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Category: Tech & Automation
By: Nolan Peters
Reply by Chris Nakamura:
After 3 years of experimenting with pretty much every smart home gadget I can tell you what's actually worth it vs what just creates more things to break. Things that have genuinely paid for themselves: Smart thermostat — Ecobee or Nest, around $150-250. This is the single best smart home investment for STR. You can set temp limits so guests aren't blasting the AC to 60 degrees, get alerts if temps go extreme (frozen pipe prevention is huge), and control everything remotely between stays. I save about $80/month in utilities across my properties. Paid for all 4 thermostats in under a year. Smart lock — already covered this in the other thread but Yale or Schlage, $200-300. Eliminates key management entirely. Non-negotiable. Noise monitoring — Minut at $150 plus $10/month. Prevents parties before they become a problem. Worth every penny if you have neighbors who'll complain. Leak sensors — this one people sleep on. Govee WiFi sensors are like $15 each. Stick them under every sink, near the water heater, by the washing machine. I caught a slow leak under a bathroom sink that would've been a $5,000 repair if it went another week. Fifteen dollar investment. Do this today. Smart plugs for outdoor lights — $10-15 each. Set them to turn on at sunset, off at 11pm. Guests show up to a lit-up property instead of fumbling in the dark. Small touch, big impact on first impressions. Things that are situational: Smart TV with Roku/Fire TV built-in ($300-500) is nice because guests can log into their own streaming apps, but not a must-have. Outdoor security cameras are useful for remote management but make sure you read up on disclosure requirements. Smart garage door opener (MyQ is like $30) is handy if you have one. Things I've wasted money on: Smart blinds — expensive, break mechanically, guests have no idea how to use them. Phillips Hue or any "smart lighting" — guests literally cannot figure out how to turn on the lights. You'd be amazed. Just use normal switches. (Exception: Lutron Caseta smart switches that look like regular switches are fine.) Smart speakers like Alexa — half your guests will unplug them for privacy reasons. Roombas — doesn't replace real cleaning, guests trip over them, and one guest's dog tried to eat mine. My rule of thumb: if a guest needs instructions to operate it, it doesn't belong in an STR. Smart home stuff should be invisible, running in the background without anyone needing to think about it. For clear instructions on whatever smart home gear you do install, https://strspecialist.com/tools/house-manual-generator helps you put together guest-facing docs quickly.
Reply by David Okafor:
Adding the energy cost angle since nobody talks about this: **Smart thermostat savings are REAL and SIGNIFICANT for STR:** Without smart thermostat: - Guests set AC to 62°F and leave for the day - HVAC runs at full bore for 8+ hours with nobody home - Guests leave with AC running on checkout day - Nobody adjusts temp between stays (if cleaner doesn't think to) With smart thermostat (Ecobee with occupancy sensor): - Set "occupied" range: 68-76°F (guest can adjust within limits) - Set "unoccupied" range: 60-80°F (auto-adjusts when nobody home or between stays) - Auto-detect vacancy (occupancy sensor notices nobody home for 2+ hours) - Remote control: I set the temp before guest arrives, adjust for vacancy **My actual utility savings:** $80/month average across 4 properties = $960/year. The 4 Ecobee thermostats cost $800 total. Paid for themselves in 10 months. Bonus: the Ecobee app shows monthly energy reports. This data is useful for your tax deductions AND for demonstrating to guests that you're environmentally conscious (eco-conscious travelers are a growing demographic).