Smart thermostats? Worth it?

[Josh Coffy]

Or cabin in Gatlinburg is rented 80-90% of the time. I’m wondering how much a smart thermostat could save us. Does anyone have any numbers or feedback on having one? Thanks!

[Andrew Wong]

How much is your utility bill? I figure it should be one your higher expenses if you feel you need to limit temperature usage.

[Avery Carl]

Hey!  We have 5 cabins out there as well.  We use smart thermostats on all of them that have wifi and it helps a TON.  If a guest says "the AC isn't working" or something to that affect, you can go on there and see if they have accidentally turned on the heat, etc.

[Josh Coffy]

Avery Carl - what thermostat do you use?

That’s a good point! We have our locks linked with Iris, so I was considering the thermostats. Our electric bill is like $200/ mo on average. Did you see. Decline in utility cost when you switched?

[Avery Carl]

We actually installed them from the beginning, so I don't know what the bill would have been without them, but our electric bills are closer to the $120/month range.

[Mike McCarthy]

I would think it would help for times that there aren't people in the house. Chances are they will leave the heat/AC on, and if you have a down-week, you can just log in and drop the temp to a reasonable level.

I would make sure you can install the thermostat with a 'C' wire. Many smart thermostats say you can install it without power from the furnace, but this just means it's running off batteries. And wifi connectivity eats the batteries.

I have one in my house and I need to replace the batteries about monthly to keep it connected to wifi.

[Glen R.]

I installed a couple in my cabin in Ellijay and they are great! I have the Honeywell wifi version and I log in right after people check out and change the temperature if they forget to. I also raise the temperature around lunch time on check in day so the place is nice and cozy when they get there.

I have also been known to go in and raise the a/c to the low 70's a few times when I saw it in the 60's! I have three floors and two are on smart thermostats. I am going to pick up a 3rd soon with the ability to set limits so I can make sure people don't abuse the HVAC. We all know how warm a place can get when they leave the doors open and then feel the need to crank the a/c!

[Avery Carl]

@Glen R. exactly!  We use it to help keep an eye on the energy guests are using, as they are known to get a fire going in the fireplace for ambiance and then blast the AC.  We use the Honeywells also.  The Nests are cool and all but you have to have a separate account for each property on their app and log in and out.  With the Honeywell you can use one account across multiple properties.

We were actually even able to get out in front of an HVAC issue by just keeping an eye on the temperature.  We noticed that it was 90 outside, the guest had it set to 70, and the temp was 80.  We were able to call an HVAC guy to go take a look before the guest even noticed to complain.  Super helpful.

[Jason K.]

Just gifted our renters with the new third gen Nest thermostat. They were beyond excited as they pay the electric bill :) We felt it was worth $179.
Win - Win we feel

[Jason K.]

Excuse me $250 for 3rd gen Nest

[Luke Carl]

Honeywell T5 all the way for VRs. Nest is too complicated for people who don't have one in their own home. T5 looks and acts like an old school thermostat but is digital. It's also half the price of a nest. 

I have one nest and get messages about it all the time because people aren't smart enough to turn it. In the VR world the less messages from dumb people the better. 

The above was stated with nothing but peace and love for all of our beautiful vacationers. 

[Eric A.]

Josh Coffy if you are getting 90% occupancy rates you are definitely charging enough. As for a wifi thermostat we always use a Nest. Looking into something that we can interface with Alexa so we can have cleaning people turn things down by voice. Let you know when I figure that out.

Best Regards,
Eric

[Nancy Bachety]

@Josh Coffy

Where are your str in gaitlinsburg and are they sfh or condo’s? I’m looking to go somewhere north of FL and not on the coast. I like greenville, sc and the lakes around there and I like pigeon forge and tn in general too.

[Solange Moore]

I found an article in Richard's blog, I think it will be useful to you.

[Max T.]

I was patient but jumped at a Nest when my utility company offered a $100 discount promo.

[Mark Futalan]

Definitely worth it. My VR’s are in the desert and if we didn’t have a smart thermostat, most guests would turn down the AC to its max which can compromise your AC system. We use the nest and set it up so it’s locked within a preset range and put it on ECO mode once they check out. Most guests are fine with that.

[Dan Bunker]

My rentals are all 3 hours away so anything I can do to manage things remotely are at the top of my list. I put Nests in first thing along with z-wave remote configurable/controllable locks. Not sure if it saves me money or not but it makes my life easier so it's totally worth it.