# Turn off the AC

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2024-08-16

air-conditioning, energy-efficiency, environment, honeymoon, hotel-room, iot, mallorca, palma, palma-de-mallorca, smart-home, spain, sustainability, travel, window-sensors

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![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/1e0481d85841df76d36257ea1d54b02a.jpg)

We just checked into our hotel in Palma and one of the first things I noticed is that as soon as you open any of the windows/doors, the AC automatically turns off. A message on the thermostat then alerts you that it will come back on once you close the windows. I haven't yet figured out how this particular hotel room is sensing that things are open, but it's relatively easy to do this at home through smart thermostats and [sensors like these](https://www.ecobee.com/en-ca/accessories/smart-door-window-sensor/). I make a real concerted effort to do this manually, and so it's great to see it automated in a hotel room, where people are naturally going to care less about wastage. Europe is so far ahead of North America when it comes to energy efficiency.

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/turn-off-the-ac)*