House rules "minor" infraction?

[Marjorie264]

I ask my guests to turn the AC off when they go out. My guest is leaving it on while out at work, after being specifically asked not to. When I first noticed it was left on, I asked him about it and he said he didn't remember if he had left it on, which I now think was a lie. It is currently very hot, and I probably would have said ok if he had asked permission to leave it on, but he didn't. Should I mention it to him again? I don't want to antagonize him, and the heat wave is going to end in a day or two, so it should become a non-issue. 

[Mar125]

@Marjorie264 

Don’t mention it again. Guest who doesn’t want to listen won’t listen. 

Buy a thermostat that you can control remotely. 

I use sensi st 55 and it literal saved me thousands of electricity bills. It also allows you to set a minimum temperature so guest can’t set it to 68 degrees while outside is 110..

It costs $20 if you have california state rebate. 

[Tommy150]

Allowing the home / apartment / unit to get hot again just means the AC will need to run much longer to re cool it. I wouldn't sweat it. 

[Marjorie264]

I get that. It’s the lack of honesty that bothers me just as much. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tommy150 good to see that your environmental knowledge has reached new lows. Assuming an 8 hour work day there is no way the small amount of extra cooling will offset the continual cooling during the day.

[Tommy150]

Good to see you can't see a counterpoint. I'm not saying leave it cranking all day, turn it up a few degrees, but if a house/unit whatever needs to drop back down 10-15 degrees, it absolutely will run much longer. 

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/verify/verify-turning-off-ac-leave-save-money/275-cc18f040-a878-45...

https://americanhomewater.com/is-it-cheaper-to-leave-your-air-conditioner-on-all-day/

I have seen first hand in my own home letting it stay on and increasing the temp a few degrees keeps my bill more manageable then shutting if off. Letting the house get 10-15 degrees warmer and then having to let it run half the night to cool off.

But you do you boo.🙄

[Lorna170]

@Marjorie264   You could replace your current thermostat with a Nest (or other brand) that you can control remotely.  I have found it to be invaluable in creating a welcoming atmosphere when guests are due to arrive, and for "shutting things down" when a guest has left.  I can also determine a permitted range of heating and cooling.  It has saved me quite a bit and I can control it from multiple phones (mine and partner's).

[Susan653]

@Marjorie264 , I feel your pain, as I’ve had quite a number of guests over the years who leave the ACs on while they’re out all day, despite my request in the house rules not to do so. Having said that, I let it slide because (a) I’m pretty sure most guests barely skim my house rules if they bother reading them at all; and (b) it’s not worth the anxiety that they’ll ding me in reviews if I say something during their stay.

Nest thermostat control is a nice suggestion, but not one that would work in my listing since the cooling is from non-smart window acs. I’m guessing this may also be the case for you? Energy waste (both cooling and heating in my case, and, of course, the leaving on of every single light in the apartment 24/7) sets my teeth on edge, but it’s not a hill on which I’m willing to die at the present time.

Hang in there and keep reminding yourself that he’ll be checking out soon (as I write this, he probably already has)! 🙂

[Marjorie264]

Hi, yes, it’s a window AC. I have a note in the room to turn it off upon leaving (duh) and I also directly told him. The next day it was left on but I let it slide because it was super hot. The third day we went upstairs and shut it off after he went to work, and it was good we did because he was out for about 12 hours. (He didn’t say anything about it.) 

Besides the energy waste, it’s a brand new AC unit bought in June, so I’m not happy with it being burned out so soon! Fortunately the weather is changing, since he’s here until the end of October—we do mostly longer term stays. No one else has ever not followed the rule in 4 years so it’s hard for me to understand not complying with what the owner has directly stated. I guess some people don’t realize they are guests in someone else’s home. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Marjorie264 Perhaps consider stating in your house rules that if the zircon is left on when the guest is not present then the host is allowed to enter and switch it off.

[Marjorie264]

Brilliant! Thank you. 

[Lorna170]

@Marjorie264  A rather extreme solution -- check your house wiring and see if the window unit is on a line/wall outlet that you can turn off and on from your breaker box (without affecting other rooms or electric items).  Then when the guest leaves ....

[Judith630]

Exactly no consideration or respect. It is the personality of entitlement. 

[Judith630]

Hi, I totally understand your concern I have AC control at it works great however I got a 1 star because the guest left doors and windows open while AC was running at 69 or 71 degrees. They smoked marijuana in the studio other guest complained about the smoking. They did not read my rules and regulations? However a allowed them to smoke outside the studio. They  stayed for 2 weeks and they wanted a refund stating that the studio was dirty. Because of that I got a cancellation today. Unfortunately for Aibnb the guest is always right i am in danger ⚠️ with this listing. While other past guest that liked the space. Unfortunately they were not part of Airbnb. 

[Richard531]

@Marjorie264 @Lorna170 @Mike-And-Jane0 @Susan653 @Tommy150   You guys are going to hate me for this, but it's my opinion that asking a guest to turn off the A/C while they are away for the day is unreasonable. I know for me, I would absolutely HATE this as a guest.  

For example, if I'm out all day in the beach/desert, and then I come home all sweaty and gross;   then the home is even hotter than it is outside? NO THANKS!  

If you want to recover utilities expenses, price your property accordingly assuming that everything will be running at a reasonable level throughout the stay.  I know that's the way we treat our rates/revenue schedules.  

It's host's behavior like this that gives guests the upper hand in (rightfully) looking upon us as being unreasonable at times.  We need to collectively stop doing stuff like this.  

If you don't want your A/C running on a hot day, close your listing for that particular time of the season.  And if you don't want to lose money on those days from the A/C running all day, charge more!

P.S. please don't play the extreme devil's advocate game - of course nobody should run the A/C at 65 degrees 24/7 or take 3 hour hot showers.  But you get what I mean!  Give the guest the stay they paid for.