Not necessarily. If you have it connected to something like the Echo (or Google home) the guest can say something like “Alexa, turn on the AC” and it will turn back on. I have this setup and it works nicely. I have a small card near the Echo that lists a few commands, so they know how to turn it back on of needed. The smart outlets can also be set to a timer, or triggered with a robot (I’m not that smart home savvy yet so I don’t use them. But they can be used to, say, turn on a light when the door is unlocked, etc).
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Hi @KKC,
Thanks for the suggestions. There a quite a number of different approaches to this issue. One solution I’ve been suggested which sounds reasonable is to use a key switch or even a card switch, which both operates the main switch in the room as well as the door. So if the guest leaves, he has to take the key with him, which forces the electricity off. But one would need to exclude some receptacles to allow for charging, and of course this only works if you give the guests one key. But you may know about this already.
That sounds very high tech. But I’m not sure how much of this is available in India. And honestly, I like to keep things simple.
We have the same issues with technology in the Caribbean. Our internet and cable (!) TV lines are just thrown through trees on the way up the hill to our house, and our internet speed is very poor.
We still do it the old-fashioned way: we have staff at our place, and they turn off fans, A/C, lights, etc., when the guests aren’t there.