Central Air Conditioning / Guest Expectations

[Steven140]

My house has central air conditioning and is located in Philadelphia. The Spring weather is just beginning to warm up (it is late April), and at this time, with temperatures in the 70s during the day and 60s at night, I do not turn on my central air conditioning, but instead enjoy the open windows and desk fans to stay comfortable. 

Last night when my guest checked in, his first questions was "do you have air conditining?" I responded that yes, I do have air conditioning but that I don't turn it on until it gets a little warmer outside. At this time in the mid afternoon the temperature for the day was peaking at about 75F. The low for the evening was getting back down to about 64F.

For me, this is comfortable sleeping weather. But, I could tell that even though the guest said "ok" and didn't protest that he wanted air conditioning on.

So, I'm just wondering - in houses with central air conditioning, how do we manage guest expectations for air conditioning? I like to make the house as comfortable as possible, but I really don't feel sleeping temperatures in the mid 60s warrants turning on the central a/c. Wondering if other hosts have figured out good ways to determine when to use the a/c, and how to best communicate a/c policies to guests before booking so expectations are met? I've never used air conditioning in April (nor did anyone I've ever lived with) so I was a little surprised the guest was expecting it to be turned on, so I'm just trying to make sure I am best communicating to avoid disappointment.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Steven140

yes, "where is AC?" is always the first question .... specially from USA guests! it seems americans  forgot what windows are used for . We purchased 2 fans for our guests and leave them in apartments until summer when the weather become really hot.

For example, last summer I turned on AC in my home only ones for few hours and set it on 79 F (26 C) .... .but our guests were using AC non-stop day and night on 70 F (21 C) from Jun untill september. I wonder if they use it so much in their homes where they pay the bills...

Interesting thing is that during winter they heat up the apartment on 73,5 F (23 C) or even more...

[Steven140]

That's the real irony! In Winter, they want the heat at 75. In Summer, if the room is 75, they aren't happy. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

... but maybe he wanted AC for heating...?

[Steven140]

Ah no.. heat is turned off and all the windows opened, including 2 windows and 2 sky lights in the bedroom. Night time temperature was 65F (18C). In the end, he did leave a positive review, so I don't think he felt it was a bad experience. I just want to know the best way to communicate in advance so I don't fall short of someone's expectations.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Steven140

I don't know... maybe to mention in description something like: in winter you will have heating, in summer AC and in the meantime old school: fan and windows 🙂

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Steven140

the same thing just happend to me now... and it is 70F / 21C inside and outside ... cloudy... light breeze ... late afternoon... apartment is on the high ground floor , not at the attic... and they hit me with "is there AC in the apartment" question... 😄 lol

[Steven140]

I'm thinking about just putting a window air conditioner in the room so they can control the bedroom temp and I'll control the central a/c for the rest of the house.

[Zacharias0]

Window units have been shown to be costly, but great for landlords that don't have a central A/C units installed.

[David126]

Why Hotels have room units, I do not have AC but individual thermostats to control the heat.

[Zacharias0]

In Vegas it gets up to 113 in the summer. My first year I had people turning down the AC unit to about 58-63. I didn't know it could go down that far! It was like an ice box in my house. I've since installed a case over the A/C unit with a lock. In my house rules I tell guests the temperature is between 74-76 in the house at all times. If they don't like it to please book a different listing. I have too many guests and too many climate zones in my house to try and accomodate each guest. It sounds harsh but it seems to work.