Setting up a rental space - is a separate thermostat required? Solutions?

[Christopher64]

Hi, I’m setting up a rental space in my home, it’s a bedroom with a separate exterior entrance. The room does not have it’s own thermostat. Central heating/cooling sets the room to whatever the rest of the house is. The climate here in the high season is hot and muggy, so air conditioning will probably be important. I’d like to have a something independent for guests so I don’t have to monitor the whole house all the time.

What do all of you hosts do to allow guests to be comfortable independent from the rest of the house? Set up a separate thermostat? Providing a small electric heater might be easy, but for cooling? Trying to head off any potential issues down the line.

Thanks for any guidance on this topic!

[Sarah977]

@Christopher64  There are small portable air conditioning units. But if guests are able to adjust AC, they could run up a huge electric bill- turning it up to frigid and leaving it on all day even if they're out. Seems to be an issue a lot of hosts have with AC and guests.

And for heating, my friend has some really nice-looking and really safe infrared heaters. They are in a wooden casing, about the size of a bedside table, really attractive. The outside doesn't get hot at all. They have a remote control and heat up a room really quickly. I asked if they sucked a lot of electricity and she said no- that she saw little difference in her electric bill when she started using them.

[Anonymous]

@Christopher64   I don't know where you live or how well-ventilated the room is, but I'm a big "fan" of this fan. and its compact cousin. Combined with blackout curtains and thermal film, it can keep a pretty large room comfortable on blistering hot days, and guests really love the Silent setting. A dehumidifier can also be useful if it stays muggy at night.

But I'm biased toward wasting less money and burning less fossil fuel whenever possible. Air conditioning shouldn't be necessary in a private home if it's built well, though many Americans find this notion shocking.

[Christopher64]

Thanks both for the comments. I'm in Nashville, it's incredibly hot and humid here. I'm even new here and I find it miserable. I keep the house mildly cooled at night, it's comfortable this way. At night it's bearable with maybe a fan and a dehumidifier. But during the day it is so hot and humid you will choke. 

Just trying to find a way keep guests comfortable independently without racking up huge energy bills.

[Sarah977]

@Christopher64  It certainly depends on one's ability to adjust to different climates. I see it as a subjective, rather than objective thing. It can't possibly be any more hot and humid where you are than where I live, but I've never had AC- like Andrew, I survive quite well with good fans and actually don't like living in AC. There are things you can do to mitigate the heat, like keep the curtains closed on the sunny side of the house during the day.

But there are lots of foreigners with homes here who couldn't conceive of living here in the summer without AC. In fact, at least half of them leave for cooler climes at the first hint of hot, humid weather.

However, summer is always low season here, so I don't have to worry about constant guests who'll find it too hot. But the few guests I do get during the summer months have found it perfectly comfortable in their room with the good ceiling fan.

[Helen3]

I would have a separate thermostat and a system that operates within limits so guests don't abuse it @Christopher64 

[Mark116]

@Christopher64  I don't think you need a separate system for guests, just as others have said, you might need a space heater or a fan or even one of those 'portable' A/C units.  We finally last year redid the heating system so there is a separate thermostat for the airbnb unit and so of course, we have seen guest put the heat up to 84F!!!!  So, really, you're better off if you control the heat/cool and tell guests to let you know if they need more/less. 

[Christopher64]

Ok thanks Mark. Heating will be less a problem because the market is very slow here in the off season, that is, fall and winter. Cooling and dehumidifying will be important. I will look at portable ac units.

[Debra300]

@Christopher64,

Our apartment in Atlanta is connected to our house.  Last Fall, while preparing the space to rent, we decided not to share a ventilation system with our guests.  We blocked off the vents, and installed ceiling fans, a mini-split AC/heat pump unit and thermal liners under the curtains in the apartment.  There are periods when we are not home, and we also don't want to run the central air/heat system just to manage the apartment's temperature. 

When I discovered that guests had turned up the heat to the mid-80s, and left it on after checking out, I decided to purchase a Cielo Breez Plus smart controller.  The features that I like the most are:

1. remotely turn on the unit prior to a guest's arrival, and turn it off after they checkout;
2. specify the minimum and maximum temperature range (right now it's 74-78F); 
3. the manual control unit can be hung on the wall, replacing the easy-to-lose remote control, and guests have the ability to locally control the temperature, fan speed, humidity, etc.

There have been no complaints from guests since we started using the smart controller, and our electricity bill has been stable.  Some guests prefer to use the ceiling fans, but they are the exception.