So I have a small triplex I was renovating to rent out, and wanted to split the heat so that each renter had their own thermostat (and managed their own bill). The only way to do this was with electric heat, registers. I understand that's far from the best kind of heat, but its what I had to work with. There was originally gas boiler/water heat, and that still exists (I planned to heat the building up to say 60 and then let them use their thermostats how they like) but the building as built could not have the gas alone and pipes split into 3 it would be far too expensive. After hiring the electrician we put in four new electrical panels and meters- one for each apartment, and one 'home' panel and meter for the house, which I pay for, and wired up electric heaters in all the apartments, that's all done and works fine. The panels were all located in a separate small utility room with the water heater, the original boiler, my tools for maintenance, etc. The plan was to keep the renters OUT of this room- because I could come in one day and the water heater could be busted or gone, someone could mess with the gas boiler, or my things could be stolen- who knows- and who did it? No idea if its a common room. The neighborhood is also iffy and there's a lot of petty theft. Enter the City Inspectors. They come in and say- after its all finished- now you are required to give everyone keys to the utility room, because every renter needs to be able to flip their own fuses! This defeats the whole system, as of course they can just turn up the water heat when I'm not there, etc. Not to mention vandalism, theft, or anything else..... especially if a renter leaves the utility door open, even if they deny it. My question is this: Is there any kind of reset switch that can be put OUTSIDE the building, at the meters, so that each of the renters can reset their own fuses? The City inspector made reference to this, but I don't know how realistic that is. And if such a thing exists, would it be so expensive as to not be worth it? Thanks for opinions.

I am having my power company (Duke Energy) install a type 1 surge protector in the meter socket. As added protection i installed surge protector on the A/c disconnect. In addition I will be installing a "Type 2" protector at the main breaker panel. i am looking at 2 units: 1. First the Eaton Ultra [url]http://www.eaton.com/ecm/groups/public/@pub/@electrical/documents/content/ib00414001y.pdf[/url] 2. second the Siemens unit [url]https://w3.usa.siemens.com/powerdistribution/us/en/speedfax-product-catalog/Documents/sf-11-sect-01-044-046.pdf[/url] I have a Siemens panel so the Siemens SPD will fit. Looks like the Siemens is a simple plug in breaker. As I understand it if there are no available slots in the panel (mine is full) it is permissible to "double tap" the Siemens unit. Instructions for the Eaton unit say that ideally you should have a dedicated breaker but they do not say it is a must. My existing Siemens breakers are "QP' and can be double tapped (piggy backed??). Not sure of proper term. The Eaton unit even if I can double tap into existing breaker will require mounting outside of box and a bit more work. Any downside to the Siemens unit? I came across this article and it discusses items like types of protection, max surge capacity etc. [url=http://www.stevejenkins.com/blog/2014/10/whats-the-best-whole-house-surge-protection/]What's the "Best" Whole-House Surge Protection?[/url] The article gave best rating to Eaton and did not even mention the Siemens unit. When looking at Siemens specs on Siemens page the specs seem lower than the Eaton but I'm no electrical engineer. As an example the Siemens offers line to neutral and line to line protection. So does the Eaton but in addition Eaton offers neutral to ground and line to ground protection. Is this important? I have no idea what i really need. Any advice is appreciated.