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The problem: 

How do we reduce the AirBNB's energy wastage? (it's costing us a fortune!)

The solution:

Climate control automation.

Toward the end of 2024, Andrew's wife Elisa opened a full-time AirBNB property in Canberra. It was hugely successful but the energy costs were enormous. Andrew decided there had to be a better way to manage guests leaving AC's switched on and wasting electricity.

This raised many questions for us about usability: 

• If the guest controls the AC with the in-room remote control, how can we control it too, discreetly? 
• If the guest leaves the AC running at full capacity, unattended for hours, is there anything we can do to stop that behaviour?

In 2025, we trialled the installation of a Faikout and a Shelley BLU H&T ZB temperature and humidity sensor into our Daikin AC and monitored the system via Home Assistant on our smartphones. We recorded some observations and ran tests and based on the consumption data we collected, there was approximately a 40% reduction in energy use per hour of runtime.

We programmed the Home Assistant–integrated Faikin to:

• Turn the AC on when guest arrives
• Turn the AC off when guest departs
• Set back the temperature when a room is unoccupied

Presence logic is the key to solving guest inefficiency

Here is a typical scenario:

A guest is enjoying their accommodation and they have turned the AC on... and opened the window. It's late in the day and they decide to go to the pub but upon leaving, they forget to close the window... What happens next? The cooled air escapes and the AC runs harder to compensate. Dollars fly out the window!

If time-of-use and wholesale electricity tariffs are in play, the guest effectively has access to 'unlimited power' in their room making this scenario expensive, and quickly so!

Solve this problem by automating the AC's response:

• Turn the temperature lower
• Switch the AC off
• Change to fan mode instead of AC cooling, or
• Pause for X minutes before resuming operation.

But how does Faikin know if someone has left the room and the window is wide open? The answer is by using Presence Logic and Occupancy Sensing technology.

HOST TOOL 1: Install a Faikin and an Occupancy Sensor, such as mmWave. Hosts now have control to detect if a person is in the room and can program the AC to respond by making sensible changes. 

Managing peak pricing with demand control

Inevitably, the energy consumed from the AC is not top of mind for the guest while on holiday. All of our guests aim for comfort in their room rather than AC efficiency (shocking, I know!)

HOST TOOL 2: Use Demand Control, to set a limit on the maximum output of AC unit. 

To understand Demand Control, we use an analogy. Imagine a car where the accelerator can’t be pushed all the way down. Similarly, the AC unit's total capacity can be limited when electricity costs too much! Therefore, limiting saves you money. Genius!

By default, many systems will run at full capacity when trying to reach the setpoint. With demand control in play via a Faikin, you can cap the maximum output (for example turning the unit's capacity down to 70% during peak tariff times, or even down to 30%). 

When limited, the unit won’t cool or heat as aggressively, but it can maintain reasonable comfort while reducing energy use during the most expensive periods.

Talk to us about how we can help you get a better setup for your property.