My guests will not turn off the heater in their bedroom when they leave the house.

[Jennifer336]

I have asked my guests to turn off the heater in their bedroom when they leave the house for the day. They ignore me. What can I do? This is not only expensive but a fire hazard!

[Linda108]

@Jennifer336  Since your listing is a private room or rooms, I think it is appropriate for you to message the guest reminding them of the turn of heater rule.  Then you can add that should they forget, you will enter the bedroom only to turn off the heater.  Your listing is very clear about allowing privacy, but this could be your exception.  Alternatively, is there any way to rig a timer to the heater so it will automatically turn off?

[Silvia592]

I'm having the same issue with my guests. Besides the general timed heating system I provided them with one portable heater to use in the bathroom. Now I found out they leave the one in the bathroom on when they leave and during the night. They also brought one portable heater from their country which they also keep on in one of the bedroom during the night and when they leave.  Did you find a way to solve the matter? 

[Matthew285]

@Jennifer336, what kind of heater is it?

Is it a stand-alone space heater, or something built into the wall?

Maybe if it is a space heater, you could plug it into some sort of remote controlled outlet (maybe even with a timer so that it can be turned on just before the guest comes home). Here are some examples:

https://www.safewise.com/blog/5-best-remote-control-electrical-outlets/

If the heater is built in, is it controlled via a thermostat? There are some advanced thermostats that could give you control without having to enter the unit.

[Paul154]

 Plug in heaters like this are a big problem.

They do provide the convenience of letting the guest be comfortable in their own room. But they are wasteful and dangerous unsupervised.

They also are a viper den of control issues on both the guest and host side. 

Probably the best chance of success is to withhold the heater at first, then hand it to them.

While handing it over  Say "I wish you to be comfortable. However, I do get concerned about the fire hazard when you are out. Would you mind me checking that the heater is off when you are out?"

Be contrite. 

Most people will be cool with this.

If you get a privacy freak you can say "I understand your need for privacy. When you are out I will turn off the electricity to your room"  (Turn off at circuit breaker box).   Privacy freaks like this will give you a bad review, but they'd give you a bad review anyway for some other issue

[Paul154]

@Jennifer693

Thanks for your posting. I just realized what the solution if for me.

I will install wall heaters with timers! 

Why didn't I think of this before?

I love this board. When other people voice their concerns, it makes me think,

[Ronnie19]

I bought smart panel heaters for all my airbnb’s and put one in each bedroom and living room and has them wall mounted. They were less than $100AUD ($65 usd). I’ve set it up so that It automatically puts a 3hr timer on and when the guest tries to set the temperature above 22celsius (72F) it automatically sets it back to 21 Celsius (70F). 

I can see and control everything from my phone. 

At first I was concerned guests might be complain. But they’re not aware or at least I’ve never had a complaint about it. They may think it’s faulty that you have to keep putting it back on. But whatever. I want my guests to warm and comfortable. But also not to be so absent minded. 

i noticed I was leaving my own heater on (Seemingly, I can also be absent minded) and now I use the same heater. I love it.

[Linda108]

This is a post from over 2 years ago, but your response is very timely, @Ronnie19 .  Perhaps you will consider reposting your idea for current hosts as it is an issue many hosts deal with.  Also, kudos to you for not branding the guest as a bad but realizing that all of us can be absent minded.  

[Ronnie19]

Thanks @Linda108  for your feedback! I did notice it was a post form 2 years ago, but I mostly just posted it for google traffic users. You’d be quite surprised how much traffic these posts get from google traffic. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of it is from google. 

Nevertheless I appreciate the notion of creating a new topic...and perhaps I might just do that!

Ronnie