We used a housesitter in January who stayed twelve nights, they were solo. This month our electricity bill has come and it is £135 higher than any other winter months, months when six adults reside in the house.
I suspect the sitter had the electric heater on at max day and night 24 hrs a day for the duration of their stay. As when she left the heater a new eco electric heater was left on max.
Clearly I don’t want her to be cold but having the heater on day and night has caused this excessive bill.
I have not contacted TH about this nor the sitter as I don’t think anything can be done. We explained how the heating worked and to use it to boost the heat, not have on at night etc. How can we avoid this in the future, she was a digital nomad with no fixed base, she was middle aged. I really feel she has treated our property like a hotel and we are left to suck up the bill caused by her 24 hrs a day max heating. I dread the unaffordable bill that we would have incurred if she had stayed longer.
It has really put us off and I don’t think we will renew our membership after this bad experience.
Were your pets and home looked after otherwise? Unless you have a smart meter and can track that more power was used on those particular days it’s hard to contribute any power use solely to the sitter. After all your household may have also used more power during a cold January for whatever reason (new appliances, more heating etc). Also a digital nomad is bound to be working from home everyday (great for those can’t be away more than 4 hrs sits) and being at home they will use power. That is the bargain you strike and it still works out cheaper than a paid sitter or pet boarding. Besides explaining the power situation and maybe asking someone to turn off heating not being used etc there is not much else that can be done and I’d recommend not dwelling on it too much.
I would discuss with the sitter and state the facts as well as the amount. There is nothing wrong with asking if they’d be willing to cover part or all of the excess.
Moving forward, I would add clear notes in your welcome guide around what is acceptable regarding utilities usage so that people know there are limitations and that excessive usage has resulted in fees in the past, i.e. running an electric heater 24/7. You could also just removed the electric heater (I assume that is not the main heat source?)
The UK energy price cap rose by 5% in January and it was quite cold, as least where I am. I think this is likely to account for some of the additional cost. January is typically the most expensive month for heating in my experience. My own January bill was £70 higher than December in part because of the price rise, but also because of the heating coming on more often due to the cold (thermostat).
We heat our home with a wood burning stove, but I don’t expect that all sitters will be comfortable with using it. I have language in my welcome guide about being mindful of consumption, but I also know that everyone operates differently.
My last sitter incurred an astronomical electric bill, using the heat and the space heater we provided. But my animals were absolutely loved to bits, it was a really cold time of year, and even the sticker shock of the subsequent bill still paled in comparison to what I’d pay out of pocket for a sitter through Rover over the holidays.
My first housesit through THS was a monthlong sit in the spring - my electric bill for that month was $100 more than normal. I expected the sitter to use the heat a lot more than I would, but it was a shock. Especially as my heat was blasting when I returned home - by mutual agreement the sitter had left almost 8 hours prior to my arrival.
I just consider it part of the cost of having a “free” sitter, and assume any sits where the temperature is under 50F, I will have a big bump in electricity. I do now put in my profile and welcome guide to please turn all heat off anytime the sitter leaves the home.
ETA: @KatieKirsten I just read your other thread about this sit - it sounds like you had an inconsiderate sitter overall.
Did you take meter readings before and after the sit or at the start and end of January? If not the bill may just be an estimated bill so not an accurate reflecti0on of what was used.
Maybe an upgrade to a smart meter might help you and the next sitter manage the cost of the utilities.
Keep in mind though that if you expect a sitter to start contributing towards utilities you’d need to agree that before confirming and ideally flag it in your listing. I would never contemplate doing a 12 day sit where I had to contribute to utilities. A month or more in a great place maybe…
@KatieKirsten You “suspect” she did XYZ. You compare this months bill to other winter months rather than say the same month last year. Then you state unequivocally that her assumed usage is responsible when you don’t really have any evidence to support that claim.
Was it a colder month than other winter months? Did you look specifically at the usage when the sitter was there compared to the rest of the month or just the monthly bill which she was there for a little less than half of?
The entire house must be heated even if there is only one person.
You can avoid this by regulating thermostats. Giving specific directions for certain times of day, etc. You can even ask the sitter to pay for utilities. But most of us won’t apply for a sit where we’re sitting for free and and the HO wants us to pay for utilities that keep the house comfortable for us and their animals.
“The house has air-conditioning. We would ask you to use the ac only in the room you are in, and to switch it off when you leave the room.”
We’ve only had sitters once so far, but that seemed to work well. We knew, that the electric bill would be much more than normally (we’ve used to this climate, sitters were not!), but it was still very reasonable.
I can take heat but humidity is hard on me so I do run AC more than the homeowner or others might. I just offer upfront to take care of extra electric so I can be comfortable.
Hello @KatieKirsten I have in my welcome book to keep the heat at 68 in the Winter/cooler months, as that is what we do when we are home.
But I also add that if more warmth is needed to please not exceed 70.
I even mention that slippered feet and sweater helps with a chill.
And then hope/trust that heat request will be honored.
I once did a sit where at night I was freezing in the bed.
I even used the available electric blanket and was still cold.
I checked the thermostat and the heat auto dropped to 60.
Couldn’t do it.
I put the heat up to 66 (my home would be 68).
The 10 day sit probably showed an increase in the bill from 60 to 66 degrees for 10 nights.
I didn’t turn the heat up out of disregard or selfishness; I turned it up cuz I was cold.
I am responsible for accepting thsitters into my home.
Save for the health and well being of my cat or blatant malfeasance, sometimes things are going to happen in this exchange and I accept that and carry on.
If you’re on for a tip, here’s mine:
Next time, store your portable heaters out of sight and provide a warm, freshly laundered teddy fleece blanket and a hot water bottle to supplement the central heating.
Teddy fleece washes and dries very quickly and it’s super cosy, so it’s a good, practical option. It will keep the sitter warmer when they’re home and working/sitting down for long periods and your bills will be lower too, so everyone wins. They can also use both items overnight in bed if it gets a bit chilly.
I travel with my own hwb and blanket when I’m sitting in the UK winter. Working from home, it’s my standard setup!
@Pips absolutely! I also wear a warm hat when it’s cold (in bed too) but I’m not sure how a sitter would take to the suggestion - maybe a blanket with a hood? They do exist.
@KatieKirsten the only relevance about the sitters lifestyle choice and your heating bill could be that she had the heating during the day whilst she worked from home . I assume that you were aware that she would be working from home when you chose her ?
The benefit of choosing a sitter who works from home is that they are at home most of the time with your pets . In future you can chose a sitter who wants to visit your area for a holiday ,however they will inevitably spend less time at home with your pets.
Also was this in the UK ? There are recently many news reports about utility companies incorrectly billing. So (without more information) this higher than expected bill is not necessarily anything to do with the sitter’s consumption of electricity.
Few people (especially the experienced and competent sitters out there) are going to be wanting to sit for someone who tells them to rug up and sleep with a hat on if they are cold (talk about being made to feel like the unpaid help). It’s worth calling out that for every HO on here saying that their sitters use ‘too much’ power there will be HOs who might want heating or aircon or fans being left on so their pet is comfortable. Sitters are trying to balance these extremes and unless you are clear, and kind, when telling us where on that spectrum you are we may just have to be guided by our own experiences or values. btw I travel with a HWB in winter and an ice cube tray in summer and no one has ever accused me of running up the power bill but unless everything else about the sit (location, pets, dates) was amazing I wouldn’t bother applying if I thought someone was going to do a month on month analysis of utilities used and send me a bill for my share.
