@Quincy
Hi Quincy, as usual I am a bit late on the scene but this is a topic close to my heart.
Whether we make a profit on our hosting or not is (to a large extent) depended on how the guest treats what we offer.
The most abused aspect of our hosting is the guests use of our energy.
I have had guests come in at 1.00pm on a 10c winters afternoon and say...."Oh it's lovely and warm in here"! They will put their bags down and go out for the afternoon and evening but, not before winding the A/C thermostat up to 30c so they have a lovely toasty environment to come back to. My ducted aircon struggles away for 10 hours with not a soul in the cottage trying to maintain 30c!
Not any more they don't!!!
I have doctored my A/C unit to only operate in a 4c bandwidth! No matter what they set the thermostat to, it will not heat above 24c (75f) in the winter and it will not cool below 20c (68f) in the summer time. If a guest wants to be cooler or warmer than that, they won't do it at my expense!
So that takes care of my major energy cost when guests are actually here.
To control my energy when they are not here, my cottage is a bit like that hotel room where you put the key in the slot by the door as you enter to turn on the room power. When you leave you take your key out of the slot and....... the power turns off!
My method is just a bit more subtle than that!
I have a mini transmitter attached to the cottage key......

Yeah, it's that yellow thing. And when they walk out through the front gate a sensor is activated by that transmitter.......

After a programmed delay of 5 minutes automatically the power to the cottage air con turns off. When they return the sensor turns the power back on as they walk through the gate, and it works a treat.....nobody has ever complained.
This covers my major energy wastage!
The other issue I had was with guests who want to have a 40 minute shower! Because we are not on town gas, it was costing me a small fortune in bottle (propane) gas!
The fix........easy!
I have left the propane heater as a back-up in case of electricity failure and I have installed an 80 liter mains pressure electric HWS which will give about 12 minutes of mains pressure hot water before it starts to go cold. It heats up again quickly but, it stops guests from washing away their top layer of skin simply because.....they can.
I have simplified everything possible in the listing cottage. All lighting, including the bedside lights are low wattage LED and are either sensor or touch operated. There are no light switches to search for or fumble around for in the cottage.
Qunicy, by doing these things my listing cottage is very energy efficient and with the solar electricity we generate, from month to month we very rarely receive a power bill.
Cheers........Rob