of +/-3%.
If we fail to replace a faulty meter 28 days after a fault is shown to exist, we will refund you with £26.46 per instance, if claimed by you within 3 months payments will be no more than £211.71 per Service Period.
Please note, our Service Standards won’t apply in the following exceptional circumstances:
If you request a refund and we agree there’s one due, we’ll credit your bank account within ten working days. If we fail to meet this deadline, we’ll credit your account with an additional £20 on top of refunding you of course. Such payments will be not more than £200 per Service Period.
The cold season is here and, due to the pandemic, more people are working from home. It’s more important than ever to be as efficient as possible with heating and hot water consumption.
To help customers manage their consumption, SDEN has compiled some energy saving tips in this leaflet.
We would also like to remind customers experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the pandemic to contact us as soon as possible. Please visit our COVID-19 update page for full details.
Did you know that you may be able to claim tax relief for your job expenses while working from home?
It’s a little-known fact that you may be able to claim up to £6 a week if you have to work from home (however, you cannot claim tax relief if you choose to work from home). To check if you can claim, you can visit the government website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home
Sutton Decentralised Energy Network wants to protect its vulnerable customers and offer appropriate support.
To help and support our customers we keep a Priority Services Register (PSR) which records who our vulnerable customers are, their specific needs, and how we can help.
Please find our policy on Helping our Vulnerable Customers here. This is also available (both in hard copy or electronically) upon request via:
Letter to 24 Denmark Road, Carshalton, Sutton, SM5 2JG;
Phone 020 8770 4852, lines open Mon-Fri 09:00-17:00;
Or email to contactus@sden.org.uk.
This notice applies to the activities of Sutton Decentralised Energy Network (“SDEN” (also referred to as “we”, “us” or “our” in this privacy notice)) in its capacity as data controller as defined by the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’).
SDEN is committed to ensuring that your personal data are kept safe and handled in compliance with relevant laws and regulations. This privacy notice sets out how SDEN collects and uses your data. We ask that you read it carefully as it contains important information on who we are, how and why we collect, store, use and share personal data, your rights in relation to your personal data and on how to contact us and supervisory authorities in the event you have a complaint.
It is important that you read this privacy policy together with any other privacy policy or notice or fair processing notice we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you. This privacy policy supplements any other notices and is not intended to override them.
Information collected by us
In the course of our activities as an energy service provider, we may collect and process the following personal data:
Information collected from other sources
We may collect personal data from the following third parties for the purposes of providing our services:
The purposes for which we use your information
This data allows SDEN to:
What if I don’t want to share my personal data?
You are not obligated or required to share any personal data listed above. However, if you do not provide us with the data described above, we may not be able to deliver our service to you.
Where we process your personal data because of our contractual agreement with you, for example:
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Reason or purpose |
Personal data processed |
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Delivering our service to our customers and holding details of your account |
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Take payment for our service and debt collection |
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Perform credit and anti-fraud checks |
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Communicating with you regarding our services (including billing) |
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Responding to your queries and complaints |
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Investigating your energy consumption on your request |
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Providing you with important service information (e.g. site-wide issues affecting your property) |
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Where we process your personal data because we have a legal obligation to do so, for example:
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Reason or purpose |
Personal data processed |
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Responding to emergency situations (e.g. severe water leak) |
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Investigating crime and fraud associated with your account |
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Where we process your personal data because we have a legitimate business interest, for example:
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Reason or purpose |
Personal data processed |
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Provide performance and risk reports for corporate governance |
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Continuous commitment to monitor, maintain and improve our service |
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Recording on your credit file any debt information associated with your account |
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Protection of our staff, agents and contractors |
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Staff training |
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In support of legal claims brought by us or our customers |
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Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date record of your data |
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Debt recovery relating to former customers |
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Where we process your personal data because you have provided your consent, for example:
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Reason or purpose |
Personal data processed |
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Sending you electronic marketing communications, such as information about our services, offers and discounts |
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Processing special category data, such as health information, for the purposes of providing specialised services to vulnerable customers |
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To enable us to deliver our service to you, we may share your personal data with the following third parties:
To help and support our customers we keep a Priority Services Register (PSR) which records who our vulnerable customers are and the specific needs of each of these and how we can help. For further information please visit out vulnerable persons policy below.
This ensures we can meet vulnerable customers needs by enabling us to:
You can view our vulnerable customers policy here.
