Across the globe every property manager, homeowner, and rental resident is feeling the impact of rising energy costs. From the US which is predicted to see a 12% increase to Europe which is already suffering from a 29% inflation rate, everyone is looking for solutions to cut costs during these challenging times.
Whether you manage a small portfolio of short-term rental properties or have a big enterprise of multifamily units, energy tariff increases will impact your revenue significantly. But what can be done? You can’t reduce the cost of energy, right?
Of course not, but there are measures you can take as a property manager to help your business not only survive the upcoming challenges but thrive regardless of them.
Property technology such as smart thermostats can reduce energy costs by 15-23%. This is a hopeful statistic for many property managers wondering how they’ll face the 10-30% inflation of energy costs. Let’s look at how this automated software can turn the next year into a profitable one…
How smart thermostats help cut rental energy costs
- Optimize heating
Smart thermostats have redefined how property managers oversee their properties’ energy consumption. With the advanced IoT-connected technology, you can access, adjust, monitor, and customize the temperature of your units remotely from anywhere through a mobile app.
Not that you’d need to manually adjust the temperature of your properties to optimize consumption costs – the thermostat can do this for you.
Simply input minimum and maximum temperature limits into the command center, and the software will consistently keep your properties within this range. This stops rental guests from exceeding the desired maximum temperature and racking up your bills! The device even allows you to set schedules so you can optimize heating based on the time of day.
What’s more, on extremely cold days, smart thermostats will respond by adjusting themselves for maximum energy efficiency.
- Reduce waste
This automated software is a tech-forward alternative to throwing away money. Gone are the days of residents accidentally leaving the heating on high when on vacation. With a smart thermostat fitted with humidity sensors, you can reduce any overuse of electricity and heating – and be alerted when something out of the ordinary happens.
Cut down on costs by simply addressing the basics. Let’s imagine your properties will be vacant for a few days between guests or while residents move out and in. Without a smart thermostat, you’d have zero control over the property’s temperature (unless you went to the rental in person).
But with a smart thermostat installed, you can remotely set the rental’s temperature high enough to protect the property (like stopping water pipes from freezing in the winter) but low enough to avoid pumping unnecessary heat into an unoccupied room or building.
A PointCentral smart thermostat can even detect an open window or door in a property and will send an alert to property managers while automatically adjusting the temperature.
- Record consumption
Let’s not forget an often overlooked benefit of smart thermostats. The automated software collects consumption data and constantly analyzes this to provide you (and your residents) with tips to improve energy efficiency.
The recorded data enables the remote system monitoring technology to recognize when your energy usage changes, alerting you to possible faults in your HVAC machine. Thanks to this, you can spot damages early on and save on costly repairs.
What’s more, when multifamily rental residents have the app installed on their mobile devices, the cutting-edge technology can follow their location and go into energy-efficiency mode when no one is near the property.
Residents and guests will pay more for smart home tech
Another considerable benefit of installing a smart thermostat into your short-term rental or multifamily unit is that most residents and guests are willing to pay more for tech-forward alternative accommodations.
Our Property Management Insights Report findings demonstrate that 1 in 5 rental residents believe smart home tech is a must-have apartment feature. In addition, over two-thirds of residents said they’d be willing to pay a premium of $10 – $20 per month to have these tech advancements in their homes.
So, the future is bright for property managers – especially when you can combat rising energy costs with innovative technology, such as smart thermostats, to cut down on energy costs and even raise rents for these features.
To learn more about how you can manage your properties seamlessly with PointCentral’s Smart Home Management, click here
