Energy efficiency - remind guests to switch off lights

[Dev4]

Dear Hosts,

I was passing by one of my properties, which is a townhouse, and noticed that guests had left all the lights ON. The guests were in the City for an exhibition, so they used to leave early in the morning and return late at night. The lights were left ON for almost 12 hours, which is a complete waste of energy. 

I know that many guests are thoughtful of the environment and switch off lights and appliances (e.g. Heater/ AC) when not in use. However, switching off lights is not intuitive as they are on vacation or business and want to focus on things that are important. 

I know there are technology solutions such as NEST that allow to control lights and heating/cooling remotely. But is there a non-technology or cheaper way to do this? 

Looking forward to ideas or practices by other hosts!!

Regards,

Casadell

[Marcus2]

Haha yes I quite agree. It's one of my bugs as it is a complete waste of money

There are buttons that you can install that have staybon for a period of time and then turn off.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Dev4

Replace your switches in shared areas like hallways, porch, outdoors, etc with timed switches that turn off after a specific length of time - just ensure you don't leave stair wells etc in complete darkness - get those LED lights that automatically turn on in darkness and cost pence to run for a full year.

Using something like NEST to turn off lighting remotely when you think a guest is not home etc is a minefield....

[Jamie69]

I've installed LED bulbs in all my light fixtures. Even the brightest bulbs only consume something like 12 watts.

Not that I encourage wasting electricity, but even if I left a 12 watt bulb on 24/7/365, it'd only cost a couple of dollars for an entire year.

I no longer worry about lights being left on.

I do use a Nest thermostat, and I have the temperature range locked between 66°F and 73°F. In the summer I'll move those up a few degrees. I've only had two guests change the inside temperature (that I know). My current guests like it at 70°F, which is a little warmer than I like, but I don't mind. Another group I hosted kept it at the maximum, 73°F, which was too warm. Come to think of it, I might set the maximum to 72°F.

Jamie

[Kelly149]

@Dev4 I agree, it's in my house rules, where I just confess that it's a personal pet peeve, and since they're in a guest house in my backyard I can easily see if they leave the lights burning.

This is what the rule says:

LIGHTS & UTILITY USAGE: Ok, most of all these rules are just common sense but this one is my one personal pet peeve. Please, please, please would you look around and switch off the lights? If you are going out for the day, or going to bed, please take the time to check the various lamps and switches and turn out the lights indoors and out. By all means, leave on the porch light or the lamp by the door if you'll be coming back after dark, but don't make me look up the hill and see lights burning in a barn that is empty or where everyone is asleep. Thank you!! Also, the AC system is quite efficient so if you'd consider turning it up by a few degrees if you're going out for more than a quick errand then we, the Texas electric grid and the planet thank you.

This is a new write up so it remains to be seen how it will work. However, it's so specific that I will be more likely to message guests if I see lights on unattended and remind them to shut them off.

Kelly, Real Texas Barn

www.airbnb.com/rooms/15208027

[Jamie69]

That's a lot of words to say "Turn out the lights when you leave."

I'll be honest, I barely made it through the first sentence.

[Mark26]

ur reply 2 short n arrogant

[T16]

I don’t think it’s too wordy.  It always baffles me that anyone who would plan a trip, and plan to stay as a guest in a strangers home would not read every word listed in the details.  Not taking the time to read it all is thoughtless, and problematic in my opinion.

[Jennifer3217]

Have you ever messaged them to turn them off? This is the second guest that has kept them on and the first one left them on ALL night, while they were sleeping. I’d like to send a reminder to this guest as I had neighbors complain about it, not to mention it’s also shining in my bedroom window. 

[Leigh3]

I included in my rules the details about turning off lights and appliances when not in use after I received a $1000+ electricity bill for a longer term guest each month.  Even though I have specifically included that rule now, and state 'over-use or inappropriate use will be charged additional fees' people still disrespect it and leave airconditioner on all day even when out (the system actually tripped for constant use and I had to call a airconditioning expert in to fix it).  Lights are left on all night as is TV and I hate to think what else is going on in there.  Same with gas heater.

I've really had enough.  I'm keen to understand how I can prevent this reoccuring.

Please someone advise what to do

[Jamie69]

As I mentioned above, my LED light bulbs hardly use any electricity at all. I don't worry about lights being left on anymore.

However, my gas bill is pretty high, even without guests. I live in a large, 50-year old home, and it's not the most efficient.

I installed a Nest thermostat and have it locked to a small temperature range. That way, guests can change the temperature to suit their comfort, but they can't crank it up so the heat runs all day, or in the summer, they won't be able to turn it so low to keep my AC unit running.

Jamie

[Connie0]

Always difficult to see our lights blazing away while no one is home...!  I do have it listed in the House Rules section, which I remind them to review before they come, and to also have their accompanying guests read as well, "to save them the hassle of repeating themselves to their guests" I typically see most of my guests into the home personally, and I review it with them then as well. It seems to help....but all that said, they STILL leave the outside lights on overnight a fair amount and we will be putting motion sensors on them soon. sigh*

Some days I just chock it up to 'the cost of doing business' and other days it makes me squirm and I fire off a friendly text....

[Mark26]

The price of LED Lightbulbs has come way down, and they're much better than they were ten years ago as well.  I'm slowly replacing all of the lightbulbs here to LED. The only incandescent bulbs I've purchased in the last three years have been decorative bulbs for outdoor fixtures, and that's only because I can't find a decorative LED Bulb that would go well with them.  I keep looking... I'm sure they'll start to show up soon enough.

[T16]

It is infuriating because I doubt they are doing this at their own homes.  I am currently dealing with guests who constantly leave lights on even though I have that detail included in my house rules.   When I began to notice them on, Initially, I turned them off myself.  Today I messaged them while they were out and verbally asked them politely to turn off lights when not in a particular room and made them aware that I had turned off three lights in the middle of the night when they returned.  I got a quick nod and an okay.  Unfortunately, it’s still occurring. I’ve also discovered that they’ve been pouring cooking oil into my kitchen sink.  I noticed it was draining slowly yesterday but witnessed the poor tonight after one of the guests had prepared food. I mentioned politely that it shouldn’t be done, as it ruins the pipes and could back up/clog.  I was met with a blank stare then a response that it was already clogged previously.  I knew this wasn’t true, because I take care to make sure all my drains and working properly.  

I have met many thoughtful and contentious guests over time.  Unfortunately, as of late I am not experiencing much more than people who don’t observe house rules, and who come to me after 11pm to ask me questions that can easily be answered if they. bothered to read the Guest Resources.  It’s beyond frustrating.

[Kate157]

I use Phillips hue smart bulbs in many areas of my home. You could use these bulbs in your guest space and turn them off remotely either through Apple's HomeKit app or through Siri. I have found that the Echo Dot featuring Alexa is the easiest method of controlling the lights verbally. Set-up is quite easy, if you have wifi. You can have all the lights grouped under one room name, and then instruct Alexa to turn off that room. These lights work very well-I have the downstairs hall lights all connected to motion sensors. They stay on for five minutes and turn themselves off. You can also dim the lights remotely.