air conditioning on and windows open

[Kimberly4]

What do people do when guests leave doors/windows open while running the A/C?  Also,when they leave for the day and leave the A/C running?   The latter happened recently and I told them if it happened again I would go into the room and shut it off (not possible to shut it off from outside).  He wasn't very happy about it, but did remember to shut it off the next time. 

Power is very expensive here and it's also very hot.  When people check in I explain that I want guests to be comfortable and please use it as much as they like, but please shut it off when not in use.  I don't want to raise my rates.  I only run into the odd ones who are completely thoughtless about this.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

It happens occasionally - people forget and it's annoying. But personally I would really ignore it unless, for example leaving a window open is a security risk. Don;t suppose you can turn it off remotely, without going into their room when they go out?

[Robin4]

@Kimberly4   I do understand what you are saying but, you must protect yourself from the extravegances of guests. I have a heater in the Bathroom but it is operated by a push button timer....similar to those found in apartment stair wells! After 10 minutes it turns off and has to be pushed in again for additional time. All the lights throughout the cottage (anjd the main house) are LED low wattage lights which use next to no power.

I had one guest who (although it is summer time here in Australia) ran the air conditioning on 15c all night because she liked to sleep with a Duna on!!!!

It doesn't worry us that much because we produce all our electricity! We have solar panels on the roof for the summer time and we have a wind turbine which produces power in the winter time. Although it is hard to compare the Aust dollar with the Costa Rican Colon, we would not spend more than one weeks wages in a year in total on electricity and gas! So we are prepared for guests to pamper themselves if they want....cheers....Rob

[Robin4]

@Kimberly4 And that brings to mind an interesting topic! This state (South Australia) leads the world in green energy production! Almost every house uses solar power and there was a one week period last year when the entire power needs of this state of 1.4 million people were met by wind power alone! During that week after taking care of it's own requirements this state became a net exporter of green energy to other states....How good is that!!!!....cheers.....Rob

[Carlos37]

The best solution I found so far... Cost about $100 usd per unit

http://www.apmcontrol.com/control-de-aire-acondicionado/

[Robin4]

@Carlos37 @Gerry-And-Rashid0....Hi Carlos, that is a very interesting brochure and thanks for sharing it with the community.

The only issue with that (as with other hotel/motel energy saving devices) is, it only works when the door key is inserted.....it's either on, or it's off!! 

As I spent my working life with air conditioning units and designing systems I have taken that a step further. Using a motion sensor in my cottage the a/c unit will automatically 'set-back' from 2c to 6c when no activity is sensed in the conditioned space for a period of 10 minutes. From 10 to 15 minutes the setback will be 2c! From 15 to 20 mins the setback is 4c and from 20 minutes the setback is 6c.

It can be overiden by the the setting of the a/c timer function for longer term guests. For much of the year I host international students and you just can't get them to be energy conscious, so the 'on timer' setting will cancel the setback operation. I have designed and installed this since my previous post on energy saving and I am finding it does save considerable energy without unduly effecting guest comfort. So, by installing LED lighting, pnuematic push button timer heating in the bathroom and the use of this control for the ceiling a/c unit I can keep the use of electricity under control.  

Cheers.....Rob 

[Kimberly4]

Thanks for the link!  And suggestion