How much of a hotel’s energy use comes from the people inside it?

If your rate includes energy, every kilowatt-hour a guest or resident uses comes out of your margin. And once they have checked in or moved in, you can't see what they are doing with it. Heating turned up with the window open, air conditioning running all day, towel rails on around the clock, lights burning in an empty flat. It doesn't show up in your booking system, but you pay for all of it.

This applies to anyone who sells an all-inclusive rate: serviced apartments, aparthotels, hotels, build-to-rent (BTR) and co-living. In most of these buildings each unit has its own heating, hot water and electrical equipment. So most of the energy is used inside the units, and it depends on how people use them.

Key takeaways

• In-unit heating, hot water and equipment are where most energy goes in serviced apartments, BTR and co-living. People control them, not the building.
• A person's own body heat is small, around 100 to 150 watts. What costs you money is what people do with the heating, cooling, hot water and lighting.
• Empty units are a hidden cost too. A unit left heating to the last guest's settings uses energy for days and earns nothing.
• resicentral® uses MID-approved sub-metering to show energy use for each unit and each area. You can see where waste happens and stop it, without making anyone less comfortable.

All-inclusive means you pay for every unit's energy

When energy is included in the rate, guests and residents have no reason to save it. They don't see a bill, so leaving the heating on high or the window open costs them nothing. You pay for it.

The type of building matters too. A traditional hotel with a central boiler, lobby, pool and restaurant uses a lot of energy for the building as a whole. But many serviced apartments, aparthotels, BTR and co-living buildings now have:

• A heating system in every unit. This could be a heat pump, electric panel heaters, air conditioning or individual water heaters, instead of one big boiler.
• Hot water in every unit. It is heated when it is needed, or held in a cylinder that keeps warm all the time.
• Little or no shared space. Many serviced apartment buildings have no lobby, pool or restaurant, so almost all the energy is used inside the units.

This means the number of occupied units makes a big difference to your bill. If 100 units each have heating, hot water and a heated towel rail running, that is 100 separate loads. Each one depends on how people use it, or whether anyone is there at all.

Behind closed doors: how guests and residents waste energy

Once someone has checked in or moved in, the unit and its controls are theirs. These are the most common kinds of waste:

• Heating with the windows open. The heater works flat out while the warm air goes out of the window.
• Extreme settings. The thermostat is turned to maximum to warm up quickly, or the air conditioning is set as low as it goes, and then left like that.
• Running while out. Heating, cooling, lights and appliances are left on all day while the guest is at work, in meetings or out sightseeing.
• Always-on extras. Heated towel rails, plug-in heaters and bathroom fans run day and night.
• Long, hot showers. These use a lot of hot water, which is costly to heat.

Empty units waste energy too. If a serviced apartment is left on a Monday and the next guest arrives on Friday, the heating can run at the last guest's settings for four days. In BTR and co-living, the same thing happens between tenancies. No one decided to waste that energy. No one could see it happening.

Each of these is small in one unit. But it happens in every unit, every night, all year. Together, that adds up to a large cost that you can't see with one main meter or a booking system.

Mapping every unit and area: how resicentral® helps

resicentral® is an energy management solution for anyone selling an all-inclusive rate. It shows how much energy each unit uses, when it is used, and whether anyone is there. Then it helps you cut the waste.

1. Meter every unit with MID-approved sub-metering. MID-approved sub-meters record the energy used in each unit and each shared area. You get reliable figures for every unit, not one total for the whole building. You can see which units use the most and compare them with similar ones.
2. Know what is happening inside each unit. resiAIR™ measures occupancy and conditions in the room. You can compare what a unit uses when someone is there with what it uses when it is empty. You can spot problems, such as heating running in an empty unit or alongside an open window.
3. Set rules to stop the waste. Configurable rules let your team act on the data. For example, you can set sensible temperature limits and turn the heating down in empty units. People stay comfortable, but energy isn't wasted.
4. Link energy use to bookings. resicentral® can use iCal booking information from compatible property management systems. Each unit can then follow its own arrivals and departures. The heating turns down after checkout and warms the unit up before the next guest arrives.
5. Show that it is working. Compare consumption with occupied and empty hours, the weather and comfort levels. You can show your savings unit by unit, not just as a smaller total bill.

Where you do have shared areas or amenities, such as corridors, gyms, laundries or co-working spaces, the same sub-metering covers them too. You see all of your energy use in one place.

Take back control after check-in

Your booking system tells you how many guests you had. resicentral® tells you what each unit did with your energy. Speak to our team about sub-metering your units and finding where waste is eating into your all-inclusive margin.

FAQs

Do guests and residents really affect my energy costs?

Yes, a lot. Their body heat makes little difference, but their behaviour does. Thermostat settings, open windows, long showers and equipment left on all add to your bill. Most of it happens out of sight, after check-in.

Do empty units still cost me money?

Often, yes. A unit with its own heating and hot water keeps using energy until something turns it down. resicentral® can link each unit to its bookings, so the heating turns down after checkout and warms the unit up again before the next arrival.

Why do I need sub-metering for each unit?

One main meter only tells you how much the whole building used. MID-approved sub-metering shows how much each unit and each area used. You can see which units waste energy and check that the changes you make are working.

Will controlling in-unit energy affect comfort?

It shouldn't. The aim is to cut waste, not comfort. That means limiting extreme settings, turning down empty units and warming units up before people arrive. You can check comfort and consumption side by side to make sure the balance is right.

Is resicentral® only for hotels?

No. It is built for any operator selling an all-inclusive rate, including serviced apartments, aparthotels, hotels, BTR and co-living. It is especially useful where each unit has its own heating and hot water.