How do you deal with a guest who overuses the heating?

[Scotia0]

I have a guest staying who is demanding that the heating is on full blast 24/7 to the point where I am uncomfortably hot and going outside to cool down !

She has also asked for a plug in heater , which I have advised I don't have !

I know it's winter but how do I deal with this ? 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Scotia0

this is very interesting topic and I was also wondering how to prevent misuse of AC and heating. To me it is not normal to cool the house on 21 C / 70 F all day and night  when outside is 30 C / 85 F in shade. Or to heat it up on 25 C / 77 F during winter. I don't belive they do it at home where they pay the bills.

Unfortunatelly all those hi tech solutions for wifi controled temperature or preset thermostats etc... are so expensive that I am not sure is it worth it and when would those stuff payed off. Specially if someone has separate AC and heating systems and more than 1 unit. Not to meniton bad reviews from guests who prefer different temperature than it is set.

[Andrea9]

@Scotia0

This several months old thread passed by again in community, and I was wondering how everything ended with the guest??

(I only now checked your listing and at 22 eu per night and 6eu cleaning, she was really trying to get her money's worth back in heating!!

Hopefully she didn't stay on for too long, seeing that you have no max. days set for booking!

Knowing how this was resolved or how Airbnb handled such an instance also helps all hosts here on the forum who chip in and give their time to assist when they can.

Thanks!

[Scotia0]

@Andrea0apologies for the late response! I have had plenty of other guests stay since who have not mentioned the heating / temperature 🤒 

I basically said to that guest that the heating would not be on over night full stop and if that didn’t work she was welcome to take a refund and stay somewhere else. 

[Cormac0]

@Scotia

I think the recommended temperature for comfortable living is 20c nothing more and nothing less!

I’m always surprised at people who walk around my apartments dressed for the beach, with the thermometer hitting 28c rather than dressing appropriately and turning the heat down, a 1 degree drop in temperature settings can have significant effect on one's bills.

I know it’s not PC but you could tell her to put on an extra sweater and some warm cloths. Layering is the best, and say the house isn't cold but she is, fix the problem at source.

On a practical note, I record the temperature before my guests arrive and on their departure.

Regards

Cormac

The Explorer’s Club Krakow III

The Explorer’s Club Krakow VIII

[Caroline205]

Im having the same problem with a guest. The heat is on 70° and she is complaining that it's cold. She has been very rude about it and changing the temperature. This is bothering me a lot.

[Jeanne224]

I'm also having this same problem, @Caroline205, @Scotia0, @Branka-and-Silvia0! One of my current guests keeps raising the central heating thermostat to 86°F (30°C) and the other complains it's too cold when I keep the apartment between 70°F and 72°F (21°C - 22°C) at all times. Actually, the guest who raises the thermostat to 86°F (30°C) does this when she knows I'm asleep and I wake up in the middle of the night because it's way too hot! I asked her not to do this in her native language, but she's ignored my requests completely. Ugh. 😞 

Scientifically, the recommended temperature for quality sleep is supposed to be between 60°F and 67°F (since we are NOT supposed to be sweating during our sleep!) or 15°C - 19.5°C. I feel like I might have to post this info on the thermostat so my guests can't keep adjusting it willy-nilly and raise it to insane temperatures. 

[Caroline205]

Same here!! The person does that when im asleep. Tonight i went to sleep at 3am because of that i noticed that he changed the temperature i changed it back then i caught her changing it again. This is just rude!! She lives in hawaii and her body didnt adjust to nyc weather yet but she complains that she has to sleep with clothes at night. Well it's cold outside!! People want to put the heat high so they can dress summer clpthes at home

[Huma0 · Accepted solution]

I often have issues with this because I have a big, old house that is expensive to heat. It's not just the costs though. From an environmental perspective, I don't want to waste copious amounts of energy. To me, it is normal to wear warm clothing/extra layers in the Winter rather than to keep pumping up the thermosat and it's not normal to have the heating on all night unless it's super cold. I agree with  @Jeanne224, it is not healthy. Medical reports show that in the long-term it can cause respitory and heart problems.

You can provide extra blankets etc, but some guests will not be happy unless the heating is on 24/7. Sometimes you have to put your foot down, but be prepared to have put out guests who leave less than glowing reviews. Even though I specifically changed the timer so the heating was on before he got up in the morning and again before he got home in the evening, one guest claimed that I made him ill (he got a cold AFTER returning home) because the heating was not on overnight.

The most unreasonable guest I had in this regard was staying in June. So, it wasn't cold but this guest decided to go for a run in the pouring rain. When he got back, rather than take a hot shower and put on dry clothes, he immediately asked me to turn on the heating. I explained that we don't normally have the heating on in the middle of Summer (most people have their windows open) and that it wasn't cold. He barked back at me while stomping up the stairs, "Well, this is NOT warm where I come from," (he was from Miami) and, "If I was you, I would put the heating on," in a rather threatening tone.

Well, what to do? I gave him an electric space heater. It's not ideal as they chow so much electricity, but at least it was better than heating my four storey house and causing discomfort to my other guests. He seemed happy with that, but spent the rest of his stay walking around in shorts and a vest top. Some people are just unreasonable.

