Hi, I’ve had a couple of sitters now who have left heaters on continuously 24/7 during their stay, increasing my electricity usage by about 500%. I have gas central heating on a timer that comes on early morning and evening, and also air conditioners that can act as heaters, which can be used as a top-up during the day. I explain all this clearly and request that sitters use them sparingly and not to run them all the time. However twice now the sitters have run them all night and day- in addition to the central heating- and even left them running once they’ve departed, which is just wasteful and extremely expensive. I’m not sure how to deal with it because I don’t want to make people feel paranoid about turning on the heating when they arrive, but it’s got to the point where I’m thinking of not using TH anymore and just paying someone to come and feed my cat, because it’ll be cheaper. Anybody else had this problem and found a way to deal with it amicably?
There are lots of threads about this exact topic on the THS forum, so you can “search” for those and hear more opinions.
Also for context, it would be helpful for all the readers to understand where you live, and the length of the sit.
5 times your normal bill is a lot!!! Of course, you want your sitters to be comfortable, but that sounds excessive. There must be some way to come to a compromise with future sitters.
Hi there, completely understand your worry. We have the same problem living in a very old house with very thick walls, gets quite chilly in winter and damp undecided weather times. They reap many benefits when it’s 35+ outside in the summer as it is like walking in to air con, but can still be 23+ internally. So when we have guests we say use the heating to your comfort but please turn down, and stop the log burning when not required, as have you! What I realise is that with THS being so international and world wide is one persons cool is anothers freezing and reverse for heat. Having travelled the world myself I realise it does take the body some time to acclimatise to conditions, maybe something to think about when selecting your sitters? Maybe adjust your settings to accommodate the sitters nationality?
I love @Drew ‘s answer: we truly are an international community, what’s warm for you may be cold for me, I may not realize how expensive heating is where you live.
Choosing people from your own country or region might be best.
So the HOs get to travel internationally but not the sitters? Not sure that I find that equitable @Peonie19
Hi @kathjeffer,
Welcome to the forum.
I don’t think selecting sitters from certain nationalities will prevent this. Being clear about the temperature in the house, your expectations and the previous experience with excessive use may help find a better match.
Maybe ask during video chatting how the sitters have handled heating and cooling before. That way, depending on how credibly and responsibly they answer, you’ll be better able to make an informed choice. And of course, explain in your welcome guide and during handoff, to reinforce.
We live in the tropics, so it’s the use of (not central) aircon here.
We’ve gone with sitters, who have been travelling SE Asia before, and most have been staying in the area for some weeks or months before coming to us.
Our reasoning here has not been to save in ac costs, but now that I think of it, it does help. We know, that sitters always use more ac than we, and that’s perfectly fine. All we ask, is that they only run the ac in the room they are in and switch it off when leaving the room. We do not set any limits on how cold they can run it.
That’s worked well. Only once did we come home to ac running and sliding doors to the garden open in the same room 
The sitter was still there. I don’t know what went on in their head, but it seems that was the only time they did it, and the electricity bill was in the normal (sit time) limits.
I’m saying this as a possible solution for HO’s who have issues with increased heating (or cooling) costs. It’s not a blanket statement that need apply to the entirety of the sitter and house owner pools.
I could have phrased that better: “you may find a better match in someone who’s more used to the climate of where you live”. Or “ you could mention payment of utilities in case they exceed a certain threshold in the listing”.
As long as one doesn’t clearly state temperatures and timing it will be unclear and up to each and everyone to interpret based on their own experience.
I don’t understand what it means that a heater is turned on morning and evening - that implies that it is turned off again. How long? That could make sense if oneself is going to work during the day - but sitters would often be (expected) to be home. So already there one would have more heating needed.
In addition, some hosts are very frugal, some way over what health authorities recommend. If one sit in ones coat with an electric blanket in 16°C (I’ve heard 14 also) a sitter can not be expected to. Advice might vary, but recommended indoor temp in winter will many places be 20°C, at least 18°. Regarding terms of THS, I would say the recommended indoor temp. should be the minimum for a sit - not lower, even if it is the habit of the host. Personally, I was very frugal living in an old house, we put on a sweater rather than turn up the heat, but I wouldn’t expect guests to and always turned the heat up expecting guests. (If someone is used to sit inside in a coat with a single heater and can not afford a recommended indoor temp. it might be so that THS is not a good solution as one is not able to provide a mutual exchange).
One could ofc ask what indoor temp sitter is used to and how they handle temp. management.
In my opinion, the best way is to be clear on temp. and times, with a minimum of for instance 20° (for winter. My lowest for A/C is 25°C as I was adviced many years ago), and one could say that the sitter could heat to their own comfort and pay the excess. Many have great apps to monitor usage so it could be easy to monitor for the sitter.
It could be an idea to give a hint in the listing, so sitters self-select out if they are not comfortable. Be mindful, though, with wording so sitters you want don’t opt out.
But please keep in mind that many sitters stay in the home when the host normally wouldn’t. Because host is at work or other (or even vacate the property in the coldest/ hottest time, I have seen many such sits where property is left to sitters in the most extreme months weatherwise). Sitters are paying members and should be able to not only stay in the home, but enjoy it. It is literally in the terms of service.
As a sitter, I would appreciate this info in the listing instead of the welcome guide. At a minimum, during the application process. I would rather go to a different country and pay for a month worth of Airbnb versus being too hot or cold at a sit.
First and foremost you should want your sitter to be comfortable. But as @Drew said sitters use of hearing/cooling can differ greatly based on origin. All you can really do is set out clearly your desire that the sitter not misuse the heating but be ready to accept the inevitable situations were they use more than you do and or forget to turn it off. Another thing you can do is automate the system to turn off when no one is home (assuming that’s ok for your pet). We had an airbnb in the Philippines that would turn off AC when no presence was detected for more that thirty minutes. Good luck.
I totally agree1
We recently applied for a UK sit where central heating was listed as an amenity. During our video chat, the HO informed us that the heating was programmed to come on for 2 hours in the morning and 3 in the evening. He said he would leave a fan heater for us to use if we were cold during the day. it’s been very chilly here, just recently…we declined the sit offer.
Although we would likely be out and about for some of each day, the expectation for us to utilise a fan heater just spoke volumes.
The minimum indoor temperature recommended by the WHO for healthy individuals is 18°C (64.4°F). However, the WHO also cites 21°C (70°F) as a comfortable temperature, which is also the recommendation in most European countries.
Thanks for source, @august !
This is a tough one because, as others have mentioned, everyone’s tolerance level for cold or heat is varied. I can’t sleep if it’s too hot in the bedroom. I do travel with a mini fan I can clip on and point at my head but if it’s a tropical climate then AC in the bedroom is essential for sleep in my case.
We also have sat in Southern California in winter when it was unusually cold in a large old house and were asked to keep the thermostat very low. We were SO cold and uncomfortable that the next time we went, I brought fleece blankets with us. They did offer us space electric heaters to help and we did do our best to keep the thermostat low but they went as far as to send us a photo of their heating bill the month before our arrival to complain about prices to us. This felt like overkill and made us very uneasy. (not a THS sit, btw, another platform)
After sitting for them 3 times we aren’t going back.
I was a bit shocked at my electric bill after my first sit - twice the usual amount, not 5 times!! - but it was winter, and I knew my sitter was coming from a much warmer location. The only part that made me 
was that the heat was blasting when I arrived home, a good 8 hours after the sitter had departed (pre-arranged).
I now describe heating and cooling in my profile, and I’ve discussed with sitters during handover to please make sure to turn the heat off when they leave. Hasn’t been a problem since (knock wood).