electricity supplement

[Danny400]

Hi Guys

I was wondering if anyone else feels that it would be a good option to have the choice of adding an electricity supplement in the ''additional charges''  section rather than just increasing the prices. 

I am sure some of you have noticed that the electricity prices have shot up over 50% (uk and Europe) and it is affecting the viability of the holiday let market, with this in mind I would love to know if anyone has ideas on how to find a resolve that could be satisfactory to us hosts but also understandable for the guest.

thanks

Danny

[Masha1]

ABSOLUTELY!!  Brian Cheskey (sp?) if you're listening:  We need an optional electricity surcharge we can add, sort of like a cleaning fee, IF our electric costs exceed some fixed amount. 

Home owners know this; non-home owners (of which there are many in New York) tend not to know that electric costs have gone through the freaking roof.  The cost of electricity and natural gas have spiked about 30% in my New York county and it would be entirely possible for a careless guest to, say, the leave the air conditioning on 24/7 and incur a bill that would wipe out any profit I'd make from the rental of my house.

[Danny400]

Hi Guys

Thank you for responding to my post, it seems that there is concern out there about this and viable way to resolve it could help many of us.

Some kind of additional charge option with an explanation could be the most practical for most as smart system monitoring doesn't resolve the the financial implication for us hosts. If there was an optional box for us then we would have the ability to put it to zero when and hopefully there is a decrease in the cost of energy( if the host didnt then this could be detrimental to their volume of bookings) this way the guests would have a choice to book with the knowledge of this charge and how much it would be.

Personally I was thinking around 2.50€ per day due to the size of my property, it would need to be clear that it is a small contribution  and not full cover then hopefully people wont abuse it ( people that abuse it will more likely abuse the energy available if you add it or not).

Is there a way for this concern to be presented to air bnb as I am unsure if they specifically reply/note every conversation on here?

[Maria188]

I have just contacted Airbnb to ask if we can add an energy supplement without Airbnb adding their 20% commission ( split between host and guest fees). The answer is, no you can't. Airbnb stand to make a fortune if we put up our room rates/additional charges up to allow for the additional energy costs. In the UK, energy costs rise by 80% in October. Yes, you read that right - 80% and they are set to rise again in 2023. My business will not survive unless I charge more, but I think it is immoral for Airbnb to profit from this. Has anyone got any good ideas of how to get around this? thank you.

[Huma0]

@Maria188 

You are right. Airbnb should not be profiting on this. However, I have put my prices up a bit due to the increased cost of everything (not just utilities, but my cleaners raised their fees as they have to cope with the economic situation too, and even toilet paper is more expensive), but it's nowhere near enough to cover the increases.

Of course, putting up the nightly rate automatically means that Airbnb makes more commission, although most of this is paid for by the guest. 

An energy supplement that is not subject to commission would be fairer, but unfortunately, I can't see them doing it, so hosts are just going to have to get creative about how to manage the situation. I still have no idea what I'm going to do from October...

[Maria188]

@Huma0   An increased guest fee still affects us hosts, as it could out-price our accommodation. The combination of guest fee and host fee mean that airbnb already make around 20% of the total booking .  I really dont think it is right that they profit from the energy crisis too. I have just written to Brian Chesky at brian.chesky@airbnb.com. No idea if it is a genuine email - I found it on twitter. Perhaps if we all wrote.......?    I

[Maria188]

Ideally, I'd like to charge an energy supplement that would cover normal usage, then take a refundable cash deposit  on arrival that would cover any exceptional use. in 2021 I had a long term guest who set the thermostat at 25 deg and kept the windows open all the time. It cost me a fortune last winter, but I dread to think what the same behaviour would cost me this year if I was unlucky enough to have a similar guest.  Would love to hear others ideas on this matter.

[Huma0]

@Maria188 

Yes, it's scary to think what that type of behaviour could cost us going forward. It has been bad enough already, but from next autumn, it's going to be really severe...

[Debra300]

@Huma0,

The price electricity has increased about 35% on the island.  In July 2019, we were fully booked for Carnival and had a few more weekend stays.  Our power bill was $698 XCD.  Last month, we hosted a similar number if nights, and guests occupied the suites about the same duration as the previous Carnival, but the bill was $974 XCD.

We currently collect the refundable power deposit, and it provides an  incentive for some guests to responsibly manage the energy consumption.  There still are too many who set the AC temp really low, and then use the extra bed cover.  In an attempt to encourage more energy conservation, we are thinking about linking duplicate listings with reduced rates that don't offer AC.

[Huma0]

@Debra300 

Energy prices already started going up here at the end of last year, but in April, went up by 54%! The average price of electricity has risen from 28p per kWH to 52p, and that's before you take into account the increases in the daily standing charges. 

That is nothing though. From October, the price cap on energy will go up again by a staggering 80%. I've read that half of UK households are expected to experience fuel poverty once that happens.

Of course, this is a problem going on all over the world and it's been all over the news for months. And still, I have yet to host a single guest who is aware of the energy crisis. If I mention it in conversation, they stare at me with blank faces. Most of my guests are young people and I suspect the majority of them do not pay their own bills. Still, you would think at least some of them would read the news.

