This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
Oh that is just silly!
I have plaster walls with horsehair and we don’t have any air conditioning! Let me assure you there was no air conditioning 100 years ago either. Last week my office was 97º, the dew point was the highest on record, and there is no apparent problems with my walls. Maybe since my plaster is 115 years old it is more sturdy?
Seriously, what is the science behind plaster and heat and bubbling?
Possible solutions: Go in the guest house and turn off the air. Put the a/c on a separate circuit with a external switch and turn off the AC when they are out so you don’t have to enter the guest house. Put in the motion detector, timers or key operated switches as described. As Sarah suggested see if you can take the remote out of the room and use it to turn off the unit. I’m not sure it will work from outside. Grit your teeth and realize that fall is just around the corner and as soon as these guests leave you can go in and make some changes.
It doesn’t happen in the main house where everything has been maintained well. It happens in our guest house that is smaller and has a lot of patch jobs from previous moisture damage. We had to completely patch a wall after last summer when someone installed the ac wrong and it leaked all over the walls. And since it’s small and above the garage, it really sucks in the heat and the moisture, easily getting 10-20 degrees hotter than outside. It really makes me appreciate my house. The same design elements that keep old houses cool before AC are not in my little carriage house apartment.
Ah, so the problem is not that the walls are plaster, but that the plaster has been compromised and is failing already. Now that makes more sense, since compromised plaster that has been patched, no longer has the vapor barrier and indeed has become porous. Once that happens, humidity and water can infiltrate the patching compounds and further denigrate the plaster from behind.
Anything over a garage is going to be a hotbox. You have that large empty un-air conditioned space below it just trapping all the heat and then the heat rises! Sorry to hear about your plaster issues, if the water got inside the walls from the leak then I can see how that would make a real mess.
@anon67190644 and @Artemis, yeah, ugh. At some point we’re going to totally redo the place. We’re going to start with the garage and make it a nice family game room for us and guests, and then we’re going to update the apartment in a few years and redo the walls and change the layout a bit and drywall.
Having single guys live up there long term over the years has really destroyed the place. Which is why I’m actually thankful the city said we can’t rent it out to long-term tenants. I make more money this way and have more control in what goes on up there as far as maintenance and care.
oh, so its outside?And I would have to pay for the unit and for an electrician to install…I think I will first start with telling people to turn the ac off when they leave and make it a point I mean it. I feel like saying; if you leave the ac on when you leave, that will be mentioned in your review.NOONE will ever want to host them.
A Nest or similar wifi enabled thermostat should solve your problem; it senses when people are away, and sets the room temp to what you tell it to set. Additionally, you can remotely change it with your smartphone.
I agree that full house ac should not be simply turned off since the combination of humidity and heat if built up over time will cause the unit to run continuously. Mine, when it is in the 90s out, still only runs intermittently on demand.
Hi @Sarah_Warren,
Oh, so your guy said to turn up the A/C?
I’m not aware of anything like this. We have plaster walls here in most places (the tiled walls are mostly in the guest room the bathroom, and the kitchen) and I’ve never seen any damage attributable to heat or humidity per se. And Bombay, India is both hot and humid. And we’re near the sea, too. On the other hand, we have extensive damage attributable to rain - the monsoons here are brutal. But that’s not what you’re talking about.
ADDENDUM: I should have read the rest of the thread first. Never mind, ignore above comments.
You can override the settings. There’s loads of different ones.
I only had AC in the lounge anyway.
I have had Yale electronic front door lock, Vera Lite Hub, z-wave outlets for over a year with no issues. Installed Ring Stick Up camera last month with no issues. Guests like the fact that they can arrive at night, key in THEIR phone number for door code and that turns on a light in the living room AND a light in their bedroom so they are not lost looking for light switches. If they have trouble with lock, I can talk back and forth to them from the camera; which by the way can be powered by $48 solar panel so not wiring or batteries to replace.
Do I spend more on electronic toys… yes. Do I now have the ability to check guests in while out living a normal life…YES! I NO LONGER “train” guess. I have LIMITED the issues that used to cause me to sit at home waiting for a guest to show up 4 hours late or the things that guests did to upset me.
Hosts should FOCUS on managing their Airbnb BUSINESS and not working IN their business.
Hi @Vegasjerry,
Wow, that all sounds very fancy. Good to know your electronics works reliably. That’s one of the biggest concerns. And are you in Vegas?
Also, do you use motion sensors for lighting? That’s something I’ve been thinking about.
No, it is inside.
When people are inside the house they need to use the key to turn on the AC.
When they leave they have to take out the key, so the AC turns off.
No need for an electrician, if you can connect to wires, you can also install this one.
For those of you with motion detector devices that can detect no movement:
Can you set it to just turn the A/C up a few degrees versus turning it off?
What if one person stays behind and is sleeping? Will the system detect the person breathing and know to stay on?
untrue. They are GUESTS AND PAYING CUSTOMERS.
Just because they are paying customers they don’t get to act rude and entitled in your home.
I dislike that they disrespect your home so much. Rummage around for the good crystal? Party on your back deck?
Who does that?
Since you are a relatively new host, you will soon find that this behavior is intolerable. Even at $300 a night.
You guys are definitely newbies. 
When you have been hosting for more than five years, get back to us.
THe “scene” you write controls what actions the components take like Off/ON. The Hub could be written to increase temp a few degrees after 10minutes, a few more degrees after an hour, etc. BUT this depends on does your hub have the ability to send instructions of this type to your A/C thermostate.
Thanks Vegas.
Anyone have an answer for the 2nd question:
Hi @cabinhost,
Doing a search for “can motion sensors detect when people are sleeping” gives some interesting results. I don’t know whether what Google shows you is the same as what it shows me, so here are a few top hits:
And here is some comedy: http://www.bunkerofdoom.com/airco/box/index.html
Overall, it doesn’t seem that motion sensors do a good job of detecting sleeping humans, who can often remain motionless for hours. However, sufficiently sensitive/sophisticated heat detectors can do so. Whether such detectors are available at a suitable consumer pricepoint is, of course, a separate matter.
As a general rule MOTION detectors sense MOTION and not proof of life.