Managing High Electricity Costs at Rental Villas

whynot


Joined: 05/07/2007
Posts: 12

Message Posted:
25/08/2008 12:02

Last month our electicity bill at our villa that we rent out was over 1220YTL. We mention about the overuse of air-conditioning to our guests, but to no avail. Would it be possible to install a meter inside the villa so that guests could pay as they go for electricity? Or does anyone have any other ideas?

trevor


Joined: 02/04/2008
Posts: 244

Message Posted:
25/08/2008 12:18

How do,

I was thinking of reducing the rental, taking a bond and having the meter read before and after and deducting it from the bond.

colly


Joined: 31/07/2008
Posts: 297

Message Posted:
25/08/2008 12:49

That could work Trevor. What ever way the people in the rental villa must be responsible for the cost otherwise they will not bother about switching off.

We gave up renting due to the tax (UK and TRNC) , overheads and hassle.

Col

TracyF


Joined: 17/05/2008
Posts: 70

Message Posted:
25/08/2008 12:50

We have just stayed in a rented villa in Lapta and paid the rental and then the electricity on top of that when we returned.

The property management company took the readings before and after our stay and then we were billed £210 for our 2 weeks stay.

Notsoboredhw


Joined: 15/03/2007
Posts: 1254

Message Posted:
25/08/2008 13:01

Tracy - I wonder how much the people who you rented your villa from knew how much to charge because this is something I would be interested to find out.

gillken


Joined: 25/05/2008
Posts: 521

Message Posted:
25/08/2008 13:03

We have stayed at Villas in the past and they have charged per use of each AC unit at so much per night per unit.



The units were operated by a simple change of socket on the wall, the new wall sockets instead of having an external switch (when you turn on a light AC ) but an internal switch and a little key that would be put into a tiny slit that makes it possible to turn on and off the unit simply.

lovingcyprus


Joined: 02/03/2007
Posts: 1272

Message Posted:
25/08/2008 14:08

Within the rental that you charge you could allow a certain sum as an allowance for the people who rent the villa.



When at your villa run the air-con for say 4 hours and note the amount of electricity you have used then (lets say it is 3 units) if you assume that the duration of a night is 8 hours the units used would then be 6.



So if your villa has 3 bedrooms the usage for a week would be 18 units to this add some extra units for general usage and let the clients know that any usage above that level will be charge and deducted from a bond you will take from the client. Suggest that the clients read the meter on arrival and departure so that they can verify the number of units used. You would of course have to ensure that your property management company also read the meter on clients arrival and departure (any discrepancy of a few units could easily be ignored). You will have to ascertain the cost of a unit of electricity.



Adopting this policy will soon stop clients running the air-con all day, if they do clearly they will pay.

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
16/03/2009 16:08

We can supply and fit pound coin operated meters next to your existing fuse board. We only connect the a/c and electric immersion heater to this meter. When the money runs out the a/c and/or immersion heater shut down. Subject to survey the cost of this mod is 300 quid.

lucienne


Joined: 29/01/2009
Posts: 129

Message Posted:
16/03/2009 16:38

Hi,

We solved the problem by fitting switches which turn off the immersian heater and the airconditioning units after 1/2 an hour 1 hour. We got ours from

Sola air over the internet. They will supply in the uk or to TRNC. i could probably bring some out when I come over in a fortnight if it helps anyone.

cattywatty


Joined: 09/02/2008
Posts: 78

Message Posted:
16/03/2009 17:21

Are these run back timers reasonably easy to fit to air conditioners and immersion heaters. My other half is a dab hand with DIY but I would like to know what I am talking about before i tell him about them!

Jonesy299


Joined: 07/02/2009
Posts: 367

Message Posted:
16/03/2009 17:36

I spent some time during recent stays to work out average holiday electricity useage / costs. It was approx £50 per week (£60 per week if all bedrooms booked). We account for this as part of our fees.



We advise our guests that aircon should be used sparingly / costs are high and that excessive use may result in some / all of their 'breakages' surcharge (normally refundable) being used to cover costs. We deal directly with our guests and ask them (politely) to monitor their use (and most have been very good and understood our requirements). The message is - build up a friendly relationship with the people your are renting to and they might play by the rules.



We then get our property manager to note the start / end meter readings and we can quickly calculate whether additional charges are needed. Two years on and we have never had to charge extra!

Dennis


Joined: 25/08/2008
Posts: 14

Message Posted:
16/03/2009 18:27

They are usually very easy to fit just a case of removing the front of the existing spur and replacing it with the timer just 3 wires and an earth. If you look on the solaair web site http://www.solaair.com you can see a picture.

brandy sour


Joined: 09/04/2008
Posts: 310

Message Posted:
16/03/2009 20:09

We have rented many Villas and apartments on our visit to see our progress of our apartment we do try not to use the air-con to much but when it is hot out there it is very difficult . Owners who charge rental and the air con is separate this will put me off straight the way you can not always control how many times you switch the air con on if it is needed.

Lilli



Joined: 21/07/2008
Posts: 13081

Message Posted:
16/03/2009 21:04

many of my customers complianed to me that they were paying more tan they received in rental as people would leave the ac on and they were faced with hugh bills. some of the above ideas are good and i will pass onxxxxx

chezzi


Joined: 12/03/2009
Posts: 162

Message Posted:
16/03/2009 23:18

I had the pleasure of a £750 elec bill last August, as previous posters say, it really is not worth renting out in the summer, I do always ask people to be considerate, but am not sure if they simply dont care or think we exagerate!!



Has anyone seen these card meters:

http://www.stephenpwales.co.uk/Product/card/home_cards4.htm

They are not using the card/fob method, but previously purchased cards which load units to the meter. We could give the guests some as an initial credit and then housekeepers would sell more to them as required, the cards are programmed to only work in your own meter and can be purchased in bulk (quite cheaply) from the supplier of these meters. Are they any good? Has anyone any experience of these?