Looking for Tech and tips to rent our cabin in Big Bear, CA

[Chris Kreidel]

Hello - we are buying a cabin in Big Bear Lake, CA, and will be renting it short term to help offset some costs.  Although we are a 2+ hour drive away, its not totally convenient to zip over there easily to take care of issues.  I have friends that also own a cabin down the street, and they are setting me up with good house keeper, handy man, etc.  We are looking to automate and utilize technology wherever possible, to make things both easier and more professional, safer and seamless for tenants.  Adding a camera system (outside only), wifi touchpad lock, wifi thermostat, etc are some of the simple solutions.  I have some experience with renting our Airstream on Outdoorsy/ all 5 star reviews so far. 

What I am curious is with 3rd party booking software to integrate booking sites, interface with service providers, etc.  I have seen Lodgify, iGMS, YourPorter, Lodgale, etc, and if creating a website for your specific property is worth while ( I could do this myself).  Are there any other gizmos or features that you have found useful or adding value to guests?

Any other tips and recommendations for a newbie are welcome, especially if you have experience with Big Bear!  

[Michael Baum]

Hi @Chris Kreidel, I have our Idaho lake house automated to some degree. I have a Wink 2 Z Wave hub to control everything. That includes a Emerson Sensi thermostat and Schlage Smart Connect lock.

I highly recommend a Z Wave system. It is much lower energy than WiFi and is quite reliable. I get about a year out of the batteries in the Schlage.

The Sensi is a great thermostat. Especially if you don't have a C wire and have A/C and a furnace. It uses the alternate power to work, IE: when the A/C is running, it uses the furnace power and vise versa.

I also have a few iHome monitors. They are WiFi and plug in. They provide a backup monitor for temp, humidity, sound and light in the house. I can compare the thermostat to the iHome and see if all is kosher.

You can add some WiFi or Z Wave plugs to control lights and such. I don't. I just have a LED light on inside and alternate.

Overall, you can setup the home pretty well to keep tabs on it and such. I can add codes to the lock remotely. Setup monitors for temp in case people get nutz with the A/C. The iHome shows sound so if it is quiet and the A/C is set at 60 degrees, you know it is being wasted so you can just turn it off or set it to 72 or something like that.