I sympathise here.I too include electricity/gas/wood in the price but I don't have cheap winter prices because of this.I try not to let in winter either! I must say if I had been your guest I would have been cross. You write " so I let myself in an found that they had turned the heating up to 23oc, left the windows open upstairs and gone out (in fact they are still out now at 7 o'clock in the evening) so if I hadn't gone in and turned it down, it would have been chugging away trying to get to 23oc all this time and burning very expensive oil needlessly. ". If I found the owner had let themselves in and turned the heating down I would be annoyed. You are lucky they weren't? I know it was wrong of them but they are on holiday and people behave differently when they think they've paid for it, they may as well have it!! Annoying, harmful for our Planet, but true!
www.thepetitmanoir.com
Heating
I don't believe that just because people are on holiday they have a right to behave just as they please with complete disregard for the property owners or the property.
This is the first time that I have ever gone into the property when people have been out and only went in because the boiler, which has quite a loud ventouse was literally firing non-stop, as far as I knew, it was malfunctioning. I left the note because we generally don't see them, they get up after we have gone out and are out when we get back and usually late into the evening.
I challenge anyone living on site and knowing that something like this is happening, not to at least investigate. I don't know if they were annoyed by my note, but I really don't feel particularly concerned. If they are going to treat the property with this type of disregard then I don't want them back, so what is lost? I would be annoyed if I had rented a cottage and an owner let themselves in for no good reason, but then I would never go out and leave the heating on high with all the windows open so there would not be the need.
This is the first time that I have ever gone into the property when people have been out and only went in because the boiler, which has quite a loud ventouse was literally firing non-stop, as far as I knew, it was malfunctioning. I left the note because we generally don't see them, they get up after we have gone out and are out when we get back and usually late into the evening.
I challenge anyone living on site and knowing that something like this is happening, not to at least investigate. I don't know if they were annoyed by my note, but I really don't feel particularly concerned. If they are going to treat the property with this type of disregard then I don't want them back, so what is lost? I would be annoyed if I had rented a cottage and an owner let themselves in for no good reason, but then I would never go out and leave the heating on high with all the windows open so there would not be the need.
We rent ours from April - September, and get our caretaker to turn the heating off at the boiler (in a locked cupboard) when the weather hots up, usually end April/May, and leave wood foc for the two fires should they feel chilly in the evenings.
The locking of the cupboard was a result of a family turning the heating on in July with temperatures of 30+ outside and switching on our only electric radiator in the downstairs bathroom to dry pool towels.
In that heat towels would have dried very quickly outside and the temperature inside would have been unbearabily hot. They declined the rental of Air Conditioning units, just wonder how they managed to sleep in that heat?
Seems that certain quests feel they've paid the rental and going to use everything.
They left a glowing entry in the visitors book and the house was spotlessly clean on their departure, so would have them back again, with the cupboard locked next time.
The locking of the cupboard was a result of a family turning the heating on in July with temperatures of 30+ outside and switching on our only electric radiator in the downstairs bathroom to dry pool towels.
In that heat towels would have dried very quickly outside and the temperature inside would have been unbearabily hot. They declined the rental of Air Conditioning units, just wonder how they managed to sleep in that heat?
Seems that certain quests feel they've paid the rental and going to use everything.
They left a glowing entry in the visitors book and the house was spotlessly clean on their departure, so would have them back again, with the cupboard locked next time.
I would find 20 degrees too low. I like to be comfortable and although I may wear extra clothing I would not want to wear heavy jumpers in the house. However, there is no excuse for having the heating on and leaving windows open. Do you write anything in your welcome notes about the heating. We have air conditioning and we ask people to ensure that the windows and doors are closed and that it is not left on when they are out. Whether they do or not is another matter
We once had a couple who asked if the air conditioning could be set at below 16oC as they came from the Orkneys and liked it cold! As suggested by our friends here on LMH we just had to go with it being on 16 all the time. In the end though they didn't use that much extra electricity.
I read the meter after every guest just to give me an idea of usage. Most people do not seem to abuse it, but when the occassional guests does I find myself getting up tight. But then I calm down as it evens itself out in the end.
We once had a couple who asked if the air conditioning could be set at below 16oC as they came from the Orkneys and liked it cold! As suggested by our friends here on LMH we just had to go with it being on 16 all the time. In the end though they didn't use that much extra electricity.
I read the meter after every guest just to give me an idea of usage. Most people do not seem to abuse it, but when the occassional guests does I find myself getting up tight. But then I calm down as it evens itself out in the end.
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I challenge anyone living on site and knowing that something like this is happening, not to at least investigate
I have to say that I agree with Fraise, I have never and would never (short of seeing the house on fire or another such emergency) let myself in when the guests were out. I would wait till they got back, knock on the door and have a friendly chat about the problem. As far as I'm concerned they have paid for the property and it is theirs for the rental period, I don't have access unless invited in! I am very consious about living on site and try and keep a low profile as much as possible. As a renter I would feel very annoyed that an owner entered the house whilst I had paid for it.
I have to say that I agree with Fraise, I have never and would never (short of seeing the house on fire or another such emergency) let myself in when the guests were out. I would wait till they got back, knock on the door and have a friendly chat about the problem. As far as I'm concerned they have paid for the property and it is theirs for the rental period, I don't have access unless invited in! I am very consious about living on site and try and keep a low profile as much as possible. As a renter I would feel very annoyed that an owner entered the house whilst I had paid for it.
Susan,
Thats right. We just take the reading before and after and multiply by the kw rate. Its very straight forward - its actually two readings for peak and off peak, easy enough.
It works great and our experience is that people work pretty hard to conserve when they are on a meter. We only do this between October to April.
Thats right. We just take the reading before and after and multiply by the kw rate. Its very straight forward - its actually two readings for peak and off peak, easy enough.
It works great and our experience is that people work pretty hard to conserve when they are on a meter. We only do this between October to April.
My wife had to go into our big house once as it has a lot of storage space in the roof for some reason she found some of the children had been in there and they had been playing with matches it was probably devine intervention. Its not only the adults that are giving their brains a holiday.
On the heatting I adjust it from the inside of the machine and the leave the broken control in place as Alan says it makes them feel in control
On the heatting I adjust it from the inside of the machine and the leave the broken control in place as Alan says it makes them feel in control
Well, they've gone, they had a lovely time, they didn't mind a bit about us turning the heating down, in fact they seemed to completely understand the fact that we are doing this to make a living and not just to make people happy on holiday (although we do try our upmost to do that too).
They loved the area and were talking about coming back here later in the year for a househunting trip. We certainly would welcome them back with open arms (and a concealed thermostat!!).
They loved the area and were talking about coming back here later in the year for a househunting trip. We certainly would welcome them back with open arms (and a concealed thermostat!!).
When we first started renting the electricity was included..but we found people on holiday are not as 'energy conscious' as they would be in their own homes. The turn point for us was when we had a 2 week booking (2004) and the electricity consumed in the 2 weeks amounted to 4 weeks usage! When we did the linen change, the pool lights, a/c, fans were all on..and they were out for the day!
We then decided to give an allowance of 150Kw (average use) per week and anything over would be charged at 0.15p per kw. Amazing....once that was introduced no-one has abused the electricity usage!
We then decided to give an allowance of 150Kw (average use) per week and anything over would be charged at 0.15p per kw. Amazing....once that was introduced no-one has abused the electricity usage!