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One thing I have learned is never will everyone be happy....
Yep, people always seem to want technical solutions to people problems. I find that in my current field of technical security engineering also.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner
Growing up the only time the house was heated was when we had company for Christmas... never lived in a home with A/C
You must have been raised in a temperate climate. No heat in the winter would have not flown in northern Minnsota where I was raised, lol!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner
I have been known to leave inactive thermostats up just so people have something to adjust...
I have not only left inactive stats up, I have actively installed them!
For the cost, they just work too well not to do it, IMO. Johnstone Supply was a vendor I would use often, and they would advertise inexpensive false thermostats (they called them "dummy stats") for this very purpose. I would put one in a problem common area that had repeated calls for service, and once I determined it was a thermostat war, or just a fussy person, I would track my follow up rates for return service calls drop off actively.
I worked for a flat salary, and did not get paid for these annoyance calls, so I was very interested in keeping them to a minimum as they only wasted my time.
Yep... mild climate... Oakland seldom ever has a hard freeze and no one in my neighborhood as A/C
One office was to bad that I replaced the energy management system with simple stats with a 68 to 74 range... that ended my nightmare as "Anyone" could raise or lower just as well I could...
...One trick I soon learned was to install a second analog thermostat at the air handler (in series with the first), so I could control the lowest setpoint with that. People could crank the accessible inside thermostat as low as they wanted, but the second one secretly installed at the air handler would actually be setting the lowest available setpoint. ...
^^^ This.
This is a great 'low tech' solution. I've used the 'in series' thermostat at the other end of the cycle, for controlling the heat during the winter in a cold-weather climate.
During the winter I'd find thermostats on 90° but windows wide open. The windows closed once the 'back-up' thermostat was set at 74°.
If you pay for the utilities, then just lock the thermostat with a PIN and don't let them to go below 73. I don't understand people running it at 65 when it is 95 outside.
Because they want the temperature at 65 and not 73.
When I was a kid, we traveled a lot. The first thing my dad did in every hotel room was crank the AC as cold as it would go, because that's what he was comfortable with and it was "already paid for" in the cost of the room.
The reason I don't want to do a set and lock type thing is I like it at 75. But I have no problem with people who want to run it at 70 or at 77. (I've met folks who like both.)
The nest does reset the temperature when people are gone (not in the house) so when there are no renters there it is at 77.
The renters got back to my property manager and said it was cooling the house to 65, as that is the way they like it. The AC is working fine. Whew!!! That would have been really expensive. The renters did say at home they keep their house in Alabama at 63 in the summer. They apparently have way more money than I do.
I cannot tell you how many a/c people I've talked to over the years who tell me not to expect to be able to cool my house more than 20 degrees from the outside air. I don't know how hot it gets in Alabama, but here in SW Florida if I set my thermostat to 63 (96 degrees outside with high humidity) I think the a/c would break down before it dropped the temperature over 30 degrees.
What does it being a Nest thermostat have to do with anything other than the fact that you can see what temperature it's set at even when you aren't there? Would you be preventing them from changing the temperature if you had a standard thermostat in there?
Or are you trying to ask a question about Nest functionality and whether you can lock the thermostat? I'm not sure about that (although I did have a Nest) but I would feel the same way about that as I would if you put a regular thermostat into a cage like they have at some workplaces so people can't touch it. If I rented someplace from airBnB and couldn't adjust the temperature for my comfort level, you'd better believe I'd be complaining and leave a really bad review!
You could always put it in the ad to please kindly keep the T-stat temp between X and Y. Not everyone may listen but some people would. Then maybe put a small note near the T-stat reminding them to keep it between X and Y.
I'm considering raising the rates next year by $100 a month, but refunding renters $25 a week if they keep the thermostat above 72 in the summer time. If they want to go wild on the thermostat its covered. But for those more interested in the environment would be rewarded.
When I was a kid, we traveled a lot. The first thing my dad did in every hotel room was crank the AC as cold as it would go, because that's what he was comfortable with and it was "already paid for" in the cost of the room.
I often use Airbnb when I travel. I like staying in homes, but at no time do I assume it is anything other than someone else's home, where I am a guest. Perhaps I'm naive, but how long would someone hold onto their good guest rating, which would enable them to book their next stay, if they went into it trying to ensure their hosts lose money on their stay.
I'm mulling over raising the rates or putting in the information a blurb on please keep the AC/Heat set reasonably. But I do know that guests that insist on setting the AC at 65 when it is 90 out won't be returning to my house next year. I don't break even on them.
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