Via our designated phone line for customers
If you contact SDEN via telephone we will ask for security information including your name, address, account number, email address and telephone number to verify that we are speaking to you. If you are unable to confirm your account’s security information over the phone, we may ask you to contact us with the details of your query via the email address registered to your account.
During the duration of a call with you, we will record your contact details, account details and nature of your query for our records. We may also add notes to your account to ensure that we maintain a record of your issues raised. Where appropriate this information may be shared with partner organisations set out in section 5.
Via our @sden.org.uk email accounts
If you contact SDEN via email you must do so from the registered email address held on your account to ensure that we can verify that we are speaking to you or your authorised representative. If you email us from an account that is not registered with us, we will request confirmation from the registered email address, before we can progress your query or complaint. During email exchanges between SDEN and you, details are recorded for our records and added to your account to ensure that we maintain a record of your issues raised. Where appropriate this information may be shared with partner organisations set out in section 5.
You may have the following rights in relation to your personal data:
To exercise any of the above rights, or if you have any questions relating to your rights, please contact us using the details below. We may require evidence of your identity before we are able to complete your request.
For details on how to submit a subject access request with SDEN please visit the following link.
We hope we can help clarify and resolve any issues we have with you directly, however you also have a legal right to raise a complaint with the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office). If you wish to find out more about how you can go about doing this you can visit https://ico.org.uk/.
When we share your information with third parties, your personal data may be transferred to countries outside of the UK and the European Economic Area that do not have equivalent data protection laws. For example, we store our data on cloud services that are located in the United States. Where this is the case, we have in place appropriate contracts with these third parties to ensure that your data is protected, including standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission. If you would like to see a copy of these agreements, please contact us using our details below.
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for and/or for as long as we are legally require to hold data in order to fulfil our statutory obligations.
We have put in appropriate procedures and policies in place to ensure your data are not accidentally lost, stolen or used without the permission of SDEN. We limit the number of employees and contractors who have access to your data to ensure there is a reduction in the points your data are transferred. This means that they are not permitted to process data for their own purposes or gain and are only using your data to undertake specific functions as set out in this arrangement with SDEN.
If you wish to know more about the privacy policy and how are manage your data at SDEN, or wish to find out more on how we can protect your data then please contact us via contactus@sden.org.uk or write to us at Registered Office 24 Denmark Road, Carshalton, Surrey, SM5 2JG.
District Heating is a type of Decentralised Energy. In the UK, heating tends to be supplied on-site in individual buildings or homes using gas boilers, electric heaters and oil powered boilers. However, in many parts of the world, it is common to have networks to transport heat to consumers through insulated pipes. This process is called “District Heating”. In these cases, the heat source is not contained inside the individual building but is generated locally and is distributed to many consumers via a network of pipes. It’s similar to a domestic central heating system, but on a much larger community scale. As a result District Heating schemes enable the use of low carbon technologies when a number of buildings are supplied with heat from the same source and they can utilise sources of heat that may otherwise be wasted.
In addition, as there is no gas supply or gas boiler in your home it is inherently safer. Also annual safety checks associated with a gas boiler due to the risk of carbon monoxide are not required.
Initially, the heat supplied to your home will be produced by the backup gas boilers situated on the New Mill Quarter site. In time, your home will be supplied with heat from the Beddington Energy Recovery Facility. This is to enable construction works to go ahead and for the connection to the SDEN to be made. SDEN will then use waste heat from the existing landfill gas engines in Beddington. Then, once the Beddington Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) is constructed, it will use the heat produced by the plant. This heat (in the form of hot water) will be transported through highly insulated pipes to your home.
The network offers better reliability compared to conventional heat suppliers. When the low- carbon sources of heat are occasionally offline for maintenance, supplies of hot water will be maintained from our backup and top-up boilers. The majority of other decentralised energy networks across the UK use fossil fuels in high-efficiency energy generation plants to generate heat. We are different because we will be using low carbon heat from other sources.
No, your home does not have its own individual boiler. The heating for your home is supplied by our area wide heat network.
Hot water for your shower, baths and sinks comes from your Heat Interface Unit (HIU) in the same way that it would from a normal boiler or hot water cylinder in your home. Cold water from your water supplier is heated inside the HIU by the hot water in our network. This hot water is then piped to your taps.
The hot water from our network passes through the HIU before returning to our network, heating water which is circulated through your home like a conventional central heating system.
