Air con auto switch off

They did tell me that the units don't work with some (can't remember which of the two) Hitachi or Mitsubishi units. I can always ring them again tomorrow and ask if you want me to check your units as it is a Freephone number?

Mark

i will have a search and also will contact Brain and jeff as they are there now. I will recognise the name when i see it.

I can't, John.  And for sure you'll get to check that before I do!!  Do some of the blocks have units from different manufacturers?  I recall someone mentioning that before.

Hi Mark

I like the sound of this and would like to know how you get on with it. I cannot rememeber the name of my aircon unit but i will check when there again.

Jan...can you remember who makes the units?

Hi Jan

I will certainly let everyone know how it works. I didn't post it anywhere else except a development forum as I didn't want to spam the forum. Hopefully most people wil see it when they use the last 30 threads button

Hi More

I'm hoping that not everyone will be savvy enough to know what the sensor is, at I think it may look like a smoke detector. If only some of them leave the batteries in it will be a saving. There are fans in the apartment, so there will always be air movement if needed. To be fair, we aren't a 5* hotel, merely a 1 bed apartment and it doesn't take much to lose what little profit margin we have.

There is a night time setting to allow comfort cooling during the evening, so it isn't all bad. I don't like the heat myself, but to have the a/c on just before bed was enough to allow me to get to sleep, I won't need to worry about it then. I didn't slep very well last year as I kept waking up to turn it off after a couple of hours!

Mark

You do have a point there, More.  I was thinking more along the lines of just forgetting to turn it off when you go out!  For us, coming from Dubai, having the aircon on during the day isn't really an issue in Spain - we really just use it at night (although did set it to heating when we were there in April a couple of years ago!!  It was freezing for us!!).

And, if left for a long time, I believe it can use more electricity to cool a place that's really hot, rather than leaving it on auto (bit like heating up a tank of water each time you want a shower, if you keep turning off the heater!).

But thought it was good for those (like us!) who go out for the day and forget to turn the a/c off.  It would be useful then!  And also, if you're sat on the terrace with the door open - as someone on another thread asked! - better to turn off the a/c.  Obviously, it will just keep cooling if the door is open.  So it has some very real advantages too.

But what's to stop your tenants from removing the unit's batteries if they so wish, in order to override this, Mark ? If they're intent on leaving the aircon/heating on for no good reason (going out for example) they'll surely do what suits them.

Yes, perhaps they are just overlooking the fact that they've left it on but I know, from experience, how hot places can get without aircon &, more to the point, how cold places get without heat if you are out a few hours. We were in a 5 * hotel in Spain September 2003 & the only time the aircon was on in our room was when the keycard was put in the slot on the wall so we baked in the heat if in there at times. As we'd paid quite a sum we requested a card for each of us & used one for leaving in the slot.

In our place in Spain it's very cold if we turn the heating off for a few ours & go out for the evening so we leave it on. (Granted, we turn the temperature down to just keep it ticking over but then it's US who are paying the bills). In the case of aircon on the cold air setting it cools fast but, as you have realised, tenants don't worry about being wasteful, they're not paying your electric bill.

That sounds an excellent investment, Mark.  Can you let us know how effective it is, when you get it installed?

Many thanks!

(Maybe you should post this somewhere in the general/living in spain forums.  I'm sure it's of interest to many others, also.)

I found this company mentioned on another forum. They sell a sensor to automatically switch off your air con when the room is not being used, ideal for those of us renting out in the summer who have guests that leave the air con on 24/ 7. I have looked into these before, but they had to be wired into the air con unit and it was found that they weren't up to the job. Theses units look to be about the size of a smoke detector and operate by sending a switch off signal to your air con unit, mimicing the signal from your remote control. I have just bought one (be careful of the £8 postage cost!!), to take with me next time I go to Spain to try. They have assured me that if it doesn't work, I can have a refund. I have ordered mine today and they reckon I should have it by Thursday.

I have nothing to do with this company, it is something I thought may be beneficial to others.

Mark