Do you have air conditioning in your hostel? Rens van Meegen asked this question about controlling your costs while running air conditioners:
For those of you operating in hotter climates:
What is your AC policy? Switched on during which hours and at what set temperatures?
Is it reasonable to switch it on in the dorms between 8pm and 10 am at a temperature of around 23-25 degrees celsius? While the common room has AC all during the day?
Thank you!
A big Thank You to Beata Baltavari, Unitor Amine, Martin Lobert, Hikmet Tanur, Salem Orion and Juan Velasquez Correa for offering your thoughts on the issue! Their experiences and suggestions are summarized below:
- We never used AC during the night because people got a cold by the morning, blocked nose, ears.. i would use AC in the late afternoon and evening hours and put ceiling fans slow speed for the night
- We installed a roof fan so we continuously circulate fresh air. Probably much needed when the temperature doesn’t drop below 30C at night. I don’t think we can get away with switching the AC off since it would be too hot to sleep
- Use a moderate temperature like 24-25. Provide light blankets.
- 10pm-10am for the dorms, our common areas get a lot of crosswind and good silent fans.
- There are these timers you can buy, basically you plug the ac to it and then plug it to your outlet and forget about, it will turn itself on and off.
- Definitely want to prevent guests arguing over the temperature which is bound to happen in a room with multiple people. 23-26C should work for everyone.
- Buy a universal remote. Program each unit. And keep it locked away.
- For a bit of extra power saving make sure to regularly clean your filters, that you can do yourself. And it is totally not waste of money to bring in a technician sometime before your hot season to check all your units.
- Buy A+++ efficiency one. And charge 3-5 Euro for AC remote.
- All our dorms have AC during the hot season only, from 10pm to 8am. Never during the day, never in common rooms. Tell the guest to get out and explore the city or beach. The manager turns them on and off so we don't ever have broken or lost remotes. The operating hours are up to you and your building's ability to hold temperature and your city.
- There are a few apps that allow people to connect to them and turn them on/off without the remote. I've never had an issue because we turn them off and on through the breaker switches. We turn them on when it's time and off when it's time.
How do you deal with the temperature in the hot season to keep your guests comfortable without breaking the bank?
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