How smart is your home?

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

I know we have touched upon technology before, here in the Community Center, but it feels like on a monthly basis something new is available. Technology and apps are constantly improving and there are now so many things you can do in your home to upgrade it technologically.

I wonder how "smart" is your home? 🙂 Do your home appliances connect via the Internet / wireless and can you control them from a distance? Perhaps you like to monitor your heating useage or you can turn the lights off from the other side of your house?

Alternatively, perhaps you are staying away from introducing "smart" technology into your home–it would be great to hear if you have any particular reasons for this. 

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks so much,

Lizzie

[David126]

Agree, anything for Guests should be kept as simple as possible.

I have added a remote lighting control, so if they leave the lights on I can switch them off without getting out of bed.

[Lizzie]

hehe @Fred13, perhaps you could set up a code system, perhaps different coloured flags depending on their urgency. A green flag could mean, "we are having a lovely time, no need to worry about us", or an orange one could mean "we are just about to have a glass of fizz, would you like to pop over and join us"! 🙂

Do you ever need to worry about heating on your island, I imagine the temperature is always relatively warm? 

[Fred13]

And red flag means 'Do Not Disturb!'.

Heating? Lowest in 7 years I have experienced has been 64F degrees. It is truly amazing, during construction, not having to worry about insulation or anything freezing.

[Chris232]

This time of year in the UK, central heating is on and got fed up with guests turning the TRV (thermostatic radiator valve) up to the max, turning their room into a mini Sauna.

So have fitted Drayton smart Thermostsat valves which can be controlled remotely via a smart phone and stops guests from playing with the controls, I get a constant feed as to the temperature in their room

The added advantage is when the rooms are empty I can turn off the heating and if its a vey cold snap I can remotely increase the heat in their room.

Drayton Wiser smart heating, very easy to install and set up

[Lizzie]

This sounds really handy @Chris232. Are you enjoying having more control over it?

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Lizzie All my guests who stayed on my properties are internationals and i believe they came to my island to cut off their daily routines.

I do offer free high speed internet wifi and cable TV because i believe that this is a Must but i have notice that many guests do not even use their electronic devices or watch TV during their stay on the paradise island.

People come to Mauritius for the white sandy beaches and the blue lagoon and the sun and they are not looking for smart houses or anything that they already have at home.

The world of technology is moving at a lighting speed but like all good things technology must be used in modernation.

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

Moderation*

[Gwendolyn11]

My husband and I just installed Philips Hue Light bulbs and the Light strip in our AirBNB rental. It's voice controlled by Alexa. I let the guests know it's there. If they want to use it...great. If not...it won't disrupt their stay. We also have a Nest thermostat. That's for our peace of mind. We can see --remotely via the Nest app-- what the temperate is set to in our place. We are also considering getting a smart lock for the front door. This will allow us to remotely check in guests. We'll be able to give them a code when they arrive, and remotely change it when they leave. 

[Madison17]

We just got this new electronic smart lock a couple months back and absolutely love it! It syncs directly to our AirBNB calendar, sends guests emails with key code and instructions as soon as they book a stay, enables codes at time of check in and disables codes at time of check out (and accurately lol), and auto updates itself for me. I don't have to do a thing or have to worry about keys or anything myself, it's awesome. 

Here's a link to check it out, I highly recommend it! 

https://www.amazon.com/AirLocking-Smart-Lock-for-AirBNB/dp/B0759NPC5Y/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=airloc...

[Sandra126]

I am low  key/low tech deliberately. Still, the gas fire control panel with 3 buttons is too hard (even if I demonstrate on check in). I have had to cover one button with masking tape. Guests who bang on all the buttons in the hope it will go on/off (because they didn't pay attention) will access programming by accident, and find that the heater comes on to 28 degrees at 4am or some such.

[Sarah977]

Just a look at the posts on this forum re all the glitches in the airbnb app as compared to the desktop version tells me how "smart" these apps, etc, are in reality.

One thing I've experienced re smart phones is that they have affected call backs or text responses, because instead of there being "You have one missed call" across the screen of my old school dumb cell phone, these so called smart phones have some tiny notification symbol in the corner, which people just don't bother looking at half the time. Then I get "Oh, sorry, I didn't notice your missed call" (from 3 days previous).

People have gotten seriously lost on road trips, sometimes ending up in the middle of nowhere in the desert when folllowing GPS instructions.

What are supposed to be time savers end up taking inordinate and frustrating amounts of time to resolve when they glitch out or cease functioning. People are being propagandized by the manufacturers of these products that they are the best thing since sliced bread, and that they are must-haves in todays world. Nothing smart in my house except me 🙂