Energy Saving Guide: Tips for you and your guests

[Quincy]

Hello everyone, 

I have seen many of you in the community talking about the increasing energy costs, something all of us are currently experiencing. 

Airbnb provides guides with tips on how to save energy. The tips have been collected from the Airbnb Host community and reviewed by Futouris (experts in sustainable tourism).

Click here to view the guide.

You can also find a downloadable guide on via the link above, or simply click here. You can give it to your guests to inform them how they can save energy during their stay, or simply display it on a cabinet. 

Which other tips would you share with the community, and what actions have you taken to save energy?

Quincy

[Quincy]

Hi,  @Clara116 @Elena487 @Kitty-and-Creek0 @Delphine348 @Felicity11 @Anna1403@Laurelle3 @Mauricio467@Katja202@Daniel1651

@Denise583

I thought this might interest you as you've participated in last year's Festival of Sustainability 🙂

Also, it would be great to hear your tips!

[Daniel10166]

1. Turning off the lights when leaving a room. 
2. Use LED lights. 
3. Switching to efficient appliances.
4. Unplug devices. 
5. Lessen water usage. 
6. Keep the thermostat at a lower temperature.
7. Use smart automated devices.
8. Use double glazing door

regards:

**[Link removed in line with - Community Center Guidelines]**

[Huma0]

@Quincy 

Good idea to have a guide for guests that we can include in house manuals etc. It's a shame it's not editable though, as some of the tips might not apply to every property. For example, this is very much written with entire listings in mind, rather than homestays...

Still, I do approve! It is good to have a guide from Airbnb, so that the guest realises this is a broader issue and not just something that particular host is being picky/stingy about. 

I'd be interested to hear about the results from hosts who try it out. My printer has decided not to work, so it might be a while before I can!

[Quincy]

Hi @Huma0, glad you like it! I kind of knew already it wouldn't be fully applicable to all properties, but I thought it was still worth sharing 🙂

Hopefully, we can get more guides in the future. Feel free to share your ideas here 👀

[Huma0]

@Quincy 

I do like that the message comes from Airbnb so that guests understand it is a widespread issue, not just particular to that listing.

The guide is very detailed and I get it, because there are a lot of small things you can do day to day to conserve energy and water. However, I fear that this is more than most guests are willing to digest. It's hard enough to get them to read the listing! I imagine most guests will not read this, let alone try to follow it.  

What might be good is some sort of summary or key points section near the top, so that guests who are not willing to read all that info, could at least get the gist of it.

[Stephanie2468]

@Quincy    I think this is a great start! I do think AirBNB should communicate these things with guests as well.

When guests are staying in their own homes, they do tend to be energy conscious. After all , they are paying the bills, right? 

The problem is when guests are on vacation, they suddenly adopt the mentality of, "It's not my electric bill, so what do I care?"  They crank the AC down to 60 F/15.5 C or crank the heat to 80 F/26.6 C and leave the windows and doors open.

While some homes with strong Wi-Fi can implement tools to shut down HVAC systems when they detect doors or windows open, many listings don't have Wi-Fi, or strong enough Wi-Fi to have a completely smart home.

If AirBNB is truly concerned about excess energy usage and the environment, they should have it prominently noted in the AirBNB Terms of Service (vs leaving it up to hosts to add language in their House Rules) Guests need to be mindful of the energy they consume and they can be billed if they abuse a host's electric bill or are wasteful (i.e. doors and/or windows open for extended periods with HVAC running). 

This makes it an AirBNB Community initiative vs making some hosts appear "stingy" when they ask guests to be mindful of energy consumption. 

[Quincy]

You've raised great points @Stephanie2468! I'll pass this on to the team! 🙂

[Ally1314]

I could not agree with you more @Stephanie2468 , I am a novice to hosting, started in November of 2022 but already feel the weight of responsibility being put on the host's shoulders. I believe the energy-saving guide will hugely help the community. However, it's not enough for the guest to sign off that part that they agree to the house rules prior to confirming the reservation. I support the idea 

Thanks, @Quincy 

[Ruth413]

@Quincy   A good start, but I do agree with the others that a guide for guests would be great too, maybe something sent along to them before or during booking.

