rising energy prices

[Alina21]

I have a cottage in the rural France with electric radiators. I have a smart meter which allows me to monitor the usage.  I made investments into more energy efficient  equipment (new fridge) and replace bulbs with LED. However, if guests surpass the 'normal' usage of electricity, the bill will rocket. Any advise on how to reclaim the incremental costs? Thank you

[Kate867]

@Alina21   You are not alone in that at all, and the subject of soaring energy costs has got many hosts worrying about to deal with them.  Obviously, many hosts are switching to led bulbs and more energy efficient appliances as and when they need replacing.  Some hosts are ‘remotely’ controlling thermostats and setting a maximum that guests can increase the heat to.  Personally, I just ask our guests to be ‘mindful’ of current energy prices and their carbon footprint… and generally speaking most guests have been pretty good about this.  I don’t think the majority of guests are guilty of being ‘energy bandits’, just that you do get some who are just thoughtless so I don’t see any harm in some gentle reminders.  As an absolute last resort, you could, based on previous meter readings, work out the average unit use and apply a ‘fair usage’ policy/rule.  With any excessive use being charged for at your providers rate through the resolution centre.  This will require photographs of your meter to be taken before and after every stay.

[Alina21]

Hi Kate, thank you for the comments and advise. Since then I installed the energy app and requested tracking on daily/hourly spending. This added much transparency into the usage of energy. I will keep an eye at the statistics and adjust prices as required. 

[Amanda660]

@Alina21 I normally drop our rates from around November to March/April but this year I didn’t discount them at all, in fact I increased them a little.

I ordered oil today to run our central heating at the Airbnb and this fill was £500 more than the last.   The only saving grace is that I’ve been busy in the off-season and the increase in costs has been offset somewhat by my higher rates.  Our house is really well insulated and doesn’t need heat from May - September but winter is a different story. 

Last week I put a cute little blackboard in the front hallway welcoming guests and I ask them to refrain from opening windows when the heating is on, likewise I ask them if it gets too warm just to turn the radiators down.

Your options seem to be:

Meter

Take it on the chin but encourage folks not to be wasteful 

Increase rates

Include a set amount, either in value or Kilowatts  and charge over and above that. 

What’s your gut telling you?

[Alina21]

Hi Amanda, Thank you for sharing your story. As mentioned in my previous comment, I now have an app with daily and hourly tracking of energy spend. Hopefully, good data will help to make right decisions. I hope that global energy crisis will influence mindset and attitude of guests, particularly, when they are hosts themselves. 

My gut is telling me that I will ask people to be reasonable 😉 and keep an eye on them ;-)))

[Zsolt32]

Ciao,

I think lighting cannot be a big problem with LED lights, but heating-cooling can be really an issue; I experience that some guests are setting the cooling for 18C, while it is 36C outside. This is utterly stupid, unhealthy, and wasting energy. There was a guest who was cooling for 18C whole day, but started heating at night, than continiues cooling from the morning again, when he probably left the apartment. This is crazy practice, and we cant tolerate this while having energy crisys and global warming.

I believe AirBNB should set and announce acceptable range for internal temperature, and guest out of this range should be charged with additional energy fees. 

Me personally I make 21C in the winter in my home, and in the simmer I cool for 26C. But we are hosts and I understand that we should provide comfortable environment for everyone. However, there must be limits. I would propose cooling not lower than 22C, and heating not higher than 25C.

What do U think?