Over the years, I think here in Phuket, Thailand, we have had almost every nationality stay with us. I have to say I find the Americans the worst; they need a place like a fridge. I always tell guests to close the doors and windows. The garden doesn’t need cooling down; they are tropical plants. The problem here is the humidity; it causes the condenser to freeze like a block of ice. It is annoying when they go out all day and leave it running.
I only have some apartments on Airbnb and they are 57 sq m but have 2 A/C units, It’s too much if the guest have two running the place gets covered in condensation and starts dripping I have to tell them to turn one off.
My other properties I only do direct bookings and the guest or tenant pay all the expenses.
Have you ever tried a dehumidifier? When you remove the humidity from the air, it will not only save your AC, it will actually make the place a lot cooler without having to turn the AC way down.
I use some dehumidifier beads (they are made from calcium chloride) in containers to absorb humidity in some containers and closets. When I first started using them, and the ambient temperature was super hot and humid, I was surprised that when I opened the jar to scoop some out, it felt like the inside of the container was air-conditioned. It was at least 10 degrees F cooler inside that jar than outside.
The same people who have the AC blasting AND have the floor heat on high at the same time.
Perfect solution! I just installed A/C with a new thermostat. I plan to remotely control the thermostat if I determine the setting is too low
We have a beach cottage in NC, and we notify guests that the coils will freeze if the AC is left running with doors and/or windows left open. The warning seems to work, as no one wants the AC to stop working in the summer heat and humidity.
I suggest you set limits you can live with instead and disclose it. I disclose in the house rules the thermostat is limited to a low of 68 for AC and a high of 73 for heat.
Very good suggestion!
Had a guest a couple years ago turn the heat up to 75F and then open the windows, left it that way their entire 2 night stay. I have a heat pump so of course the outdoor unit froze up.
After that I replaced the dumb thermostat for a smart thermostat, the Ecobee3 which I can set a min and max on, along with the window sensors that will shut the unit down. It also has sensors that can tell if a room is occupied and different modes can be set based on that, aka “away mode”.
It’s not a super cheap setup, but I like having those features available, just gives me more peace of mind. Also there are a subset of guests that can’t figure out how to use the thermostat so I just set it remotely for them.
It’s amazing how many people don’t understand how thermostats work, whether it’s for heating or cooling, oven temperature, etc.
They think if they turn the heat up high, it will get warmer faster, when of course all a thermostat does is shut off the unit when it reaches the set temp and turns it on again if the temp falls below that.
There should be a required course in high school that teaches this sort of practical life information.
Amazon calls them “associate” links, but I would imagine thats the same concept.
I wish AirBnB would add a review category for this something like “economical”.
Because for me as a host it would be nice to know if a guest consumes a lot of energy, puts the heater or airco on max all day, showers 3 times and leaves a lot of waste.
I know the wastefull hosts will say “just ad a few €$£” to the rates, but that is not the point.
I agree it isn’t the $ that’s really the issue- we need more awareness of these things and can’t afford to be cavalierly wasting resources anymore.
“Economical” sounds kinda weird and makes it sound like it’s all about the money, but maybe something like “Mindful of resource wastage”, with boxes to check like “separated recycling”, “turned down heat when not home”, etc.
Sustainability would be a better wording.
A lot of booking platforms already ask the host about their sustainability efforts, but guests are free to waste as much recourses as they want.