I have noticed something of a trend lately, well my last 3 bookings.  They have checked out and when I go in and have a look round.  All 3 of these guests have left windows/doors wide open and the heaters on full !!!   We have been down to -6 at night time lately.   I do have in my departure instructions, please make sure all lights and heaters are turned off on departure.  The guests are obviously not reading these, or just ignoring them ?  Maybe yes, when on holiday they just don't think about those dreaded electricity bills. 

I am sure there was mention in the "Winter Release" of a change coming to our listings where we can add these things and guests have to agree to them at the time of booking ?  Is this still in the pipeline?

[Quincy]

Oh nooo, I'm sorry to hear that your guests did that @Ruth413... 

Let me check the mention in Winter Release with the team for you (just to be sure) 

Is there another guide you'd like to see @Ruth413? 

[Ruth413]

@Quincy   I don't think there is another guide I would like to see, as I am not decided whether putting one in the listings is a good idea or not, as a lot of guests don't even seem to read any details anyway.

Also I do feel that guests when they come away they don't want to be reminded about the cost of living while they are on holiday.  It is a difficult one to decide, personally I would be much happier for Airbnb to prompt the guests during booking, then to come across as a nagging host.

If I do decide to put one in, I will probably make my own guide as each listing is unique and has a different heating system etc.  

Interestingly I holiday every year in a great big, wind swept and draughty rambling house on the edge of a cliff which is totally out of this world.  It is privately rented out and there, we pay our electricity and fuel bills on top of the rent at the end of our stay. 

I know I have filled that house with family and friends, had the log fires burning, the central heating running and cooked masses of family dinners and I have never come away shocked at the extra bill at the end of the stay, it always seems quite reasonable.  It does mean though that I am more mindful of doors and windows being left open while the heating is on !

 I think I would like to see this as an option for hosts to introduce.  

[Sudsrung0]

@Ruth413 

Last week I had a guest I let them check out an hour and half later and I did ask them to do me a favour and turn the lights off and the A/C, guess what, they left the A/C running and that happens all to often, 

Yesterday a guest calls me and says he cant pull the plug on the bath to empty it so my husband went round nothing wrong just the guest being Dumb all you have to do is press it and it pops up, they couldn't do it, same again all the doors open and the A/C running, 

[Robin4]

@Ruth413 

Hi Ruth, you are right, guests are not big on reading house rules but, there is a way around this.

Maybe this is possibly not a good work-around to publish here because if the Airbnb development team get wind of it they will in all probability take steps to shut it down as it does form host to guest contact outside the platform.....which Airbnb go out of their way to prevent!

As you know when a guest reservation is confirmed, in the booking details the guests phone number is supplied. I take note of every guests phone number because I find direct contact with the guest for arrival information far more reliable than working through the ABB message stream, which the guest might not have access to while they are traveling.

I have a pre-prepared text which I send to the guest's personal phone number on the morning of check-out as per this screenshot.......

Because you have alerted them in a way they cannot ignore, as they are preparing to leave they invariably comply.....they shut the windows and turn off the power.

Give it a try Ruth, I am sure it will work as well for you as it works for me!

Cheers.........Rob

@Bob40  @Lorna170 

[Lorna170]

@Quincy  Tips for hosts are great, but they are meaningful only to hosts.  Guests have an entirely different perspective on utility use -- "The host is wealthy enough to have a rental property; why should I worry about their utility costs -- I am here to vacation and I will use whatever I like".

There is also the misconception that the rental property is "owned" by AirBnB and that this huge company can absorb utility costs -- after all, the guest pays a fee to AirBnB on top of the host fee, so why doesn't the AirBnB fee cover utlities?

It would be wonderful if AirBnB would think about how to educate guests about what an AirBnB is -- an accommodation offered by an individual host who bears the costs -- not a faceless corporate entity with deep pockets.