[Rosemarie9]

I just LOVE those guests that arrive with a cold from sightseeing in inadequate clothing! What do they think, that it never rains in Ireland? They are always the ones that complain, and like you, I feel like telling them to have a nice hot shower first. That guy from Miami sounds like a lovely person, it is a shame I am not closer to you, I would have loved to have given him a piece of my mind, and frankly I would have asked him to leave. I hope you are having a better run of guests, no one deserves to be threatened in their own home. I am from sunny Sydney originally, but I hate being overheated, I crank it up for the guests though, and thank God I don't have children or I would be crying over the state of global warming and their future. Then again, there are plenty of selfish people who don't consider the damage we are doing to the planet, and lots don't believe in global warming at all.

[Huma0]

@Rosemarie0

I totally agree with you. I used to work for an organisation called the Energy Saving Trust, so this is a subject close to my heart! Yes, it's true that some people have their heads stuck in the sand and refuse to believe that climate change is happening, even though the evidence is all around us. Worse though is that many of the people who think they are 'environmentaly friendly' are not at all, at least not if it causes the slightest inconvenience like them having to put on a jumper in the Winter.

RE the guest from Miami, yes he was an interesting case, talking to me so rudely but then giving me a big hug when he left. He never left a review.

The other guy who got 'sick' was more annoying though. When he left, he told me everything was perfect and that he would leave me a glowing review, but then he left me 4 stars and said that I had made him sick because the house was too cold. He was not sick while he was here and I had two other guests staying and neither they nor I got sick. He was here for work, so if he did catch a cold while in London, it is more likely he caught it travelling back and forth on public transport or at the conference he was attending or maybe on the plane home.

It is common knowledge that colds and flus are viruses and are spread via mucus, i.e. touching something people with them have touched. Public transport and office/work environments are the most common places. When I worked in an office Monday to Friday and took the bus or tube every day, I had colds all the time, as did my colleagues. Now that I mostly work from home, in my supposedly freezing house, I very, very rarely get sick. Funny that. None of my over 400 guests have come down with a cold while they were staying here, although some have arrived already having one. 

[Sarah977]

@Huma0 It's certainly true that colds and flus are spread from contact with viruses and bacteria, but, like all diseases, one's resistence to being exposed to those germs depends on the health of their immune system. When someone isn't used to being cold when in the house, and their body is struggling to keep warm, the body's energy is going into that and doesn't fend off illness as well, the same if they aren't getting enough sleep and are fatigued, or are stressed out about something, or haven't been eating properly. All those things make it easier to get sick. That's probably where the myth of being cold giving you a cold came from.

And while I also hate wasted resources, and try to conserve energy as much as possible, to me, living in a cold house would be like being expected to be okay with having freezing cold showers. I'm glad i've read all these posts, because I now know never to plan a vacation to Britain in the winter. I would be miserable in everyone's frigid house, which they seem to think is perfectly normal 🙂

[Huma0]

Lol @Sarah977. If you come to stay with me, I will do my best to make sure your room is balmy, but yes, you should probably come in the Summer!

I actually feel the cold very much. I think it is genetic. I come from a hot climate, so my body is programmed for that. I can handle heat much more than cold. I spent six months travelling around Mexico and Guatemala, got brown as a nut, and loved every moment of heat and sunshine.

You are completely right of course that it depends on what you are used to. However, Mr. Sick was from Germany, not a hot climate. It is as cold, if not colder there. He was getting up early for work so I adjusted the timer for the heating to come on well before he got up and also to come on before he got home from work. The only thing was that it was not on overnight, which is very uncommon in the UK as far as I'm aware. There is plenty of documentation to show that sleeping with central heating on is BAD for you. Also, most guests from other Western European countries have told me that it is normal to have it off there too.

I think the real difference was that this guy lived in a small, modern apartment, not a big, old house with high ceilings and big sash windows. It doesn't matter how much I have the heating on, it's never going to be as warm as that small, modern apartment. 

I get what you are saying about people's immune systems etc. but this guy left with a big smile saying everything was perfect, not that he was freezing cold and feeling unwell. It was after he got home and came down with a cold that he decided it was all my fault.

[Beth321]

Our issue here in south TX is the heat and humidity and the exorbitant costs of electricity when the A/C is running 24/7.  We caught a couple guests turning the thermostat to 50(!) degrees F!!!  I knew something was wrong when I had to go into the unit to grab something out of the laundry room and it was FRIGID in there.  I checked the thermostat and was mortified.  We had another guest with the A/C on and the patio door open.  I had a talk with him to either turn the A/C if he wanted the patio door open or to keep it closed.  And yes - we got a bad review from them in retaliation because they got caught being wasteful and disrespectful.  

Since it's a separate unit / separate A/C - we have a locked box over the thermostat and now control the thermostat digitally via app/website online.  It was a $100 upgrade and worth every penny.  Now I don't lie in bed hearing that A/C chug all night when it's 60 degrees outside and perfectly fine to open a window!  If people want it colder we turn it down a degree but we've gotten a few complaints on that.  

[Sarah977]

I'm sure if I had AC guest would be cranking it up in the hot humid season. But I don't have AC- I have ceiling and stand-up fans and that is perfectly adequate for my own comfort, so it has to be adequate for my guests as well, and so far no one has ever complained.

[Bente3]

I have plenty of fans, one for each room, but then guests came with their own industrial air conditioner, I had to ask them to leave as I could simply not afford the running cost of these as well discounted accomodation.