Is it possible to charge extra for AC usage?

[Bruna-and-Siana0]

We recently bought a window Air conditioning unit for the room we rent. We installed it 5 days ago, but all of our guests had it on the entire day and night, even when they are not in the room. We told them to be conscious and switch it of if they are not in the room. But they don't do it.

Originally, I thought it was a nice amenity to provide. However, I'm worried for the electricity cost now. I didn't expect the guests would use it all day when the temperature is 50-60F like it is now. I wouldn't mind if they use it when its 80-90F, but it's not that warm now! 

I was wondering, can you charge extra if they want AC? I feel if I add the cost to the nightly price, people might not book our place as other places will be cheaper. I can monitor usage with a smart plug. 

Do you have AC in your room/apartment? How do you manage it? I'll appreciate any thoughts and feedback.

[Pete28]

Have electric heaters, guests turn them up high and leave them on constantly. Opened them up and disabled high, and reduced thermostat to 70ish max. 

With AC may be harder to control - some hotels use motion detector with delay on power to switch off when no one around. If it's too obvious you are scrimping then you may get bad reviews, so it's a balance. Since its on 110v the max it can use is probably 1500watt, so maybe 20c an hour, $4 day assuming they want it like a fridge 🙂

[Ange2]

@Bruna-and-Siana0  

There is a cool program in NY, maybe they have similar in CA.  Here's an article   users can control all the air conditioners in their apartment via the smartphone app or website.  It uses a ThinkEco outlet

btw: I also remove the A/C from the window until it is hot, some people have used it in the dead of winter while also running a plug in heater high!

[Pete28]

If it's on the outlet they are just going to unplug it and remove the device. It's annoying that it's not easier to lock down thermostats on appliances. Also be careful if guests run AC and then plugin hair dryer etc on same circuit, most likely will overload circuit. 

[Swann1]

I was going to answer the same thing. I just learned about the NY program and have signed up!

[Kelly149]

@Bruna-and-Siana0 I have a wifi enabled override that can turn the AC up/down/off. This is an amenity that you may want to have some controls on: auto-shutoffs, max settings, motion sensor.....

You'll just have to see what options are available to you for your unit

oh, back to your question. No, I can't imagine a scenario where you'd be able to charge extra

[Bruna-and-Siana0]

What's the name of the wifi enabled device you use? 

[Kelly149]

@Bruna-and-Siana0 my unit isn't a window unit, so I'm not sure if/what would work for you. You'd have to look at the specs for your device and see what is compatible. With the way home automation is going it seems almost everything has ability to be remotely controlled or will soon. You could also potentially control the plug location (remote off/on). Possibly the unit has programming features that would cycle it occasionally to higher settings so you could at least lessen the possibility that it is left blasting for hours at a time.

So, you could continue to look into ways to control and also try to find out really what this is costing you, maybe blasting the thing 24/7 doesn't add as much to your electric bill as you think?? maybe it's worse, dont know

[Barry-and-Lera0]

@Bruna-and-Siana0: With a window unit I think it would be difficult to "charge extra" and I think it would cause you more issues with guests than its worth. Guests will always do this. Leave the AC on and go out. Maybe a sign on the AC about turning it off when they are leaving??..or what @Kelly149 said. 

Our guesthouse has a thermostat that is web enabled so we can set it to go to a default temperature at a specific time if its set below a certain temperature. Some people like to run the AC cold when sleeping and then leave for the day so we put this in place.

[Sarah977]

I think it would maybe be more effective to have a note about turning the AC off on the back of the room door that they have to open, so they can't help but see it on the way out. Same for turning off lights, heaters, etc.

[Adriana100]

I had that in my house rules. Very few people actually read them.

not only that many guest leave the lights on upon checking out or even at night, but I had one particular lady who checked out leaving the windows wide open, the heat on, the ceiling fan on in the dead of winter - subfreezing temperature. I gave her 1 star revie, not only for this but also for setting a towel on fire (?!?!) and moving furniture around (mattresses found in differnt rooms, chairs, pillows, mirrors, lamps) and stealing some slippers, breaking some glasses and wiping out the toiletries and supplies. It took my cleaning lady an extra hour to put everything back together. 

[Fred13]

Preventing abuse of a well-meant feature usually is better than to try to charge 'extra' - usually causes more problems than it's worth. Example: I used to try to charge a $25 fee (for gas) to return to the mainland - came across like a bomb. So changed a few things so they didn't even have to (i.e. shorten their stay, help them with food shopping, better refrigerator, charged a little more, etc). 

[Ange2]

@Fred13  Great idea - and charging extra has its own problems, e.g. guests leaving a pigsty because there is a cleaning fee, I can also imagine a scenario where the A/C is not cool enough and because their attention has been drawn to it by the extra $$'s paid for it,  it becomes focus and cause for complaint.

An easy one is simply upping the price year round to cover seasonal costs and excessive guests.

[Bruna-and-Siana0]

This is a good point. I think charging extra will lead to complains. I think we'll try to charge a little more and see if we still get bookings. We have a lot of competition.

[Fred13]

Just up to the average @Bruna-and-Siana0, nothing too hairy. So it takes you out of the scene of looking like the 'collector'. Like @Ange2 said, if charge and give a specific reason, then they focus on it and may use it abusely because 'they paid for it'. Tricky area, no doubt.