Lies always help. Say the hot water ran out and another guest (who has conveniently since left) said they’d had a 20 minute shower and unfortunately the hot water system isn’t designed for long showers as you are trying to be eco friendly.
I have an app which lets me track energy usage by 30min intervals and I can see when the hot water system comes on during off peak around midnight. From it’s specs I can work out how much hot water they’ve used the day before and from that if they’ve stuck with the 3 minute rule (in Rules, on wall and 3 min hourglass timer stuck on shower door) for showers. I haven’t said anything yet or included it in the review but thinking about it.
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Had a group of Singaporeans stay for 3 nights. Third night I get a phone call at 10-30pm saying the hot water is broken. Get out of bed, drive around the corner, check the fuse box and the HWS. No Issues.
Knock on the door and asked when they had last had hot water. They inform me that they have 3 showers a day and last shower was at Midday and they had done several loads of washing in hot water.
I informed them that the hot water would heat up over night.
Response - you must fix it now.
I can’t fix it now - it will be hot in the morning.
We want hot showers now - you must fix it.
Could not make them understand that it was not broken - they had just used it all.
Of course got dinged on the review, my response was - you stayed in a home with a standard HWS, not a hotel with unlimited hot water!
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I met a Latin chap that took 5 a day. Very hot climate. But he loved to crawl under sheets all fresh and clean.
Or so he said!
Water is expensive here. And if trends continue, it’s going to get worse globally. All you really need is five minutes.
I use this water saving shower head in all my bathrooms. Nobody complains. They do need to be disassembled and cleaned about every 6 months.
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I’ve had these before (used to work for a company that recommended them in multi family properties). Highly recommend!
My 16yr old son has half hour showers. I feel like handing him a sock and sending him to his room.
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That’s appalling! We bought our apartment in Cape Town after the drought and Day Zero worries, but we stayed with our son during that time and you REALLY get to appreciate water-saving when it’s not just a distant eco-ideal but there’s a real possibility you may run out.
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As others say send a message stating the scarce water supply. A friendly reminder in a friendly tone. That’s okay to say!!
I was told to be mindful of the water when I stayed in a house in Kenya on time.
I was but one day the warm water turned icy cold as the power went out in a power-outage which is common there. They kindly turned on the generator so I could finish but told me to be quick which I was and no harm done.
A friendly message in a friendly tone.
In my 500+ reviews I never had a complaint.
I am not offering a spa or wellness retreat, my guests are not paying for 14l/min rainshowers.
Using eco-showerheads solved multiple problems at the same time for me:
- No more presure drop when all 15 showers run at the same time.
- Now my waterheater kan keep up with the usage, and no guests has to shower cold, or wait for the water to warm up again.
- Reduced water usage, reduced water and sewage bills
- Reduced hot water usage reduced the oil usage
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well yeah, but also the headaches associated with them. Your only chance is to install a shower that uses less water and actually put that in the description and let guests know upfront, so they won’t complain that the water pressure was low and they were left with shampoo on their heads.
With our outdated water infrastructure and with homeowners paying the water costs for the entire community, my bills can be $200-$250 a month. What would be an example of a friendly message to send? And when do you say that…in the listing or upon check-in? Ty.
I was perusing the site for ways of getting guests to limit water use. I LOVE this! On the hunt…
I’ll read the specs, but could you tell me if this valve is a universal fit?
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I am not sure if it is a universal fit; especially, if your shower plumbing is outside of North America (meaning: non-metric).
You will need to ask a hardware store salesperson.
But the product description says, it fits onto 1/2-inch metal pipes.
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I hate this thing. Unless you are presenting your Airbnb as a “rough it,” off the grid kind of place I wouldn’t use it. I used one at a summer camp where I worked; we all hated it. And I can’t imagine using it in the winter. Yes it it’s great for forced turning off the water while soaping up but that’s it. Great for a boot camp, terrible for guest comfort.
Good to have your perspective, KKC. I’m an environmental chick who is happiest at my off-grid, waterless cabin. Bathing is done in the lake or at the cabin with hauled in water heated over the wood stove. I need to be reminded about how the other 90% lives : ) …but i’m gettin’ this valve for my house!
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For your house it sounds like it would be perfect… I didn’t realize guests were hauling in water and heating it over a wood stove. As long as guests are looking for that kind of off grid experience they won’t complain. Just as this valve at summer camp wasn’t unexpected. But my 20 year old self still hated it.
No, haha! I have a duplex (with the high water costs) and I have my cabin up north that I retreat to when I can’t take the 1 million tourists that descend upon our population 25,000. I value your take on the valve for sure. I’ll get one for my side of the duplex and the airbnb side will sadly guzzle away …and up North I’ll keep bathing in Mother Nature : )
Oh, gosh. Okay. That makes sense. I couldn’t imagine anyone using that valve for a guest unless it was some sort of specialty or theme rental. Thanks for clearing that up.
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