Tips and testimonials

The problem was simple, find a way to reduce energy wastage in the AirBNB

How can we reduce Guest energy wastage if they control the AC, and they have left the AC running at full capacity, unattended for hours? The wasting of electricity problem was huge.

The solution appeared to be simple, we can fix it "remotely".

Toward the end of 2024, Andrew's wife Elisa opened a full-time AirBNB property in their backyard 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.

In 2025, we installed a Faikin into our Daikin AC and we recorded some observations and ran tests. 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

Solving guest inefficiency with presence logic

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... Oh no! 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!

The Host can solve this problem by installing a Faikin to automate the AC 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.

Every little saving is worth it in the end. It helps us all to survive another day.

What is Faikout?

In a few words, the Faikout module makes your AC air conditioning unit smart.

You don't have to replace a perfectly good air conditioner to access smart home technology, the solution is to simply plug in a Faikout to gain acccess to more controls of the machine.

A Faikout is a small Wi-Fi smart controller that plugs into the inside circuit board of your Daikin indoor AC unit. When the module is plugged in, it gives wireless control without relying on an app, it does not require an internet connection, nor a connection to any questionable cloud service data centres which can be unreliable.

There are no logins, no passwords, and no personal data required.

A Faikout runs entirely on your local network and you can control your AC unit from a mobile phone, a tablet, or a desktop computer via the built-in web interface. For those who are more tech-savvy, you can optionally integrate it with platforms like Home Assistant for all kinds of automation functionality.

Control over the internet can be achieved using your own VPN.

The Faikin project began with RevK who lives in the United Kingdom. RevK is the lead designer and primary developer and he collaborates with a large and active community who contribute to the project.

In 2025, Andrew Ransom founded Faikin Australia and he remains a keen contributor toward project Faikin. Andrew designs and develops Faikin cable kits and distributes Faikout hardware and accessories across Australia and worldwide. Faikin Australia was born from searching for better alternatives to cloud-tied controllers that operate inside his wife's AirBNB property and has been supporting and supplying Faikin products since.

Homeowners can remotely operate on/off and temperature controls with your device from wherever you are. It enables local and automated control of the AC unit through an Embedded web integration, the Home Assistant app or MQTT. Enable home automation systems, smart connectivity, WiFi, geofencing, outdoor temperature display, time-ready for daylight savings.

Go to Faikin and cable sets.

Customers who choose to install a Faikin automatically have better control over consumption of electricity. The Faikin stops humans doing deeply inefficient human things.

Here are the actual ways a Faikin can reduce electricity costs.

Wasting Power Problem: The most common way to waste power is when an operator runs the AC unnecessarily, with a thermostat temperature too low/high, and keeps the unit powered on. During an electricity pricing spike the unit will continue to consume expensive power. Stop that annoying run-it-flat-out-all-day behaviour.

Saving Power Solutions

1. Solution: Faikin can reset the machine's total power output to a lower percentage so it does not have to work as hard consuming power. By default, the machine is set to 100% output. This means the AC will continue to run at 100% capacity during all expensive electricity pricing spikes. Instead, the installed Faikin can run the AC at 70% output - it won't cool as much - but just enough during those expensive extreme times. The result is reasonable cooling/heating with less power consumed.
2. Buyers who hold wholesale and time-of-use contracts with their energy providers can sync the AC unit to react automatically to pricing spikes, lowering the temperature of the machine, or turning it off completely.
3. Customers can choose to install an external temperature sensor for the AC unit. By default, the AC has a temperature sensor inside the white box, however, this is not always the best place to read the temperature of a room. Power can be saved when temperature is recorded elsewhere, with accurate products like Sonoff, controlled by Faikin.
4. Customers can save and set a 'default' range of thermostat control for the AC. For example: A teenager has chosen to alter the AC settings to instantly cool the room more. During an electricity pricing spike, this is likely to be a costly move. The owner of the AC can instead set the default 'temperature range' to take over, and reapply the default back to the appropriate range.

Go to Faikin and cable sets.

Choose a setup to suit your ability

The Faikout can be used in a few different ways, depending on how much automation you want, and how technical you’d like to get. All options begin the same way: The Faikout connects to the control circuit board from inside the indoor unit, using the correct cable for your AC model.

⚠️ Safety first: Always turn off power at the isolator/breaker before opening the AC unit. There is mains voltage inside.

Option 1: Local control (simplest)

Use the built-in Faikin Faikout web interface.

• Connect the Faikout to your Wi-Fi during setup
• Open the web interface from any device on your home network (phone/tablet/PC)
• You can control just the basics immediatly: on/off, mode, set temperature and fan. Full control is also available.
• This is a great place to begin if your goal is local control without any cloud accounts

The steps above outline the “plug it in, set it up, and it just works” option which suits most people.

Option 2: Home automation (moderately tecchy)

Use Home Assistant if you want automations and dashboard control with minimal setup.

• Use the official Home Assistant Daikin integration
• This allows main climate controls and supports the usual automations (schedules, presence, energy-aware logic, etc.)
• Trade-off: You generally won’t get the full suite of extra sensors and switches that are available via the basic Faikout web interface or MQTT

Most automations are possible, except those which depend on extra telemetry not exposed through the integration.

Option 3: Full-feature control (MQTT and advanced automation)

Use MQTT if you want maximum visibility and control.

• This option works with Home Assistant via MQTT, or other tools like Node-RED and custom scripts
• It is compatible with other platforms that use MQTT
• It exposes more sensors and switches (depending on your unit and firmware), which enables a richer automation logic
• This is ideal for advanced use cases like energy-price response, more detailed monitoring, and more customised behaviour

Most “smart” automations are achievable using Option 2, however Option 3 is the best choice if you want to install extra sensors/switches and gain deeper control of the AC unit.

Not sure which path to take? Send us your model number and what you’re trying to achieve (simple control vs automations), and we’ll point you to your best option.