Hi, i’m a live in host in the UK where the cost of living has sky rocketed. I host two guest bedrooms in my old terraced house. I recently had a guest stay in my back bedroom for two days, a Friday to Sunday. I have a little plug in oil heater in that room on top of the central heating. I’m not particularly keen on guest’s using this heater as it is very hard on the electric. I have a prepaid top up meter for my electricity. It ran out both morning’s that particular guest was in the back room, it ate through my electric. He had it on all night & burned throug about £30 worth of electricity during his stay. It really annoyed me as most guests don’t use the additional heater. It makes me question if being an airbnb host is worthwhile when it costs so much in utilities. I currently have one guest staying who came to me earlier asking me how to turn the heater on in her room, which is part of the central heating. I eneded up having her a little plug in blow heater I bought for the room. Again I am weary that it is expensive to run. Are there any other hosts that have this issue with heating for guests? I have found that it is a geographical thing. Guests ft9m certain parts of the world tend to complain about the cold. While I certainly wouldn’t wany my guests to be cold, i’m also mindful of the cost of heating. I appreciate all responses. Kat!
Honestly, I would never travel to the UK in the winter because of all the UK host posts I have read, that seem to have the attitude that everyone should walk around in heavy sweaters, pile on layers of blankets and be okay with the heat either being turned off completely overnight or turned down to what feels to me like barely above freezing.
It isn’t so much that people from other countries unreasonably complain about the cold, as that those in the UK have an unreasonable idea about acceptable indoor temperatures in the winter, IMHO. 
If you don’t want guests to use the space heaters, don’t provide them, and be clear in your listing info as to what temperatures you keep the house at, whether you turn the heat off overnight, etc.
Otherwise up your nightly rate to cover the increased cost of heating. Or charge extra for use of the space heaters. When utility costs go up, hosts obviously can’t afford to provide the same level of amenities without raising their prices. I have raised my prices by a few bucks a night each year to cover increasing costs of virtually everything.
I’m with muddy about not providing the space heaters and being up front about the temperature you keep the house at. You might consider adding an optional $30 charge for the space heater. (or however much it costs to run it) some wording like “here in the UK electricity is expensive so we keep the house at x°. An optional space heater can be provided in your room for $30 to cover the cost of the electricity.”
Electricity in the UK is more expensive and to keep it in US$ as most people on here are from the US maybe 30c an hour. So no way would a 1500 watt say heater burn through $38 in a night. Maybe one tenth of that. And that would be pushing it.
Having a pre paid meter seems an issue when on ABB, more expensive but if you are going that way make sure it is adequately funded.
Hi, yes living in the UK is super hard on fuel expenses- which other hosts in diverse parts of the world may not be experiencing the same way. Muddy - its not because people WANT to turn off the heating at night or pile on the jumpers- Its simply the heating costs are so crippling/ crazy its hard to know how to survive the UK cost of living crisis we are in unless we do so. Many of our houses- like mine- are super old, really badly insulated- and very awkward/ expensive to rectify. I agree maybe you have to be up front at what temperature you keep the house at night- but be prepared that you may then get fewer bookings! A simple, cheaper option that I am getting into place for future -buy electric blankets for the beds- pence to run - much cheaper than a plug in rad- and advertise that- offer 15 tog duvets rather than standard 13.5 (and provide beautiful fake fur throws to go on top if required.) Its reasonable people don’t want to be cold at night and keeping the air room temperature at a sensible degree is needed but making beds toasty warm will definitely help. Some people say they actually get too hot with 15 tog and I need to change to lower tog duvets. (And if you are in a property that still has insulation issues raise the prices as needed for winter and longterm see how much it might cost to rectify the problem. )
Me too, and over the last few months we’ve done a bit of hand-wringing about raising our prices to cover the increased costs of fuel but yesterday I thought this is silly… I want all our guests to be warm, snug and comfortable and I don’t want to feel anxious or resentful about how long to have the CH on for or how many logs our guests are burning, it’s just not how I want to be and any restrictions would feel petty and inhospitable.
I think I read on this forum that if one doubles the nightly charge and, say, halves the occupancy as a consequence, the income earnt actually works out more.
And so, although I didn’t double, I put our prices up yesterday from £86 a night to £122 and funnily enough got a four day booking an hour later… for the middle of summer!
Anyway, I’m going to stick with our new pricing and see how occupancy and income are affected and in the meantime know that anyone staying with us will be warm and comfortable without any accompanying usage resentment issues on my part.
I do understand that, but I have heard UK folks and hosts talking about turning the heat off overnight forever, not just lately with rapidly rising fuel costs. And to me, if you want to save money in your home and turn the heat off or way down that’s fine, if it only affects you and your family, but there’s a certain level of comfort one has to provide to guests if one chooses to be in the hospitality business.
Like I keep my propane water heater turned off when I don’t have guests, just turning it on 15 minutes before I want to shower. But if I have guests, I keep it on because I never know when they are going to want to shower.
If a guest is wasting resources, leaving a space heater or AC on all day when they aren’t even home, or wanting it warm enough to walk about in a tank top and shorts in the middle of winter, that’s a different story, but a guest wanting a comfortable temperature when they are home doesn’t seem unreasonable.
It isn’t a matter of not being warm enough in bed, snug under the covers, it’s a matter of having to get up during the night to pee, which many people do, and getting out of bed in the morning in a cold room.
I once read a guest post complaining about how cold it was in her rental. She was in Italy, I recall, not the UK, but she said it was so chilly in the apartment that she had to wrap up in a blanket and wear gloves to sit and work at her laptop. (And it’s not easy to type with gloves on).
