Charging for electricity

[Julie536]

Should we be charging for electricity?

also cost of cleaning / laundry and property management is so high in Spain I’m not happy renting the place out - please do your income / exp - I did mine for 2017 - 2020 - net profit €2000????....

[Emiel1]

@Julie536

The costs you make to manage the accommodation should be reflected in your cleaning fee, the renting price and some other costs you can add. If some costs are unpredictable or strongly depending in how much the guest is using the amenity  (like electrical heating), you can mention very clear in the listing what the extra charges will be and how it is measured.

[Jo712]

I am hosting a property in Norway, where 17.2% of all private cars are now electric or rechargeable hybrids. The percentage of electric vehicles is expected to explode during the next few years, and every house then becomes a fuel station. So, there is clearly a need for AirBnB to accommodate for this in one form or another. It will become very difficult to monitor and manage charging for electricity separately... I hope they read these comments.  

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Jo712  they don't, but now we have our "host board" so you can tell them to bring it up on their next meeting.

Good idea, it didn't cross my mind until you mentioned it. I expect it to be a global problem for hosts in the future. Electricity is expensive here too. You should make a separate post about it

[Esther641]

Hi!  Very interested in your situation with reference to electric car charging on your property as I have just caught a guest using my electricity to fill up his electric car. I was very disappointed to catch him and this is a massive problem for future hosting especially for hosts who cannot monitor their property and live elsewhere.  I am lucky enough to live in the same grounds as the property which I let and therefore caught him doing it.  There can be up to six cars parked in my property by guests and it makes me shudder to think what amount of electricity would be used for free if all the guests filled up their electric cars! I can only repeat that this is a massive loop-hole which must be addressed by Airnb.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Esther641 we have it written into our listing that guests may charge electric cars from an available 13 amp socket at their risk and ask that they pay for doing so. So far only 1 taker and we were paid.

What would you want Airbnb to do to close the loophole? 

[Esther641]

I want Airbnb to warn hosts about this situation as it is going to be a massive issue in the future of hosting.  Perhaps Airbnb can advise how to deal with this.

[Esther641]

so a reply from Airbnb suggests that in the rules and regs a host should   stipulate that they will not allow guests to charge their electric cars. Hopefully this will work and all guests will be honest enough to abide by the rules set by their hosts.

[Debra300]

@Julie536,

There are a few ways that you can offset the electricity costs.  During a trip to Martinique we found this on/off power switch along the air conditioner power line in our Airbnb.  The key to operate the switch was attached to the house keys on a lock.  This prevents the guests from "forgetting" to turn off the AC whenever they leave the space, because the key cannot be taken off to keep the AC on while the guest is away.  We thought it was a great idea, and installed switches in our guesthouse.  They costed about 60 euros each.

You can add an amount under the resort fee to cover the electricity costs.  When we re-open, we will offer our guests a discount if they choose not to use the AC (the key will be removed from the lock).

[Debra300]

@Julie536,

There are a few ways that you can offset the electricity costs.  During a trip to Martinique we found this on/off power switch along the air conditioner power line in our Airbnb.  The key to operate the switch was attached to the house keys on a lock.  This prevents the guests from "forgetting" to turn off the AC whenever they leave the space, because the key cannot be taken off to keep the AC on while the guest is away.  We thought it was a great idea, and installed switches in our guesthouse.  They costed about 60 euros each.

You can add an amount under the resort fee to cover the electricity costs.  When we re-open, we will offer our guests a discount if they choose not to use the AC (the key will be removed from the lock).

Keyed on/off power switch

[Kate1660]

Yes me too. My electricity bill for this winter completely swallowed my profits. I would like Airbnb to provide a section up in the listings to say how hosts intend charging for electricity eg electricity is included or charged seprrately. It could be a search feature and also something we add as a topline amenity section when we list to make it clear if we charge seperately. There could be a special deposit feature for those charging seperately. 

[Julie536]

Yes mine did too

[Julie536]

I now have sensor to stop air conditioner if no movement