People use their HVAC systems conservatively when they’re at home. But when they’re at your vacation rental, it’s another story. All that HVAC conservativism goes flying out the window!
Giving your guests free reign over the thermostat in your vacation rental is a recipe for high energy bills, broken HVAC equipment and a touch of regret. Fortunately, with home automation, you can prevent almost all the damage your guests can do in this regard. Let’s look more closely at the ways guests could damage your HVAC system and what home automation technology can do to stop it.
Guests Will Crank Up Your Thermostat Without Considering the Consequences
Is it a little hot and humid outside? Your guests will turn the air conditioner down to the coldest setting. Is the weather a touch chilly? Your guests will turn up the heat until the place feels like a sauna. Cranking the thermostat to the max like this, no matter what direction, will prematurely wear out your HVAC equipment and skyrocket your utility bills.
Fix it with a smart thermostat: A smart thermostat allows you to limit the high/low settings on your HVAC equipment so guests can’t max out your heating/AC to the point of wasting electricity and damaging your expensive equipment.
Guests Will Open Up the Windows and Air Condition the Neighborhood
Why would your guests care if they waste the air conditioning by leaving the windows open? They’re not paying the utility bill, after all. Unfortunately, this is guaranteed to happen, and it will place undue strain on your HVAC system, while costing you an arm and a leg when you get the energy bill.
Fix it with a smart HVAC system: A home automation system equipped with door and window sensors, a smart HVAC and smart thermostat keeps a close watch on “opens.” In other words, if your guests leave doors or windows open at your property, your system will know,and automatically turn the HVAC system off. That way—just like dad used to say—your guests won’t “air condition the neighborhood.” Incidentally, your smart HVAC system will also notify you if guests check out of the home with doors or windows ajar, so your staff can immediately secure the premises.
Guests Won’t Adjust the Thermostat When They Leave
It’s rare that guests adjust the thermostat to save your energy bill when they leave a vacation rental. They just won’t consider it. Your cleaning staff and other employees might not remember to do it, either. As such, most vacation rentals incur the cost of heating and cooling vacant properties as if someone were inside them.
Fix it with vacation rental automation: At PointCentral, we designed our home automation systems with vacation rentals in mind. Our vacation rental automation setups allow you to create schedules that go into effect when your properties are vacant. As soon as the guest checks out in the system, your system auto-adjusts the thermostat to save on costs until the next visitors arrive.
Guests Won’t Tell You When Something Is Wrong With Your HVAC System
Perhaps the cooling system in your HVAC unit is malfunctioning, so it barely works to keep the property cool. Your guests won’t know how it normally operates, so they’ll respond by turning the thermostat down even more—putting additional strain on your damaged system. In fact, you probably won’t even know there’s a problem until the air conditioner blows up, resulting in a more expensive repair than necessary.
Fix it with real-time alerts from your intelligent HVAC system: Smart HVAC systems are intelligent enough to know when something is wrong. They will notify you in real-time as soon as something goes amiss, so you can call the maintenance company to investigate—before a serious failure costs you a fortune.
PointCentral: Our Smart Home Systems Help Vacation Rental Owners
At PointCentral, we have automate as many aspects of vacation rental ownership as possible, and we’re continually designing new ways to benefit our customers. From small, mom-and-pop vacation rental operations to enterprise-scale property management companies, our team is available to design the home automation systems that will help you run your vacation rental business more efficiently and cost-effectively.
