# $250 hotel incidental charge for "unauthorized" tampering with HVAC controls
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [July 15, 2025, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863 "2025-07-15T03:53:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 9
### Author:  [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/161 "2025-07-17T12:44:43Z")
> [@OldOlds](#):
>
> Perhaps it’s worth noting, regarding the people arguing this will damage the unit, many of the most common hotel thermostats have a “VIP Mode” as a documented feature that allows the temperature to be set lower than normal mode. So it’s kinda hard to argue this is damaging or ill advised. Let’s be honest- this is about the hotel trying to save money on energy, not about some impending doom from setting it too low.
>
> And while for certain, setting AC too low can cause problems at the evaporator, I find it hard to believe that a modern unit will allow itself to go that low. I have heat pumps that absolutely manage all this through sensors and programming.
>
> Finally, I’ll just say that as someone who spends way too much time in hotels, I’ve had plenty of experiences where the lowest setting of 68 was still unbearably hot, especially for sleeping. Sometimes this is because (and I have experienced this numerous times) a vent is blowing straight at the thermostat.
>
> As a guest at a hotel, you’re paying to be comfortable. And if a hotel is not letting you set the room at a comfortable temperature then I haven’t much sympathy for the hotel’s rules. Legality of it aside, I’m speaking from a moral perspective here.
>
> I keep the heat pump in the bedroom set at 61. It won’t actually get the room that low, but we like it COLD when we sleep. In the winter we often keep a window open, even when it’s in the 30s outside (while sleeping). And I know plenty of people who feel the same, so the OP isn’t way off the reservation here
Yeah, I would think the HVAC system of a large commercial building would have some “checks and balances” and wouldn’t get screwed over from one small modification on a hot day. This was a decent-sized modern hotel, not some century-old shabby New Orleans bungalow.
I also spend way too much times in hotels. I deserve a good nights sleep and an overall pleasant experience. That’s what the hospitality industry is supposed to be all about, ya know?
---
### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/162 "2025-07-17T12:47:51Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#):
>
> I also spend way too much times in hotels. I deserve a good nights sleep and an overall pleasant experience. That’s what the hospitality industry is supposed to be all about, ya know?
Depends on what you’re paying. All I want is a bed and I give no shit about creature comforts or quiet, so a cheap Motel 6 is fine with me if I’m going solo. Bathroom can even be down the hall for all I care. If I want comfort, then I’ll gladly pay more for it, but typically I don’t need comfort, just a roof over my head and a bed. And the prices of places I stay reflects that. I try to keep my stays at under $100 a night, but it’s become more and more difficult.
---
### Author:  [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/163 "2025-07-17T12:48:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> I would have absolutely no problem with this, and no problem with fining anyone trying to bypass the showers. Don’t like it? Go to another hotel. I’d gladly pay less for timed and tepid water. I feel we all should be using resources less. But you always have a choice to go to another hotel or stay home. That’s how it is in the airline industry, and, while nickel-and-diming annoys me, I get it, and I like paying only for the services I need when I end up with a lower overall fare. (I usually travel very light.) I do miss Southwest’s free baggage, though, even though I’m typically carry-on only
That was my first time staying at that hotel. Yeah, I do pick certain hotels over others. Temp control is one of the top reasons. But, if I’m already checked in and discover that something sucks, what am I supposed to do? Pack my bags and leave? Much more convenient to fool with the thermostat, than to check out prematurely and switch hotels.
---
### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/164 "2025-07-17T12:49:51Z")
Are you for real? The more you post the less I believe you. You grin and bear it and don’t fuck with anything you’re not supposed to fuck with. Don’t stay there next time.
---
### Author:  [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/165 "2025-07-17T12:51:42Z")
> [@Melbourne](#):
>
> Around here, they the casinos _have_ got in trouble for it, but _no_ means “but it’s ok as long as you keep putting in money” and thirdly, “the **code** is **more** what you’d call ‘ **guidelines** ’ than actual rules
Exactly.
---
### Author:  [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/166 "2025-07-17T12:58:35Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#):
>
> Like you didn’t already know the answer was… TAX EVASION!
Bro, tax evasion is a bit more complex than that.
Going to _one_ casino just a few times a year and playing low variance low denomination machines to avoid handpays out of fear of being trespassed, doesn’t equal tax evasion.
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/167 "2025-07-17T13:00:49Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#):
>
> But, if I’m already checked in and discover that something sucks, what am I supposed to do?
Call the front desk. Did this not even occur to you?
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/168 "2025-07-17T13:03:30Z")
What? This was your very first time in Las Vegas and it _never_ occurred to you to ask management before futzing around with someone else’s closed system?
---
### Author:  [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/169 "2025-07-17T13:09:18Z")
I’m with @LSLGuy on this. While there might be some lower bound of what’s reasonable, and reasonable people may disagree on what that is, 68 ain’t it. Especially since all 68 means is that the thermostat is seeing 68, not me in my bed or at my desk.
