Guests don't pay the power bill. I do. And a guest who sets the house to 64 in August, then leaves for the beach, then goes to sleep, then checks out, is running my air conditioner for a house nobody is standing in.
Every rental has a smart thermostat, and every one of them is wired into Home Assistant on Alfred. Home Assistant's job with them is simple: make sure nobody's choice runs forever.
Nudge, don't lock
On a schedule, the thermostats drift back to an energy-saving setting. No occupancy sensors, no machine learning, no dashboard I have to remember to check. Just a quiet reset at the moments a forgotten setting costs the most.
Energy-saving isn't off. The house stays inside a safe range. And a guest who wants it colder just walks to the wall and turns it. Nothing locks them out, nothing nags them, nobody gets a message about the thermostat.
Comfort is a decision a guest makes. Waste is what happens when they forget they made it.
Built to scale
A new property's thermostat joins the same rules the day it's connected. A house with different needs gets its own schedule instead of an exception buried in everyone else's.
Why it works
Smart thermostats already know how to save money. The problem is people, and people are the whole business. A few nudges, every day, across every house, cost me nothing and never forget.
The best automation is the one nobody notices, except the utility company.