The old way: the keycard reader

Typically, the energy consuming facilities of a hotel room – HVAC and lighting – are switched off by removing the hotel key from the keycard reader. However, everyone knows how to cheat the system – always ask for an extra keycard when checking in.

The modern way: occupancy detection

Instead of relying on a simple input to indicate whether someone is occupying the room, and thus opening a way to cheat it, a modern room control system – such as Mount Kelvin – relies on sensoring to deduce whether the room is occupied.

By having a door sensor and two motion sensors (one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom), we can determine to a very high degree of accuracy whether the room is occupied or not. Based on this information, the energy consuming devices in the room can be automatically switched off when the room is unoccupied.

This approach is both more effective and more pleasant for the guests, as they are completely spared the hassle of placing and removing keycards upon entrance and exit.