The other day, I asked my guests to be more conscious of their water usage as we are currently experiencing a drought (driest weather in London since 1976). It didn't make the slightest difference.

I'd be interested to hear how your idea about duplicate listings works out. Do you have a way of disabling the AC? How can you ensure that the guests who don't pay for it don't use it? I've also read a lot of hosts comments about guests who complain about no AC even when it isn't offered on the listing.

[Debra300]

@Huma0

We have keyed switches on the ACs' electrical cables.  Guests who chose to rent without air conditioning won't be given the key to the power switch.  Plus, the ACs are plugged into smart electrical outlets.  If we accidentally gave the key to a guest, the apps for the Cielo Breez thermostat and Lightwave socket alert our mobile phone when the AC is powered on/off.   The apps give us the ability to remotely turn of the air conditioner and disable the outlet.  The AC's thermostat may still be turned on, because it plugs into a different socket, but the AC unit cannot be turned on when the key is removed or the socket has been disabled.  

Water service is frequently interrupted on the island, and it's regulatory for homes with water service to have water storage tanks.  The water infrastructure is old, fragile and was not built for the demand from the large hotels/resorts.  Currently, we're going into the third week of disrupted water service, and primarily rely upon our water reserves.  Usually, the water company will turn on the water for a few hours overnight to allow tanks to be refilled.  But there have been times that tanks have run dry, because the pipes may be shut down before the water reaches some homes.  Our neighbors have had to pay for a water truck to bring water to fill their tanks.  Keep Cool and I are very conscious of our water usage, but even our tanks ran out in August 2020 right before we were returning to the guesthouse after being stuck off island for five months due to the border closure.  We had our 4 year-old god-daughter (Kimma) and her mother (Jenna) housesit since we were forced to be away for an extended period, but they had to leave a couple of weeks before we arrived, because there was no water.  The hotels and resorts are given priority, and guests are not informed of any shortages, because we had to quarantine for eights days at a hotel, and there was no mention of a water service problem, nor did the hotel ask us to conserve.  When we got home, our tanks were about 1/6 full, and we bathed with buckets of water and do our laundry at 2 a.m. when the water would be turned on.  Our small fruit trees and garden vegetables were all dried and shriveled due to the heat and lack of rain, because we had Jenna turn off the drip hoses.

[Huma0]

@Debra300 

It sounds like you have the system set up perfectly to restrict the air conditioning. I'm still concerned though about the guests who will constantly moan about it (seems to be a common thing), but I suppose if they have CHOSEN the cheaper option without it, they have no cause for complaint. Plus, if they then change their minds, you can put it on for them on the agreement that they pay the higher price. 

[Debra300]

@Huma0,

If the guests decide after booking or arriving that they want air conditioning they will have to pay via the Resolution Center for the remainder of their stay via the Resolution Center, because checking the key in and out like a library book will not be allowed/tolerated.   We will be sure to clearly state the parameters, such as they should think carefully about the time they request the key, because a day for us is from 2 p.m. to 2 p.m., and the fee isn't prorated hourly.

Guests who choose the non-AC listing shouldn't complain about not having the amenity, but I will ask them in the greeting message to acknowledge that there will not be any air conditioning, and remind that they will have the opportunity to obtain the service for a fee via the Resolution Center.  We've not yet decided the amount of discount or fee.

[Huma0]

@Debra300 

As for water usage, I feel like it's something that guests simply do not think about. Certainly, I have always notice that with the washing machine. People think nothing on putting on a long cycle for a teeny amount of laundry. 

Also, we have high water pressure in this house, which is nice, but most people have a habit of turning showers on full blast regardless of the pressure. They just do it automatically. This has on occasion led to flooding of bathrooms. It sounds ridiculous, but I had to resort to telling guests in the welcome tour that if the shower is filling up and about to overflow, maybe turn the water down a bit? You'd think that would be bleeding obvious, but apparently not to some.

I have a lovely deep bath tub. Apart from Americans and those from the North of England, very few guests actually use it. However, lately I've hosted many more Americans that usual and the bath has been used more in the past few weeks than it normally does in over a year. Personally, the last thing I want during a heatwave is a hot bath, but each to their own. However, we are in the middle of a drought! Do they care? Nope.

One of my current guests is literally the most wasteful with water of any I have seen. She will turn the tap on full blast every time (and it is very, very strong) and then just potter around the kitchen. I am not exaggerating when I say she uses at least five litres, but probably closer to 10, just to wash a coffee cup. When she is in the bathroom, even it it's just to wash her face or brush her teeth, it sounds like a water park in there. Asking her to reduce water consumption due to the drought has not made an iota of difference. She's also really wasteful with energy. She works in ocean conservation.

I had a housemate who was similarly wasteful with water and flooded the bathroom so badly that water was POURING through the ceiling below. He said he hadn't noticed. He worked for... wait for it... WaterAid, and in a senior position and frequently traveled to developing countries where people's lives were severely impacted/threatened by lack of access to clean water. If anyone should have known how precious water is, it was him. 

So, what hope is there of educating guests who have no interest in environmental issues? I believe that financial incentives are really the only thing that make a big impact. Here the water supplier has been installing more meters for homes to replace the flat fee. I am sure that will start to have an impact on behaviour, but only to the people who pay the bills!