There are also new thermostats (Nest is one of them) that are controlled by your smartphone. This is for a central a/c unit. It would solve the problem in one of two ways. It notices when you are not at home and adjusts the temperature accordingly, so you save that way. Or you could just adjust it with your smartphone when they leave. It would not work on a window unit though.
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I just give them my mobile number and assure them they can call 24 hours. If they have am issue and donât call itâs on them.
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How much does the AC cost for those few hours? $1.50 or $2.00? Not worth bad review.
It would be a good excercise to find this out exactly. I know our power bill is way higher than I imagined since starting in April. Often we have walked up the driveway to our private apartment (where the exterior of all 3 bedroom A/Câs are) and can hear all A/Câs going when the guests are out for the day. $$$'s flying out the window!. Iâve now added this to my rules:
âA/Câs work quickly and effectively if used correctly. (DONâT set extreme high or low temperatures and DO close all doors/windows of the bedroom). Owners may enter property to turn off A/C if found to be left on while guests are out.â
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It is a bit âcriminalâ to be so wasteful and thoughtless. I would add the ability to shut them off from your apartment, which would be easy to accomplish.
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Yes!
My hubbyâs already planning on some electrical wizz bang idea of having them auto shut off when they leave the house (something to do with the A/Cs being on a separate fuse) ⌠I leave that sort of trickyness to him! Heâs good at it, im not!
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Simple. Trip the power switch and then write them to tell them that there was a brief power outage in case they need to reset their clocks.
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Funny how every day of their stay a circuit broke. 
Good idea in the moment, but in the future, she must tell guests that she reserves the right to enter the apartment to turn it off if they have left it on. AC blasting all day while hosts pay is an outrage.
Diamond54, just got guest today, the only guest so far for September. Ladies my age, may be few years younger. Gave a nice welcome around, went over the rules, and just went outside, they are gone, both ACâs on and lights. For three gust had four bath towels, three hand towels and two washcloths (people steel consistently washcloths and towels, donât ask me why), anted two more bath towels and extra washcloths.
I had it on IB and she is new, just signed up in July.
So happy we had the discussion, followed few advises,
and will keep you updated as to how it goes.
Second set of guest in a row that loved my place when they arrived and than the same thing. 
Dutchboy, AC depending where you are can run $10-15.00 a day. If they want to give bad review, so can I. Just have an other set of guest that are doing the same.
Konacoconutz, followed your great advise and e-mailed guest true airbnb, confirming how they loved the place when they arrived and yet left for the evening with both ACâs on and lights on. I am fuming at this time. One AC will run $10.00 or more a day and the other $5.00 and I am charging for three person, two room sublet $75.00 IB, no reviews, demanding guest. This guest is the second sett and were booked before our discussion here. RRRRRRR
Wow, I was assuming the writer was in an area with average electric cost. If you pay $3000+ a month for air conditioning you should pass that cost on to the guests.
If these people are in the same home, then tell them you will need to enter if they donât follow the A/C rules. Can you confirm they clearly understand this before you accept the booking? That way it wonât be so awkward when you go over it again during the tour. It seems many guests like to think our rules are just suggestions, and they just kind of nod their heads in agreement and could care less. They have to be knocked over the head with the important ones.
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Dutchboy, thank you, but $20.00 a day will be a $600.00 a month not $3000.00 (not shore how you got $3000.00), and the said part is that I took time to show the place and explain house rules. Plus House Rules are posted clearly in the room.
But forgot to tell, first thing this guest asked is where I was from? Then asked for extra set of bath towels.
Lets see how they leave the place, if they are holes in the bedding, magic markers on bed spreads, holes in the shower curtain and who knows what else.
I thought I read you had multiple rooms. Sorry. Best wishes!
Cabinhost, as I mentioned to Dutchboy I took extra time to go over the House Rules even do they are posted in the room and with the confirmation they received.
I followed some advises from other host namely, have a devise where I can monitor and turn the AC off remotely and followed up with an e-mail true airbnb. They left lights on in every room and curtains puled to the side with personal stuff laying in plain view, exactly the opposite than what is in the House Rules.
I have been getting only lately this type of guest strangely, and oh I forgot first question this guest had for me was: Where I was from.
I got up thinking this morning. 
Conceptually speaking (I know my favorite way of thinking 
), House Rules fall under the defensive side of the ledger, meaning you are preventing someone from not doing something altogether, or to modify the guest behavior to lessen the âcostâ of guests not abusing a certain aspect of your rental. Offense is the price one charges, and it should be set with an eye toward covering extraordinary costs that mindless guests will inevitably saddle you with.
Since we all get guests all over the map, from different cultures, backgrounds, level of consideration, and education perhaps making your place to address the âleast common denominatorâ (the thoughtless, the careless, the mindless) is best, for then the least damage can be done by ~anyone~ and the less you have to worry about. Now the guests that are indeed gems, are a bonus, but not a requirement.
Example. Even though I drop people off and see them 3-7 days later, I have tried my best to make my place âidiot proofâ. Water and power are precious commodities in an island, it is off the grid. So by trial and error, I keep tweaking the island to prevent those things that were causing the biggest frustration and problems, based on the mentality that nothing has to be and that there is always another way.
- Bring enough food so I donât have to make repeated trips during their stay. Now I accompany them in their food shopping (right next to where we take of, a 20 minute drill for me).
- Water: the island now has a water-level meter that now the guests can ~see~ how much water they are using and how much is left. (I always provide 25 gallons per person per day.)
- Power (solar): only LED lighting are now used, any device that is a âpower pigâ (hair curler, stand-alone fans, crock pots, coffee makers replaced by French Press, etc) have been removed.
- Equipment: kayaks have replaced fancier complicated boats, which they surely will ruin in a jiffy. Fishing equipment and snorkeling gear, now they bring their own, it used to be they would constantly ruin, loose or take with them.
I could go on and on, and even though none of the above examples applies to 99% of you all, the concept perhaps may. Whatever you are renting, look at everything that proves a source of frustration, and address it by either lessening its impact or eliminating it altogether. There is always another way, and nothing has to be.
What does this have to do with getting bad reviews?
The less that goes wrong, the better the review. 
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I had to chuckle at this one. So guests really couldnât assess how much food to buy to last them so many meals?? Then they would contact you because they ran out?
Iâm in the same camp as you on this. People can post on how guests donât follow the rules or they can take charge of the situation. If you canât charge enough to cover the cost of AC running all day or hate waste (like me) then go in the room and turn it off. Instead of a rule that says turn it off when you go out, the rule should say âI will go in to turn off lights and AC.â Put flow restricters and timers and gauges or turn down the hot water heater.
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Exactly @cabinhost. Imagine.
Ezactly 2 @KKC. I have put limiters on everything, now they canât overdo things; end of hoping, begging and praying.
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