How to cope with guests that are draining the hot water tank and then complaining about no hot water?

[Carlo4890]

Our listing is a suite in our home and the entire house including the suite are running off of a single hot water tank.  On check-in day, during the first night, I got a call about no hot water in the suite.  I checked in our side of the house and sure enough, there was no hot water.  I immediately apologized for the inconvenience and let them know that we were suffering the same problem and that I would call a plumber first thing in the morning.  I spent some time checking the tank itself, breakers, fuses and everything appeared physically fine.  A little less than an hour later, there was hot water again. 

The following day, there were literally no issues with the hot water.  The next night though I got another call that there was no hot water.  Again, I panicked that there was a problem with the hot water tank, but sure enough, less than an hour later there was hot water again.  

While we are new to Airbnb, we have been renting our suite for years.  Before Airbnb it was long term tenants - families of 3 and 4 and we never had issues with hot water supply.  I can only assume that these current guests are using an unreasonable amount of hot water and draining the tank whenever they shower and do laundry. When I speak with my plumber about how to proceed, they tell me that there isn't really anything to do if the tank is working.  I don't really think I should be replacing a working tank just for this.

I understand the tenant's frustration with the hot water running out, but it is equally frustrating for me since my family is left without hot water also.  Plus, dealing with calls late in the evening is getting tiresome.  All of this is compounded by the fact that we are on the verge of achieving our superhost status.  I fear that if this continues, we are going to end up with a negative review and we will lose our superhost chances.  Does anyone have advice of how to deal with this?  We're not a hotel.  We don't have unlimited hot water.  

[Anonymous]

@Carlo4890  "We're not a hotel" is seldom ever the best explanation to offer guests with a legitimate grievance. People can usually process the fact that there are limitations to the amenities, but they prefer to be forewarned about those limitations, rather than surprised that they suddenly have to take a cold shower.

You might have to get creative about how you ration the hot water usage, considering that your household is also putting a non-zero amount of pressure on it. That could mean setting time blocks for showers, or other measures to make sure both households aren't demanding all the resources at the same time.

But there also may be some efficiency gaps to check up on in the guest suite. Laundry shouldn't be an issue, as most washing machines heat their own water and only connect to the cold tap. 

[Helen744]

@Anonymous,most washing machines I see can be hot or cold . Always use cold in your house or that is too draining. I personally have no washing machine but can direct people over the road to the laundromat. I do all linen at my own house or the laundromat. I suggest that people firmly turn off the hot water to their washing machines. Hot water is only a requirement for us hosts for linen. H.Ask people to limit showering to ten or fifteen mins should not be too taxing. H

[Louise0]

Just as an FYI ... 

Most front loaders connect only to one tap, the cold, and heat their own water as needed.  Top loaders rarely have internal heaters and therefore require connection to both the hot and cold taps if hot water is required.

[Carlo4890]

@Anonymous ,  thanks for taking the time to respond!  

I would never say "we're not a hotel" to one of our guests.  That was just some internal frustration coming out to my peers here.  I take my responsibility as a host to provide good service and functioning, comfortable accommodation for my guests very seriously and I take a lot of pride in my home, as I'm sure many Airbnb hosts who share their homes with others do.  So, when something fails in the house, I'm embarrassed.  I do everything I can to fix it as soon as possible.  This case though, seems out of my control and it feels like the actions to unequivocally remedy it would require mass construction (changing my water system) or changing my family's lifestyle.

I wonder if it is reasonable to include time blocks and water rationing in the house manual or rules?  But I fear doing that would scare potential guests away from my listing.  

[Anonymous]

@Carlo4890 Actually I think the most important function of House Rules posted in the listing is to scare away some potential guests. Specifically, the ones whose needs and expectations aren't a match for what you offer. These are going to be the guests who find faults, demand refunds, and leave bad reviews, so it's better to have the suite sitting vacant than to host them via Airbnb.

I think @John2406 has some fantastic logistical suggestions for making the most of your heating capacity, so hopefully you can figure out an efficiency-based solution. But there's also nothing wrong with pushing conservation, especially if you've exhausted all possibilities and remain certain that the guests are truly using the hot water wastefully. 

[Helen744]

@Carlo4890 , dont sweat it, tell them it is because they stayed in the shower too long and used it all and just wait a while and it will be back . Most hws can be turned up a notch or two in cold weather or with bigger groups. beware of groups of women with long hair. H

[John2406]

Hi @Carlo4890 and I really feel for you with your problem, something - thankfully - I've not experienced with our Airbnb property, although once upon a time, years ago, I did   experience something similar, when tenants we had used vast amounts of hot water when having baths (as lots of hot water produces lots of condensation, especially when the same people will not open windows!)

As far as I can see, from what you have commented, this is a bit of a conundrum, inasmuch as it would appear that your current Guests are the first to stay (since you became an Airbnb Host) to have either experienced a lack of hot water, or to have commented upon it, so in a way, the current situation isn't anything to do with you*, but all to do with your Guests, and the amount of hot water they've drawn out of the system (I say it isn't anything to do with you, and yet, at the end of the day, the buck does stop/remain with you as to the who and what will be done next)

Of course, if only the one set of Guests' have complained, you might take the line that apart from gaining/losing the potential of gaining a SuperHost status, you probably won't do anything "as no-one else has ever complained". Well that is a decision you might have to gamble upon.

