My Number 1 pet peeve:AC left on when they leave!

I think @cabinhost was asking whether motion detectors are sufficiently sensitive to detect a sleeping humans, since a living human will never be totally motionless; he or she needs to breathe, for one thing. I’d say the answer is no.

Vegas - breathing is motion. I have wondered this question for 3 years now. And now that the topic is brought back up I hope someone can answer.

My place sleeps six, and if Grandpa wants to stay behind to take a nap, while the rest of the family hikes…I would hate to be shutting off the A/C on him while he is trying to rest comfortably.

Now I am thinking it would have to detect “breathing” or else the A/C would just turn off at night when everyone is sleeping?? What do you think??

Hi @cabinhost,

I think that it would turn off at night when everyone is sleeping. That’s the point. Did you look at my links? See particularly the toilet paper dodge - last link. You could consider investing in fancy heat sensors, but it really depends how much money you want to spend.

No…I didn’t look at the links. I’ve been looking at too many links for other issues today and am burned out on researching. I just need to relax. Someone should be easily able to answer the question if they depend on the motion sensor.

If the A/C turns off at night when everyone is sleeping…then that is terrible. I could not do that to guests.

I think people probably keep it active during the daytime, when people are typically out. But even that is problematic, because if you are taking a nap in the afternoon, it will switch off the A/C. Though from the links above, it sounds like some hotels just keep it on the whole time, and don’t give a damn that it switches off in the middle of the night.

Agreed.

That would be ridiculous. I would never turn up heat when I got to bed…sheesh!!

@cabinhost, see this three minute video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_7EeKNRziw
This appears to be one of the few products of its kind that detects a human presence in a room.

Surprisingly, these things are available in India, and not even that expensive.
http://in.element14.com/omron-electronic-components/d6t-44l-06/sensor-thermal-mems-4x4/dp/2218000 in case anyone cares. One would need to check out how well they work in practice…

Here is someone playing with one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18EbrEiepkg

See also https://robotics.stackexchange.com/a/3135:

A more recent sensor type that can be used are MEMS based temperature arrays by Omron (D6T range) or Excelitas (DigiPile). These, as opposed to PIR elements, measure absolute temperatures and thereby allow to distinguish between background and foreground temperatures and detect movement and static presences of temperature sources.

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No; motion detectors can NIT be set to detect breathing because if they are set to that small amount of motion then a bug crawling across the floor would trip the sensor as motion and kick the power to the A/C on.
For YOUR situation you need each person to wear a small transponder like a lapel pin that is tracked by the hub. When the pin leaves a room, the hub can turn off the lights. When the pin leaves the house it can close the garage door, turn off all electronics and set temp to higher range.
If multiple pins (people) live in the house then each person could have their preference for temp, light, etc programmed to their settings for the room they are in. Example wife likes 72 degrees and 60% lights when she walks in a room and all power off when she leaves the room but husband likes 76 degrees and 40% Lighting if he is alone in room. When both are in a room the program controls how much light they both want. If ALL pins leave the house then it locks all doors, turns a/c to 90 and activates alarm system and closes garage door. When a pin gets within 50 yards it could unlock front door, open garage door, turn a/c to that persons level, turn on lights if during hours of darkness, and even turn on coffee pot.
THIS level of ‘smart home’ can be done today but to buy ONE motion detector to detect breathing will NOT work,

Paying customers or not, we aren’t hotels. There are many differences between renting on Airbnb and booking a hotel, but unfortunately new guests are clueless about those differences. It really is up to us hosts to set the standards and “train” guests as to what is acceptable and what is not. I don’t think hosts do a good enough job of this though, because we’re all afraid of the review. That’s where I think the system fails. If hosts can’t do the educating then Airbnb needs to. After every exceptional guest I get, I tell Airbnb in the private feedback to hire them as a trainer for other guests. It’s in jest, but maybe someday they’ll get the hint.

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Hi @SuiteRetreat,

Very true. If you had to summarize those differences in a list, what would your list look like? Just by way of information/comparison.

yeah thats what we need! The key goes in a slot and all the power goes on and then off when they leave…Oh wait, I forgot about the fridge…need a creative electrician!

ok.So I sent a friendly reminder to turn off the AC when they exit the room for the day.They just left. I went outside and the AC is blaring. Did not pay attention at all to the signs or my text reminder. Thats going to be reflected in their review…:rage:

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You’ve inspired me to add this to my Rules (Rules Nazi strikes again!)
I’m dreading hearing the A/C’s on all day once summer hits! (luckily all 3 A/C’s are on the wall along the driveway to our private apartment, so the caretaker or us can hear them going and if the guests are obviously out I’ve just given myself the right to go and turn them off)

“A/C’s work quickly and effectively if used correctly. (Don’t set extreme high or low temperatures and Do close all doors/windows in the room). Owners may enter property to turn off A/C if found to be left on while guests are out.”

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I think it can all be summarized in one word - manners. With Airbnb I believe you are expected to use basic manners like you would when you enter someone’s home…whereas at a hotel (almost) anything goes. One simple email from Airbnb to guests who are about to check in, stating some basic common courtesies and manners, would go a looooong way toward building goodwill.

I just came back from a 3 night stay at an Airbnb and I had to educate my friend on the whole process. She is a lovely person but she had total “hotel brain”. I was running around sticking coasters under her drinks and putting paper towel down under her bike after she brought it into the apartment. Things like doing the dishes and taking the garbage out seemed excessive to her. I had to explain that we weren’t in a hotel but using someone’s home for a few days. By the end of the trip she got it, but it was an interesting few days :fearful:.

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I’ll sign the petition to get ABB to do this!

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Hi @Chloe,

This link seems to be broken. If you can fix it, please do so. And can you describe in a little more detail what this device does? Thanks.

I think you meant my reply, not Cloe’s

Here you can find similar devices: https://www.google.at/search?q=key+switch+box&hl=de&site=webhp&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwwMjrpvzTAhURUlAKHfq6AGsQsAQIKA&biw=1920&bih=1108

It is just a on/off switch operated by a key.
If you use the same cylinder for it, as you use for the house key, the guest can only operate the Airco when they leave the key in.

It is like the key-card thing most hotels have, after you enter the door, you have to put the keycard in a wall socket to turn on the electricity in the room.

Hi @Chris,

Indeed, I mistyped, sorry. Thanks for the link and the suggestions.

See the thread I just posted, Electricity usage monitoring. What you are suggesting sounds like an alternative, and possibly an improvement, to the key card described there, which you also mention in your reply. So such devices are called “key switch box”?

So, is this something you use yourself, and if so, how does it work for you?