Energy Management for Hotels

Saving you time & money

Energy conservation works.  It saves money.  It improves guest comfort.  It extends the life cycle of the AC equipment it controls.  It has been successfully used in the hospitality industry worldwide for more than 2 decades. 

Our planet is under increasing strain.  Extreme weather events across the globe all point to a rapidly growing threat to the environment.  Unchecked energy use is a significant contributor to climate change, impacting our environment and the ultimate sustainability of our industry.

Given this increasing pressure on the natural world which sustains us, we expect an increase regulations governing how we use and treat our natural resources.  Energy conservation will only become more mandatory and more regulated.  It makes sense for the hospitality industry to get ahead of future laws and regulations.

Outdated key tag technology prevalent in hotels today needs to be abandoned.  It is old technology that is easily overridden.  The better solution is occupancy-based control using motion detection and intelligent thermostats.  Motion based technology allows you to control your room energy use and does not rely on your guest’s decision to use the key card or not.

Savings on aircon energy use of 25 – 30% is typical.  Payback on your initial investment is 2 – 3 years or better.  A property designed and installed motion based system will also improve guest comfort, increase staff productivity and and make a positive statement to your guests.

Guest Comfort

  • Improves guest comfort
  • Automatically conditioned room
  • Easy to use thermostat

Property Savings

  • 25% energy savings
  • Increases value of property
  • Manages humidity to reduce damage and bad odor
  • Extends life of AC equipment
  • Reduces carbon footprint

Operational Efficiency

  • Reduce operations and maintenance costs
  • Remote alarms
  • Remote management
  • Real-time reporting and diagnostics

Ondur: wireless, smart digital thermostat.  Available in 5 different control versions and 17 different colors.

Brand: AuVerte 

Door Sensors: wireless, compact transmitters.  Available in optical and standard versions.  Five year battery life.

Brand: AuVerte 

PIR, Temp and Humidity Sensors – wireless, compact transmitters deliver data to Ondur thermostat.  Easy to install.  Five year battery life.

Brand: AuVerte 

e527 – low voltage smart digital EMS thermostat.  Available with on board PIR motion sensor, humidity sensor.  RF ready.

Brand: Honeywell

e528 – line voltage smart digital EMS thermostat.  Equipped with 5 on board relays with built-in PIR motion sensor, humidity sensor.  RF ready.

Brand: Honeywell

INNControl 3 – optional networked system. Provides monitoring and control for hotel operations. Wired or wireless topologies.

Brand: Honeywell

Passive Infrared (PIR) Control Logic – How Occupancy is Determined

PIR motion based occupancy logic for guestrooms has been used successfully in the hotel industry for more than 20 years.  Using motion control logic in the guestroom saves more energy and manages the room AC (and lighting) more efficiently.

Occupancy based systems rely on two inputs plus intelligent logic in the thermostat to determine the state of the guest room.  The system monitors the entry door, with a wireless switch, and motion in the room, with a passive infrared (PIR) sensor.  These two inputs, together with the system time delay allows the thermostat to accurately to determine when a room is occupied or vacant.

Simply put, door open/close + motion sensed = occupied room.  Or, door open/close + no motion sensed = vacant room.

Each time the entry door switch shows the door has opened and closed, an pre-programmed “evaluation period” begins where the room is maintained in an occupied mode while the thermostat “evaluates” whether someone has entered or not.  If the room HVAC is in a setback mode (i.e. room was vacant), then the AC (and lights) are turned on when the door is opened; if the AC and lights were already on, they remain on.

During the evaluation period, if motion is detected from an entering guest or a guest in the room, the thermostat logic sets the room to “occupied” and the guestroom AC (and lighting) is maintained in an occupied ON mode.  In this occupied mode, the thermostat maintains this the AC On state whether the guest is sleeping, in the bathroom or otherwise is remaining motionless.  No change in occupancy state will occur until both the door opens and close and the time delay elapses without any new motion in the room.

If the time delay evaluation period expires with no motion seen, then the room is changed to unoccupied and the programmed energy savings functions begin.  In the unoccupied state, the thermostat adjusts the room setpoint to an energy savings level, typically 26’ – 28’C, but continues to manage the room.

The intelligent thermostat system never turns off, it only manages the room temperature to save energy.  This is an important benefit over key tag control.  Constant monitoring assures maximum energy savings without affecting guest comfort or creating humidity problems in the rooms.

Motion based occupancy control is accurate more than 99% of the time.  It is used throughout the world by some of the most well known hotel companies including Four Seasons, Fairmont-Raffles, Marriott Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Onyx Hospitality, Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis.