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Make sure that your description and house rules reflect that the guests do not have the opportunity to be comfortable on their terms, but will have to accept your restrictions. I’d also include a comment that your a/c is undersized for the climate in your area, and can only go so low.
Many people feel differently than you about what temperature works for them.
I live in Arizona where there is a real need to drop the temperature by more than 20F and up to about 45F for over 100 days every year.
The worst case for the A/C unit is when it simply can’t keep up and it runs continuously. This will cause it to get hot which can cause damage. However, if the A/C unit is properly sized for your home, in good condition, your home is reasonably well insulated, and you didn’t do something stupid like leave the windows and doors open, you are not going to cause damage to your A/C by lowering the temperature more than 15-20F from the ambient outside air temperature (that’s simply bullcrap).
I have had a 3 guest groups that set the thermostat below 70F when the outside temps were around 80F. Yes, they were all from northern states and I know it cost me some money in utilities, but it’s maybe $5/day at most for a 2200sqft house.
Be aware that if you limit the temp guests can set, you may have uncomfortable guests, and you can expect that to show up in your reviews.
BTW, what was the outside temp in your area of Florida? Surely it wasn’t 87F where it was above that +20F threshold. Also, if you don’t live in the home while it’s rented, how do you know what the temp was set at and what the temp inside the home was at various times? If you have a thermostat that gives you that info, doesn’t it also give you the ability to modify the temp?
Different people have different needs for their comfortable temperature. My hubby needs lower temp in the summer because when he is outside doing whatever, he is likely to workup a sweat, he likes blast of AC when coming inside just to cool down, then we raise the temp and reduce AC.
When people are on vacation, especially in the summer, when they come back to the house they want to be comfortable rather quickly, which would likely require to set AC blasting for a short time. If the host doesn’t allow this, he/she should clearly state this on their listing.
I hope to do that next fall myself. I’m hoping, however, to find units that can be remotely controlled from my iPhone or from the smarthome hub I’m building.
I’m just a bit confused by this. I’m in South Florida and for most of January and so far this month it’s been really cold. As low as the 50s sometimes. It’s only reached the mid 70s during the day. We haven’t used the AC in weeks.
I can see why guests from the north would though as they tend to like to freeze.
But AC should be able to cope perfectly well set to 67 (which is freezing to me) no matter what the temperature is outside and I doubt it’s been up to 80 even all year so far.
I’ve lived here for more than 25 years but never had air conditioning damaged or fail due to being set to cooler than 15 - 20 degrees than the outside temperature.
Well, yes. Sort of. If the guests are able to control the thermostat then many hosts would prefer that the guests set it to a level at which they are comfortable. When I’m a guest I set the AC or the heat to whatever is comfortable for me. If the host / hotel / guest house hasn’t done their sums correctly and aren’t charging enough to cover it, then that’s not my responsibility.
We had expensive repairs to one of our rental’s AC a couple of years ago. It is an old-ish system so it needed the work. It’s all part of maintaining your property.
In general, here in Florida, I get my share of guests from the frozen tundra that love the AC at 68 or so. In the summer only once did a guest freeze up the AC thinking it would get colder faster if they set it to 55. I have Nests on both homes, so I can see when they are doing something really silly and call to see if they are having AC problems.
The funny thing was December. It had been in the low 70s but a cold spell in the 50s was coming up. On the changeover I changed both homes from cool only to heat to 68 and cool to 76. Wouldn’t you know it, both had trouble because they wanted it cooled to 68 and couldn’t figure out to move the heat number lower than that.
What I can’t figure out is why people who hate warmer temperatures bother to travel to places where the weather is warm, or vice versa. I can understand if a guest is travelling on business and has no choice, or have to go to a family wedding or something, but why would anyone choose to vacation in Florida if they prefer arctic temperatures?
I hate being cold. You wouldn’t catch me booking a holiday in the UK in mid-winter.
Here’s a couple of hacks that worked for me.
Late model window bangers use less electricity. Change out older ones.
Black out drapes help to preserve the cool during the day.
Convert the whole home to energy efficient bulbs. The difference on your bill is huge!
A surprising number of my guests prefer fresh air only. All rooms have fans.
Can we all agree that those of us that live in the desert KNOW air conditioning. @Brian_R170 and I have days where we have to live with outside temperatures of up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and lowering a temperature only 15-20 degrees is still uninhabitable. With that said, aside from getting your AC checked out / sized accordingly, a couple of things I’ve learned since moving to AZ:
Lowering the thermostat temperature in gradual increments rather than 20 degrees at a time prevents the temperature sensors from freezing up. I’ve had some guests who adjusted the thermostat from 75F to 60F thinking that will make it cool faster, when in fact it actually stresses out the system.
And while it may seem like a waste, turning the AC off during the day when people are out, is also not wise, (at least when it’s VERY hot). Setting it at a reasonable temperature when people are out, will allow cooling to get to a comfortable temperature upon return.
If you don’t have one, consider installing a programmable thermostat so you can set reasonable temperatures, but that guests can override for THEIR comfort. I use NEST which allows me to monitor and make adjustments, as needed, remotely, and then advise the guests.
Blah blah blah. NO
My Ecobee thermostat is set with reasonable limits, I am not even going to have the discussion with guests. They can set it as high as it allows. If I see they are not there and it is set high I can and do change it on my phone.
RR
I have guests turn the AC to 50F and it was 69F in the house, now its 80F and outside its 73F. The AC coil is definitely frozen. I have adjusted it to up to 70F muiltiple times, they keep setting it on 50F. 2 days they have not complained yet.
50F? Are they Inuit or something?
Seriously, though, they may be the kind of clueless people who don’t know how thermostats work- they think if they turn the AC or heat really high or low, it will get cooler or warmer faster.
So they come in, find it too warm at 70, and turn it down to 50.
Purchase a thermostat with low and high temp limitations.