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Don’t like it? Go to another hotel.
I don’t know how you travel, but I usually don’t know much about a hotel until I arrive. I suppose I’d eventually figure out that I want to avoid (say) Marriotts, but corporate travel policies would make that impossible anyway.
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/170 "2025-07-17T13:14:02Z")
If you don’t like it, call the front desk, or write a letter after your stay. You didn’t _buy_ the room, you rented it.
---
### Author:  [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/171 "2025-07-17T13:14:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> The other thing he might have meant is that the room wasn’t as cool as the setting on the thermostat. But if that’s the case, then he’s just out of luck: The air conditioner is already working as hard as it can, and telling it to work harder won’t accomplish anything.
Unless the thermostat was out of calibration. I stayed in a hotel this winter that was blazingly hot when I walked in the room. The heater was set for 68º and I kept turning it down until it stopped blowing hot air. I had to turn it as low as it would go, which I think was 57º. Even that was still a little warmer than I would’ve liked, probably close to 72º where I’d prefer it to be more like 70º.
---
### Author:  [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/172 "2025-07-17T13:15:16Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> What? This was your very first time in Las Vegas and it _never_ occurred to you to ask management before futzing around with someone else’s closed system?
When did I say I was in Vegas? That hotel was no where near Vegas. I’ve been to Vegas several times, and my first time was more than 10 years ago. What is up with the strawmans here?
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/173 "2025-07-17T13:15:22Z")
> [@jjakucyk](#):
>
> Unless the thermostat was out of calibration.
_Then you call the front desk._
---
### Author:  [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/174 "2025-07-17T13:16:02Z")
So you’re saying you report the $1199 and under wins on your taxes? That $1200 is the point where the casino must issue the W2, not when you are supposed to report it.
Maybe you also do it to avoid the trespass charge - but I really doubt that’s the only reason. Especially since you didn’t mention why you were banned.
---
### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/175 "2025-07-17T13:16:50Z")
You talk about going to Las Vegas all the time, so it was an easy assumption, not a strawman. Where did this actually happen?
---
### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/176 "2025-07-17T13:22:57Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> I’d gladly pay less for timed and tepid water.
It doesn’t really work like that though, does it? If I’m in a room, I’m probably taking one shower. Lowering the water temp or decreasing the volume for my one shower saves them maybe pennies. They’re not going to start making rooms cost $124.98 instead of $125, they’ll just save the collected pennies across all the rooms and all the properties and have an extra pile of money at the end much like the old story of taking one olive off each airline salad and saving millions. So I get a weaker shower, the company makes more money and the kicker is that it’s not even really feasible to make it worth it to me. But it is feasible to give everyone a worse shower experience and make money off doing so.
---
### Author:  [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/177 "2025-07-17T13:23:43Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> > [@jjakucyk](#):
> >
> > Unless the thermostat was out of calibration.
>
> _Then you call the front desk._
Sure, I’m not trying to justify the OP, but there’s some misunderstandings about how air conditioners work in this thread and that’s one item I wanted to point out.
---
### Author:  [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/178 "2025-07-17T13:28:03Z")
On some level I’d agree with you, especially as to the point that all of those policies would be ripe for greenwashing and the real motivation would be to cut costs and not pass on the savings to me.
But they’d have to limit the thermostat to 72 and showers to 7 minutes or so for me to actually feel that way. As it stands, 68 seems like an entirely reasonable number and the justification makes sense. Sometimes we all have to be a little warmer than we’d like, and that’s just life.
---
### Author:  [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/179 "2025-07-17T13:29:45Z")
> [@doreen](#):
>
> So you’re saying you report the $1199 and under wins on your taxes? That $1200 is the point where the casino must issue the W2, not when you are supposed to report it.
>
> Maybe you also do it to avoid the trespass charge - but I really doubt that’s the only reason. Especially since you didn’t mention why you were banned.
Yes, wins and losses are supposed to be recorded, even below that $1200 threshold.
Again I only dodge the handpays at that particular casino. I only go to that casino hoping to win a little beer money and kill time. Unfortunately I’ve been breaking even there lol. Elsewhere, W2s are welcome! It’s in my best interest to get them. Sure, I don’t like having them removing state and federal taxes from my jackpot…but I’m happy to be winning those jackpots. The amounts won from those jackpots can take me far, even after taxes.
I was kicked out because a security guard thought I was sleeping. I was not sleeping, I was engrossed in my cell phone. I was hunched over and looking down. That casino are nazis about customers falling asleep. And at that particular casino whenever you get in trouble, they run your license and put it on their “file”.
---
### Author:  [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MW_Degen_Gamblr)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/180 "2025-07-17T13:34:56Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> What? This was your very first time in Las Vegas and it _never_ occurred to you to ask management before futzing around with someone else’s closed system?
I thought it would be fun to try that trick learned from DEFCON.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863.md?page=8)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863.md?page=10)