Daily insights for city builders, delivered every morning at 6 AM ET. I’m Brandon Donnelly — a Toronto-based real estate developer and founder of Globizen. I’ve been writing here since 2013.

Turn off the AC

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. 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.

2 responses to “Turn off the AC”

  1. Sam Avatar
    Sam

    I think it’s a sensor/switch at the door frame. Our hotel in the Dominican had this as well which was cool to see. Definitely makes a ton of sense given the warmer climate and prevalence of AC.

    Have a great trip!

    1. Brandon Graham Donnelly Avatar

      Thanks Sam! I figured as much but I can’t physically find it 😉

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