What do you all do about heating over Autumn/Winter?

[Alex10983]

This is my first year with Airbnb hosting and it's been great so far.

We're at the time of year when the heating has to go on and I wondered what all of you do in terms of programming.  I'm never sure the best way to programme it because everybody will use their accomodations differently, in that some may stay in all day and others may only be there early morning and evenings.

With this in mind I'm never sure how best to pre programme the heating. I usually have it on for a couple of hours in the morning and then again from early evening until bedtime. Here in the UK we never really have it on overnight.

So I just wondered what you all do, I wouldn't want to give free reign as I've had people leave heating on mistakenly 24/7.

Thanks 🙂

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Alex10983 we have locked the thermostats in the flats and have the heating on for a few hours in the morning and quite a few hours in the evening. It is expensive but as our property is very large and old we don't want a reputation for being cold and draughty. Finally we tell the guests to contact us if they want more or less heating and we adjust it remotely.

[Alex10983]

Thanks for replying and yes this is similar to what I'm doing. What temp do you set out of interest? Mine is usually 22.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Alex10983 we usually set at 21.5 and set the system hysteresis to 0.5 degrees so that the temperature doesn't go below 21. Older people often need it hotter and we have gone to 23 degrees where necessary.

[Elaine701]

@Alex10983 @Mike-And-Jane0 

We do precisely the same.

Some might argue that guests won't like not being able to control the heating, but so far there's been no complaints. 

The real issue isn't simply to limit how warm they can have it. I'm perfectly ok if they need 24°. As long as it's sensibly administered. It's expensive. 

The problem we've had in the past is when some guests feel a bit chilly, they'll turn the thermostat up to 30°, then forget about it and leave. When they return, it's much too hot, so they open the windows and forget to turn the thermostat down. Meanwhile, I'm spending most of what they paid to stay there in heating the countryside. And there's nothing you can do about it. 

It's better to have control solely in your own hands. And if done sensibly, guests, will be perfectly ok with it 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Elaine701 I couldn't agree more. The final straw for us was a guest who set the thermostat at 30 and switched the heating to 24 hrs a day before going out.

I suspect part of our problem is that our system is designed to be used over the internet so the wall mounted controls are not particularly intuitive.

[Alex10983]

Thanks for replying and I couldn't agree more. I have electric rads which if you aren't familiar with aren't the easiest to get your head around so rather than people fiddle I do say that I can come and change the heating if not sufficient.

I had a couple of guests once who left the heating on 24/7 even though they left every morning first thing and didn't come back till late at night, it was unnecessary. I don't think they did it intentionally but now I lock the controls. I guess most people who go away go out during the day and return late afternoon/early evening.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Alex10983 @Mike-And-Jane0 

Thanks for bringing up this issue, it has generated a lot of information here in the past, and is even more relevant now. Brrrrr~!

Glad this is working for you. We leave the temperature controls to our guests to deal with, as their comfort is paramount. It is much more costly for us to host in colder times, as we pay for trucked in fuel, for heat, hot water, and generator for electricity...but if we are to host at all in winter, this is the way it works. Winter is a quiet, contemplative time of year, and many guests find it as excellent as we do, to be here. 

[Kyle645]

Hi Alex....Our home's are very far north 46 and 47 degrees latitude and we have what most would call "severe" winters. 

As such, we prepare our guests that we keep our old home cool. They should come prepared with slippers and sweaters. We put this in the description and in our scheduled messages. 

If that does not work for them, then it is not the best place for them to stay.  It seems to work fine. We are always full with over 1000 stays and 4 years of continuous Superhost status. 

our home is set at 68 from 6am -8-30am, 60 from 8:30- 4:30. and 63 from 4:30-6am.  

[Kyle645]

Oh...just saw you are in the UK....my Temps are in Fahrenheit 

[Ade4619]

Nice schedule.  We should create something similar for our listing.

[Yvette336]

Hi there @Alex10983 , 

I am new too, 3 months! I enclosed my heating system and have a lock on it. I have the timer set to come on 6 times so they’re more likely to be too hot than cold which is better. 

hope that helps. 
Yvette 

[Shannon809]

Hey @Alex10983 !

We may be the odd ones out or have had some luck in this area. Our home is in the mountains of Colorado so it does get chilly at night. Most of our stays are no more than a week so we tend to have a few days or a week out of each month where we can keep our heat on eco. We do have smart thermostats and monitor the temperature from afar. If we notice a guest has the heat cranked up even when they are out during the day we may send a short yet thoughtful note to try and lower it as they leave and increase it upon arriving back. Our bill hasn't been too crazy (fingers crossed). At first, we controlled what range guests could use but found that could run a fine line with one guest not appreciating that and rating us low because of it. So we honestly take it one booking at a time and monitor the temps from afar each day! We also plan and know that a few winter months will be higher than others so we plan in advance and can build a small amount of that into our nightly rate for those months. We booked an Airbnb in northern California last winter and at night the host had eco turned on. I woke up cold two nights and finally asked her if she wouldn't mind turning it off at night for us. I kept it at a thoughtful number but was so grateful she did that for us. it really made a difference in my comfort, our stay, and giving her a 5 star rating !

[Jen-And-Brian1]

Our guests have full control

over the thermostat. So they set whatever temperature works best for them. 

[Karen3799]

Hello,

Our guests have the ability to set the thermostats to their preferences and comfort. Since my thermostats are wirelessly enabled, in the event they forget to reset during checkout, I can do so to avoid astronomical heating bills.