Has your Hosting adapted due to the energy crisis?

[Sybe]

Hi everyone,

Wherever you go, people are feeling the effect of the energy crisis and thinking of ways to be more economical. Hospitality is, of course, no exception. Whether you’re thinking about sustainability, smart meters, your amenities or your overall cost calculation, many of you have shared some ideas on how to make your Hosting business work despite rising utility costs, across the CC. I hope we can encourage and collect more here!

Have you made any changes to your listing, listing or Hosting style to be more economically viable?

I hope we can all share some tips and tricks that will benefit all of our wonderful Host community, as we adapt to our ever changing world. 

Thanks,

Sybe

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sybe there comes a point when we will either shutdown for the Winter or just raise our prices and hope we still get bookings. I guess if we do not get bookings then we have defacto shut ourselves down. Our heating costs will equate to approximately half our nightly rate in mid winter........

I do wonder how many people actually know what their heating costs on a nightly basis for different months of the year.

[Sudsrung0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

I keep track of it, Year on Year,

Here in Phuket right now is our low season and I have to admit it been the best low season we have had for years, I dont no why,

We never close down we always get some business even if it's enough to cover cost, at the moment I only have one property on airbnb which is a condo, we have a yearly management fee's, Covid did a lot of damage here completely shut the island down we had virtually no business, many people have still not recovered.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sudsrung0 Really think you need to look at the energy costs month by month. I suspect some people are selling at under the marginal cost of operation andwouldbe better shutting down in the energy intensive months especially in England where said months are typically low season.

[Sudsrung0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

I do look month by month sorry Im not English so English is not my first language, 

[Sybe]

@Mike-And-Jane0 Shutting down is definitely a path I wouldn't want to see you take. 😕

Is there a way to cut costs in the long run for you, or perhaps make guests more responsible/aware of their usage? My parents are installing solar panels on their house soon but, though more sustainable and cheaper long-term, such a change starts with a big investment. I myself am definitely a person that'd put on an extra sweater before turning the heat up. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sybe sadly we are at the mercy of the Ukrainian war stopping wood pellet deliveries from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine causing the 3x increase in price. Of course it is a tiny price to pay in support of Ukraine and the fight for their country.

We did consider solar panels but our 200 year roofs are fragile enough without adding additional weight to them and I suspect the grade 1 listed church we overlook might object to them.

We do ask guests to be reasonable when they arrive and I have remote control over the heating so reset it when people, for example, ask for 24 degrees 24 hours per day.

[Sudsrung0]

@Sybe 

Good subject and topic,

Electric bills are my pet hate as I have mentioned on here a few times,

The increase here in Thailand is huge, OMB in my own house last month we used less but the bill was higher, and both of us we always turn things off when we go out or not needed, we dont waste it,

Right now is low season so it's cooler to me A/C is not needed as much at night but come December when the temperatures rise and no rain you need the A/C thats when the bills rise. We could get no rain for about 4 months,

What I did this week was see what my biggest bill was and divided that by 30 as in days and increased my rate, we have many bookings so I cant increase them now, I had already taken into account our high season so they are covered,

Dont forget everything you need to run a airbnb has increased, cleaning, laundry materiel's, tissues and so on.

I was looking through properties in my area the other day and I see many have added a cleaning fee, so I have now added the fee to any future bookings will offset some cost.

The electric is the main one,

We have a keycard but it is only used for entry everywhere, it should have in the unit where you drop your card inside the unit like hotels have, and everything goes off when the guest go out, We are looking into that now,

Getting guest to close the windows and doors while the A/C is on is a another problem, The garden doesn't need cooling down.

My condo is 57 sqm and it has  2 A/C units the guest have it like a fridge so much so it causes a lot of condensation which is not good. 

Only yesterday my husband contacted LG to see if they a Motion Detector for the A/C if not why not, if it left on when nobody around it can automatically shut off,

[Sudsrung0]

@Sybe 

Update: LG got back to us saying they dont make such a gadget their loss 

[Sybe]

@Sudsrung0 Those cards could be a brilliant way to force guests to turn off everything and be more sustainable, I've seen lots of hotels with this system. 

The Motion Detector could be an interesting solution too, though is there perhaps a separate system to which you could hook up the A/C?

[Sudsrung0]

@Sybe 

Like my husband says if we can install a keycard system like the hotels have that would solve most of the problem. Dont give the guest 2 cards well you know what they would do.

We wouldn't need the motion detector.

He says it's easy to install just dont connect the fridge so that doesn't go off,

If you guys have keys just attach the keycard to the key ring and glue it on so they cant take it off and leave it in there, you know what they would do,

[Gillian166]

@Sudsrung0  we stayed in a place on the Gold Coast (australia) last year and she had a limiter on her system, it only ran for 3 hours and then shut off.  

[Laurelle3]

@Gillian166 in Qld the 3 hr shut off would be hard in the heat of summer but it would depend wheter you are on the coast or mountains for winter. I would like to know before hand so you choose when you want to use it.

We have been talking about setting the temp 25 degree for winter and 18 for summer. As we have found the bedroom set on 30 degree last week( wet weather temp 18) sad to find this when I check reset after wiping hand piece. 

Last night family of 4 staying, wet weather again I offered that they could use our dryer because they had a little one. I returned the washing on and found the door open and cottage was quite warm. Message as leaving was maybe they should shut the door or turn AC down. 😣 what does one do. I don't like signs but I think I will put on the door for the them to remind to turn off as they leave.

Maybe it will work. Also will put in folder with the sustainable environmental information. I show the guests through it will be on my routine explanations please think of the environment. They are very good with recycling, green waste for my worm farm.

I have learnt to add at showing through cottage a demonstration of the gas bottles if they run out of hot water of what to do. Also say, knock on the door, give us a ring, not a text or email. You learn as you go with the city dwellers who have never camped or the young ones.

[Gillian166]

@Laurelle3 I don't like signs either but I think I will put one on the exit door, i'm sure I can make something nice. 

[Adriano78]

In Spain, the price per kWh increased by around 250% and of course  all consumer prices increased also because of the prices of energy.

Here in Sevilletourist apartments have increased prices by around 20%/30%.

In my apartment now i  put an entrance door opening detector, if a customer leaves the apartment the air conditioning is cut automatically.

I also had to resolve to limit the temperature in summer.

We have very hot and dry summers (about an average of 37c) and 15% humidity.

Unfortunately, the problem comes mainly from the customers of North American who do not have an energy crisis at home and where the prices of electricity are very low.

With 37C exterior temperatures, they put the air conditioning thermostat at 16c !!!. Of course with exterior temperatures so high no AC in the world will be able to lower the interior temperature to 16c without damaging and freezing the compressor.

In my Airbnb summer house rules now I specify that the thermostat will be adjusted minimum at 24c, if  Since this summer in Spain we have a new law, all the premises that welcome the public (shops, restaurants, bars, Tow Hall ....) they will not be able to put the air conditioning less than 27c