Legacy energy management thermostats typically require a door-switch mechanism which is used in conjunction with a motion sensor to identify when guests are sleeping in order to avoid temperature setbacks that may disturb sleeping guests.
In theory, this approach to detecting nighttime occupancy should work. The basic assumption is that the door sensor will communicate to the thermostat when a guest enters the room at night, and prevent the thermostat from temperature setback when the occupancy sensor stops detecting motion.
The reality is that this approach has pitfalls that can cause the system to fail.
Take for instance the example of a young couple vacationing in Las Vegas. After a late dinner, they return to the room to retire for the night. The wife is exhausted and immediately goes straight to bed. Her husband turns on the TV for a bit until he develops the urge to take a few spins at the roulette table. When he leaves the room, the door sensor is tricked into thinking the room is empty since the occupancy sensor no longer detects movement in the room. 2 hours later, the husband is still going at the roulette table. Unfortunately, back in the guestroom, his wife has woken up in a sweat, desperately flailing her arms to get the thermostat to begin cooling again.
Door sensors aren’t just fallible because of unpredictable guest behavior. These small pieces of equipment can become disconnected or damaged, rendering the overall energy management system useless until the sensor can be replaced or fixed. Many properties will have no idea the equipment has even failed until the guest complains.
You may think this sounds far-fetched, but the problem of failing energy management thermostats has become so pronounced in the industry that even the Wall Street Journal wrote an article about it. This website which demonstrates how to disable energy management in hotel thermostats has over 350,000 views since 2013!
At Verdant, we have a unique (and patented) way of dealing with this issue. Instead of relying on physical door sensors, Verdant’s energy management thermostat takes a software-based approach. When our occupancy sensor detects motion in the room after 8pm at night, we assume that person is a sleeping guest and disable temperature setback until morning. Because of this, we avoid any opportunity for guest disturbances at night. And these settings can be fully customized from the front desk.
This unique way of dealing with night occupancy has won numerous industry awards and has distinguished Verdant as the only hotel energy management thermostat approved by the IHG, Marriott, Hilton, and others without the need for a door sensor.
To learn more about Verdant’s smart thermostat, book a web demo today!