Utility Bills Electricity Gas and Water

[Victoria576]

Hi there, I am in Western Australia and have reverse cycle airconditioning in my main room and the bedroom of the apartment I have next door. It is on the same meter as my house as I live next door. My bills have skyrocketed to over 300% because guests leave the aircon or heater on when they are out. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I manage this? By the time I do all the washing etc, I am basically not really making a lot of money. Would love opinions from anyone.

[Sandra126]

Maybe put the price up during winter and summer? I know I relish spring and autumn because the temps are more reasonable and I can clear a little more profit. Guests want to be comfortable, and they will use whatever means available to be so. Winter is VERY expensive for me, but I don't charge extra, it is what it is. Still making money.

[Wendy117]

I had the same issue and my aircon units were about 15 years old. First I replaced all the air-conditioners because todays models are so much more energy efficient.

I installed Fujitsu with remote control. As I live downstairs I can hear if they are home or out and I can turn them off from my tablet if they leave them on when they go out.   I can also adjust the temperature they are set at which is necessary as some guests will set to extreme hot or cold and leave it there. As they are new units it really takes not much more than 2 minutes to reach the required temperature so no need to ramp them up. They do not understand that setting the temperature more than 10 degrees above or below the outside temperature makes them work too hard.  I am in Sydney Australia where we have a temperate climate - never really cold and only occassionally super hot.  This has worked for me. My electricity bills are now quite acceptable.

[Victoria576]

Thanks Wendy. Mine are pretty new, I wonder if I can control them from my Mac. I will look into it. Scarborough in Western Australia certainly gets hot in summer, but not so much in winter and I notice guests turn it up to over 30 degrees. Perhaps they are thinking they are hotel air-cons where it is never an accurate temperature so you either go really high or really low. Really appreciate  your response.

[Wong51]

I invented a little device ,Perhaps I can help you on it  ,especially when guests leave the aircon on when they are out; If you are interested,  email me or leave a message😊

[Robbie54]

@Victoria576 personally, and as its next door, I'd pop in when guests are out for the day and check to see if it's left on and turn off if necessary. I have this same problem with guests leaving the heating on all day when they're out in mild weather, and because I use heating oil it costs me an arm and a leg. Luckily I have the timer in my house (thermostat in the lodge) so if I see guests have gone out I turn the heating off until a reasonable time later (to this day no guest has ever mentioned to me that the lodge is cold when they've returned). I've even on occasion entered the lodge to turn down the thermostat (I don't really have to "enter" as the thermostat is next to the front door), when I do the lodge feels like a greenhouse! It's all about guests being responsible. 

On a side note boilers are responsible for 60% of all carbon dioxide emmisions in a typical household (in the UK). If we all behaved responsibly the planet would be in a far better condition. 

[Jen5]

@Robbie54: I hope you're not entering a unit without permission or adjusting the thermostat without advance notice! 😯

@Victoria576  Some possible solutions:

1. Get a wifi thermostat. In your listing set a min/max temperature and advise them of what the cost per day is for each degree over/under they go. Give them guest access to the app so they can control the thermostat remotely.
2. Set a max electric usage per day and define it in your listing. Collect an electric deposit ahead of their stay then check the meter on departure and refund them the difference.

I live in Arizona, which has extremely hot summers. I've found that if you give people free run of the HVAC, they will blast the cold air all day with the doors open. But if they know they'll have to pay, they'll be much more conservative with their usage.

[Robbie54]

 @Jen5  How would a Wi-Fi thermostat help? It’s no different to a manually operated one, only the guest has control over the thermostat whether they’re there or not. Unless you’re advocating the host using the thermostat with the guests permission?