The alternatives (and I'm saying this not knowing what type of heating system you have to heat your water, what size of hot water tank you have, nor how long it takes for your heating system to heat the water for another full tank of the stuff) might include ensuring that the system automatically heats up the incoming water so that there's a constant flow of water that's hot.

Another possibility is to put  some form of a restrictor on the water-flow (out of the tank) to ensure that the heating will be able to cope with the amount of water in the tank 

The following would be more expensive methods to employ, although would be more likely to resolve the immediate problem (even though you might not be able to get the work done whilst your present Guests' are "in residence"!)

One would be to purchase and have installed an instantaneous water heater (electrical) for the bathroom (but if the amount of water is affecting other parts of the property, then another such heater may also be required for washing - dishes and/or hands).

Another possibility would be similar to the above but to remove the bath, and only have a shower cubicle, with the heating of the water for the latter being via an instantaneous (electric) shower.

There are alternatives to even those suggestions (e.g. put in a larger heating system with a larger tank; install a water flow restrictor; install a pre-payment water for Guests to pay to use); - all of which would either cost you a lot - financially - or possibly ratings-wise (although the latter could go either way!)

Of course, Of course,a cheaper means would be to include within the description of your property that as the suite runs off the same hot water system as the main property, there will be times when the amount of hot water might not be sufficient.

The cheapest of all however, might be your answer to the question as to "Have you spoken to your Guests to find out what they might be doing that is causing the problem?" as your doing that may well actually  prove to be the simplest way of finding out the "why", after which - between you all - you should all be able to resolve it more easily (and hopefully in a much cheaper way)!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Carlo4890 I think in your check in briefing/instructions you should just mention that if many people have prolonged showers the water will go cold until it is heated up again.

You could up the temperature of the tank so that the water goes further but I wouldn't go beyond about 60 degrees centigrade or it could scald someone. The advantage of 60 degrees is that at this temperature any Legionella bacteria are also killed so it is necessary for safety anyway.

Failing any of this a second tank or a bigger tank is needed but its not worth it for only 1 guest complaint.

[Laura2592]

We had this issue with a guest who spent hours in our clawfoot tub. The water would cool down and they would re-run the hot until it was depleted. I was puzzled as to why this happened and asked the guest to describe their usage so I could pass it along to the plumber.  That is when the mystery was solved. This was a couple who had never owned a place and didn't understand how hot water worked. Luckily it was a short stay. 

[Pat271]

@Carlo4890  Along with @John2406’s other excellent suggestions, I want to second what he said about the water flow from the showers. Putting low-flow shower heads in will help both the heating situation and your pocketbook, not to mention will help with environmental water usage overall.

[Carlo4890]

Thank you everyone for your feedback!  I wonder if I should be considering some sort of compensation for this guest, like a 1-night refund?  Is that too extreme for this stage?  

[Sarah977]

@Carlo4890  Guests who are entitled and would complain about no hot water when they have probably just all had long hot showers, or doneand load of hot water wash and also had a bath, are likely not the type to be placated by a discount, and will leave a negative review anyway. 

If this has not been an ongoing problem with past guests, I would not offer any discount. Throwing money at guests for some minor inconvenience is not a good precedent to set.

Maybe you could put a nicely framed note on the bathroom wall saying something like, "Dear guests, please note that we have a normal size household hot water tank. If you use a lot of hot water all at once (everyone taking consecutive showers and doing a load of wash, etc.) it may take an hour or so for the tank to reheat."

[Mark116]

@Carlo4890  I would do what @Laura2592  suggests.  Tell them so far the plumber has found no problems, and no previous tenants experienced any issues...could they explain their hot water usage, like how many showers a day, how much laundry or dishwasher use...to help the plumber determine if there is any problem or if they are simply using up the hot water....in which case, they should try to pay some attention to their own usage and remind them that it takes X time for the water to heat up again.

I'd be careful about offering a refund for what appears to be the guest using excessive amounts of hot water, you don't want to go on record as accepting that this is a problem with the unit.

Better a bottle of wine or a gift card if you feel you have to do something.

Alternatively,  you could tell them the plumber has found no problems and he believes the hot water is simply being used up extremely quickly.  Tell them the tank holds XX water that is typically enough for [whatever, showers of a normal length of time plus 1 load of laundry, something like that] and remind them the water heats up in UU amount of time.  You could add that it may be their own home has a larger water tank that allows for using more water normally, but that your tank is XX and apparently their normal usage is higher than that of your previous guests since it has never been an issue before.

[Debra300]

@Carlo4890,

You can tell when people aren't homeowners or have been responsible for a water bill or lived in an area where water conversation is required.  I had a mother and college age daughter stay in our Atlanta apartment (which is connected to our house) over the holidays and school winter break.  The daughter complained that she has experienced the hot water running out.  I asked how long would she be in the shower when this happened, and she responded, "about 30 minutes".  I told her that she just used up all of the hot water for the entire house, and that most people don't take showers for that long.  She said, "But I have a lot of hair, and this doesn't happen in my dorm."  I said it's possible that the dorm has a boiler on site, but we have a regular 100 gallon water tank.  I walked away from them, and was highly irritated by their selfishness.  I wanted to cancel their reservation right then and there, but it was right before Christmas, we were getting ready to travel, and our property manager wouldn't have been around to ensure that they departed appropriately.