To ensure that you have heating and hot water when you move into your new home, you will need to set up an account with us. To do this, you will need to complete and sign the form at the front of the booklet containing your Residential Supply Agreement, which is available as a separate document. Please return the form to us via email or post in the address provided in the Contact Us tab on our website. We will aim to set up your account within seven days of receiving your completed form and you will receive a unique customer reference number that you will need to quote in all correspondence with SDEN.
Your home is equipped with its own individual heat meter, the same as any other utility such as electricity or water. The meter is located inside of your property, and is automatically read via our data network, meaning that you will not have a visit from one of our team other than for periodic checks of your meter to make sure that it continues working correctly. You will be given prior notice of any checks that we will need to carry out, where we will need access to your property.
You will be billed monthly for the heat supply you consume, plus a Standing Charge. Please see your Residential Supply Agreement for further details about payments and billing. Although you will receive a regular monthly bill, we do record the initial meter reading and final meter reading for your account when you move in and move out of the property. Please tell us if you would like to receive these readings when you register with us.
Yes, you will still be required to pay towards the standing portion of the charge. If you switch off your heating and hot water system, you will only pay for the fixed Standing Charge portion of your bill. Please note that, although your home is highly insulated to the latest standards, we would not recommend switching off your heating during the coldest winter months to avoid the risk of frozen pipes.
Yes, we all know how frustrating it is to have to wait for ages for the hot water from the tap to get hot. To overcome this, your Heating Interface Unit was designed by the manufacturer to always be warm and ready to deliver hot water as soon as you want it. It does this by taking a tiny trickle of heat when it is not in use. This means that even when you are not using the heating or hot water there will still be a very small heat usage. We estimate this costs you about 4p/day on average. This is exactly the same as most gas combi boilers when not in ‘eco’ mode; it uses a tiny trickle of gas to keep the boiler hot and ready.
The room temperatures are controlled by wall mounted controllers and the operating instructions for these are contained in your resident’s handbook.
If you are having problems with your heating and hot water, then this may be because of any one of the following;
problems with the heating system inside your home
problems with the development heating system within your building
problems with the District Heating system
In the first instance you should call us on 020 8770 4852 Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm*
Outside of these hours please call our emergency number 03300580138 which is operated by Veolia, our Operations and Maintenance contractor, who we have arranged to respond to any issues with the supply of heat to your home.
When calling this emergency number please remember to say which development your home is located in (New Mill Quarter) together with your address.
Please note that we can only rectify issues with your Meter or HIU. Issues concerning Your Home’s Heating System is your or your landlord’s responsibility. Your Home’s Heating System is defined in your Residential Supply Agreement and means the heating system inside Your Home including all pipes, radiators, hot water cylinders and other apparatus (but not including the Meter or the HIU), which is Your or Your landlord’s responsibility.
*Please note that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these times may be subject to change. Please continue to check our website for the latest updates.
In accordance with our agreement with you, SDEN is responsible for conducting inspections of your HIU, which shall not be more frequent than once in every three years.
Yes. Heat will be supplied from a continuous source, with boilers that we operate which are located on your Development providing security when the sources of low carbon heat (such as the ERF) are not available during maintenance periods.
No. SDEN just supplies the hot water for heating your home and your hot water. Your property does not have gas. Electricity and Water are supplied to your home by your chosen supplier.
If you are moving out of your home, you will need to terminate your Residential Supply Agreement with us by providing 7 days’ written notice. You can do this by completing the form via this link. This can also be found at the back of your Welcome Pack. After you have given us such a notice you must provide a forwarding address so that we may contact you in respect of any charges that you may owe us, or any amounts that we may owe to you. We will take a final meter reading on the date this agreement terminates.
Please be aware that unless you give us notice that you no longer own or rent your home you will continue to be liable for our charges, whether or not you occupy it until you notify us that you have moved or another person takes responsibility for the heat supply to your home.
Please visit the contact us page on the website to make a comment or complaint by following the link.
The following organisation may be able to give you specialist, independent advice and information:
Free, independent, confidential and impartial advice on consumer issues including energy.
Call: 03454 04 05 06
Visit: citizensadvice.org.uk
© 2020 SDEN.org.uk is the official website of Sutton Decentralised Energy Network Limited Company Registration Number 10022446 Registered Office 24 Denmark Road, Carshalton, Surrey, SM5 2JG