Vacation rental management platform Hospitable says smart thermostat controls are helping hosts reduce energy use, lower bills, and cut carbon emissions.
The company, which provides tools for short-term rental hosts to manage bookings, budgets, cleaning, and energy, has integrated smart thermostat tech into its software since January.
The system connects with smart thermostats from companies such as Ecobee and Honeywell, allowing heating and cooling systems to adjust automatically based on occupancy or guest check-in and check-out times.
Hosts can use thermostats to set seasonal temperatures and activate heating or cooling two hours before guest check-in for slow and gradual temperature control, which is often more energy efficient.
The company said it plans to expand to other devices, such as Google Nest.
Energy Savings Add Up Across Rentals
Since launching the feature, Hospitable says an analysis of U.S hosts show that they are saving up to 243 kWH of energy per property each month, nearly a third of the average monthly electricity consumption of a U.S. household.
That could amount to roughly 208 pounds of CO2 emissions avoided per property per month, the company said. That’s the equivalent of cutting out 238 miles of car travel in an average vehicle.
“This isn’t just about saving on utility bills – though that matters, especially with energy prices where they are,” Hospitable CEO Pierre-Camille Hamana told Skift. “It’s also showing hosts the impact they can have, property by property, in reducing their carbon footprint. When you multiply that across hundreds or thousands of rentals, the emissions avoided really start to add up.”
What Could be Next for Smart Rentals
Hamana said smart thermostats are just the start. The next step is syncing more property systems, lighting, water heaters, to work together using real-time data and occupancy patterns.
“Looking ahead, we see this as the beginning,” Hamana said. “There’s huge potential in bringing more devices and systems together… and making them work in sync, automatically.”
While it is difficult for individual hosts to monitor carbon emissions, the big players in the short term rental space like Airbnb and Booking.com have pledged to reduce the climate impact of properties on their platforms, though emissions from the sector remain largely untracked or unregulated.
Skift’s in-depth reporting on climate issues is made possible through the financial support of Intrepid Travel. This backing allows Skift to bring you high-quality journalism on one of the most important topics facing our planet today. Intrepid is not involved in any decisions made by Skift’s editorial team.
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June 4, 2025 – NEW YORK CITY