@temba upon reflection I added this same message to the end of that other conversation. Communicate, communicate, communicate! 
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@Tomma I have seen the same ad! It’s unusual to ask the house sitter to pay for electricity, but not unheard of, particularly for longer sits . However, I have seen this most often where it was purely a house sit and there were no animals. I guess it is down to the sitter as to whether it’s something they are comfortable with. It seems to me that it may feel like less of a mutual exchange where you are looking after someone’s pets (and therefore saving on kennel/ cattery fees and ensuring the animals are well looked after in their own environment), while also contributing to bills.
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@toml How did you find faculty taking sabbaticals? We have thought about this option in San Francisco, in order to spend time with family there for an extended period of time, but I don’t know how to approach this. Any advice would be great! There are several universities in the area.
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Yeah, definitely should be a mutual exchange!
I’m also very mindful about the electricity and gas that I use as I treat every home I stay in as my own for that period of time. For example, I am in a big house right now and one night got really cold and extra layers didn’t help anymore so I thought, ok, I’ll put heating for an hour, but first I went and turned down the radiators in all the other rooms that I don’t use and closed all doors. And since I am alone staying here their bills will probably be less than usual because it’s normally two of them here.
P.s. for that particular sit we are talking about - I didn’t even plan to apply because there’s just a low-quality photo of the dog and no photos of indoors 
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Agree completely! I like the phrase ‘heat the person, not the home’ so I have a very efficient heated throw and cosy layers and put the heating on when it is particularly cold, but only for a little while. I think sitters who take advantage of someone else’s home and whack the heating up are in the minority. I remember talking to an Airbnb owner who said that sometimes people would vacate and leave the lights on. I was aghast!
Perhaps I’m making assumptions, but it seems that asking for money for bills when you are there to look after animals and property is slightly undermining the role of a house sitter. It looks like that particular sit has been taken down so perhaps they’ve found someone who wasn’t concerned about this!
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I’m really shocked to hear that goes on. We’ve never been asked to contribute towards any bills and, in fact, it costs sitters money to travel to the owner’s home.
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Hi @Caroline99. Welcome to the community forum. I’m glad you found us and have jumped into the conversations. I also have never been asked to chip in to pay utilities for a sit, even for long ones in the winter. I can understand why, as so many homeowners have discussed here, a homeowner might want to make that part of the deal. And that’s ok, it just means that many of us won’t apply for their sits. All expectations should be communicated up front in the listing and as part of the video call.
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Try searching “sabbatical homes,” there are a few paid sites that offer this kind of exchange.
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In the last 2 days I have seen 2 sits published in France where the sitter is asked to pay for utilities above 40 or 50 euros, this during the month of December or January. Is this normal and have those sits been accepted by THS? As even before the energy crisis these sums where to low to cover the minimum energy bills.
@Lieve I wouldn’t say this is typical, no. However, if you have viewed the ads, perhaps they have been published without THS knowing of the request for contributions (or perhaps they are aware and it is allowed). In my experience of seeing ads that ask for money towards bills, they tend to be long term (i.e. I am aware of one currently that is a year in length), no pets or only one animal. Admittedly, of those I have seen, the request for contributions seems very fair as someone is being offered accommodation for an extended period without many (or any) animals to look after. However, if it was only for a month or so, that is more unusual.
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Both sits where with animals and it was only mentioned in the responsibilities. Of the second one I have taken screenshots. I live myself in the south of Spain and even on the lowest times my energy bill was higher. Both sits are for 3 or 4 weeks.
It is quite unusual, but I don’t believe it is against THS policy. It is however against the principle of ‘mutual exchange’ since the sitter is being asked to look after animals as well as contribute money. Perhaps someone else will be able to confirm.
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I would propose a simple solution - if no one applies for sits that require the sitter to pay for utilities it will resolve the issue.
I would suggest owners consider the costs of putting a dog into kennels when thinking about doing this.
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It’s allowed on THS but not very common and I agree that it’s against the spirit of house sitting (unless there are no pets to care for). It’s good that they mention it already in the listing and even give an exact amount.
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Morning all from France… and just to clarify, as @Timmy says, it is permitted under these guidelines which I’ve quoted below, from the THS Help Desk pages…
Who pays the utility bills during a sit?
It is rare for a pet parent to ask for contributions to utility bills, however, if this is the case, this is something that should be arranged, negotiated and agreed upon between both members, prior to a sit being confirmed and is a private arrangement between members.
For the longer duration sits we normally recommend a discussion and agreement is made on this subject as early as possible in the process and prior to the sitter being confirmed, to avoid any confusion.
This is a long thread now that covers many perspectives on this topic. We ourselves (as mentioned a long way up this conversation) are currently on a long term sit (in 2nd year) with no pets, and have mutually agreed to pay for electric and wood - it’s an ongoing arrangement until the owners can return to sell up. It suits us and allows us to continue pet sitting also outside summer months.
In this case we still feel we have a very favourable exchange. The owners paid all the utilities originally when the expectation was for a 3 month sit. When it was clear this was able to be extended, we felt it fair to us both to discuss this and reach an agreement that suited both parties.
For a short term sit this isn’t something we’d consider and we would hope the home and pet owners would appreciate the value exchange that exists here on this platform. The most important thing is that this is mentioned up front, then sitters have the choice. If it’s not for you, you can quickly move on by. It’s likely that pet boarding will also increase in price, given rising inflation, so having in-home sitters is still likely to represent a considerable saving.
I do think this is a topic that may become more prevalent over this winter, especially in Europe where fuel shortages are likely and costs considerably higher. I’ll be travelling everywhere with my nice warm fleece blanket 
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I live in Florida now. Two years ago my monthly electric bill ran about $180 in the summer, $80 in the winter. I put a pool in last year and it went up to about $225 in the summer, $150 in the winter. Then, prices went up this year and my electric is up to $325 in the summer, winter remains to be seen. Gas is consistently low, but has increased from about $20/month to about $30.
Even still, I would never ask a pet-sitter to contribute to these costs. The only thing I do is tell them that I do not heat the pool in the winter as its too expensive. They’re free to use the hot tub though.
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I am not a sitter but I live in France and would not dream of asking for money, in fact we usually offer money for car fuel to our sitters as we don’t walk our girls from the house we drive to their walking sites, a car in included in the sit but fuel is so expensive. I really don’t get that at all.
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I won’t ask a house sitter to pay for an energy bill but I am making it clear to not use all my radiators because this apartment of mine is overly packed with them. I honestly didn’t even think about it until this year when a friend of mine from France told me he believes his building expects to pay something like 1000% more in energy bills this winter. This sounded very confusing but then I see more owners in France are already asking sitters to pay for energy bills and I’m also on another website for home exchanges and I already read users in France not willing to exchange homes during this winter because they can’t trust guests with their energy bills. 
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I agree. I recently saw a site where a couple were asking for £400 a month contributions. They had put their profession in the profile and it was a lucrative one so why can’t they just accept sitting as a fair exchange for their pets and home being looked after? I think asking for money is not ok. This is about mutual exchange and it sets a dangerous precedent to ask for money. Home owners are getting a good deal, 24 7 care for free!
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