Definitely the best way. I honestly can’t think of any other type of business that doesn’t put their prices up when their costs go up.
And it’s the same for everyone. If a restaurant has, for example, to pay more for salmon, then the price of salmon dishes on the menu will go up. That will apply to all restaurants in that area.
Airbnb started in 2008 (I think) and I’m pretty sure that none of the hosts who started with them in that year are still charging the same sixteen years later.
Yes, yes, yes.
I agree with you here. We’re in a cold climate (midwest US) and while I have enough breaks between guests that I can keep the heat down, at home we absolutely use electric blankets (so nice!) and very nice fur throws (Restoration Hardware) to keep warm and it’s really made a difference. I’d state in the listing that b/c of heating costs, at night the heat is turned down to X temperature, but we have electric blankets and fur throws for guest comfort and see where that gets you.
No, but I watched a neighbor of ours from the time I started in 2015 and his prices were the same the whole time. He finally raised them for 2024.
And guests have to have been living under a rock if they aren’t aware that the price of pretty much everything everywhere has gone up.
I wonder if people realize that turning the heat off or way down overnight doesn’t really save all that much energy. Because when you turn it back on, it then has to be on for a longer time to reach a comfortable temperature again than if it just maintained a reasonably comfortable temp. ongoingly. And keeping doors to laundry rooms, pantries, and other only occasionally used spaces can keep the heating bill down, too.
The biggest energy draws are small appliances which heat up quickly- hair dryers, irons, toasters, toaster ovens, electric kettles, etc.
Space heaters, depending on the type, often do draw a lot of energy, but if a guest room requires a space heater, I would suggest an infrared heater. They are very efficient, don’t use a lot of electricity, and heat up a space very quickly. They heat the objects and people in a room rather than the air, which then radiate that warmth. Many of them have remotes. So when I stayed at my friend’s place who had one, I turned the heat down in my room when I went to bed, and in the morning, when I woke up, I just turned it up with the remote that was on the bedside table. Within 5 minutes, the room was warm again and I could get out from under the covers and get dressed without shivering.
Also, the outside of an infrared heater doesn’t get hot, so they aren’t a fire hazard.
If I ever move back to a cold climate, I would definitely use those.
Will explore the infra red heaters! Thanks. Just a note that uk Government advises this: "You can easily save energy in the winter by setting the thermostat to around 68°F to 70°F while you’re awake and setting it lower while you’re asleep or away from home. You can save as much as 10% a year on heating simply by turning your thermostat back 7-10 degrees for 8 hours a day from its normal setting. "
Energy costs here in Amsterdam are crazy, at least in the big old canal houses like ours. Negligible insulation and no secondary glazing permitted as the buildings are historic monuments.
Demand is much higher thru the summer and we were facing having to discount just when our costs (heating primarily) were highest.
So we decided to close down for November thru March (aside from weekends in December) and pretty much double our rates for the rest of the year to compensate. And hike the December rates.
That seems to have worked out well and now we just head away somewhere warm for the winter 
Temperatures are something that we’ve discussed a lot here. But I suspect that much depends on where your guests are from and what temperatures they are accustomed to.
Now that I’ve lived in South Florida for many years, the thought of indoor temperatures as low as 75° makes me get out the socks and cardy. I’ve known situations when guests from cold places have been sunbathing when the temperatures are in the low seventies when I’m bundled in woolies.
Heating is rarely a problem here, but AC can be. If hosts aren’t charging accurately, and if guests have their own thermostat and can determine the temperatures themselves, then people from cold climates can lower profits considerably.
Yes, an indoor temperature of 68F during the day would not be what I consider comfortable. I do live in tropical Mexico now (which does get chilly at night in Jan/Feb.) but I have always hated the cold. People’s comfort zone varies a lot and isn’t just related to what they are used to. Thin people get cold easier, and some people just “run hot” and are wearing shorts and a tee shirt while I have on long sleeves, jeans and socks. And men tend to be fine with lower temps unless they are from a hot climate, in my experience.
It has been going down to 62 at night where I live, and at that temp, I have on a thick sweatshirt and wool socks, and am still chilly, so the UK recommendation to turn heat down to 58 at night would be really cold for me.
I loved living in Australia for over 10 years and have hated having to cope with the damp English cold. But I had to move back here because of family needs back in the UK. But if I had the option - a warm/ hot climate is definitely where I would rather be - and b and b!!
Yes, we have this issue in Palm Springs, California as well. Our natural gas prices have skyrocketed in the last 1-2 years. This eats into our pool heating fee, which already costs the guest $140/day. But it is not enough to cover the bill, unfortunately. Last winter’s bill was around $5,000/month. At some point we will have to raise the daily rate to $175/day.
Pools are going to become a luxury few people can afford. Not only because of the utility bill, but also because of all the water it takes to fill them, which the world can’t afford to waste as more and more areas suffer from drought.
I don’t really understand the concept of a heated pool, except at a rec center, where people go specifically to swim or take swimming lessons. I can certainly understand that a pool is great to have when the weather is hot out as a way to cool down. And if the weather is hot, the pool heat isn’t needed. What I don’t understand is why anyone, unless swimming laps is a part of their daily exercise program, finds a pool to be an attractive amenity when the weather isn’t hot. You get in a heated pool and then shiver when you get out into the cool or cold air?
You all will shiver when you read that I keep my house at 65, sometimes 66. When I had guests it was much higher and I provided a space heater.
My house now has a big sun room so when the sun’s out it is toasty warm, even now.