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No Wires, No Downtime: Why a Smart Thermostat Upgrade Doesn't Have to Disrupt Your Hotel

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Alistair 20Chatwin 202014-07-10 2015_edi

Alistair Chatwin 

President

Alistair headed up commercial business for DISH Network, where he engaged with hotel owners and operators in developing entertainment plans that suited the unique needs of the hospitality industry. Before that Alistair served as Director of Product Management at EchoStar Corporation, a premier global provider of satellite communication solutions. He also served in similar roles at ADB Software Systems Services and STMicroelectronics. Alistair earned a degree in Engineering at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. 

Carlos Shteremberg

Carlos Shteremberg

Managing Director

Carlos has held executive positions including President, Chief Operations Officer, and Principal at various technology and industrial companies. They include ATX Networks Corp., Pico Digital, Talon Holdings, and Maketory. Carolos earned a degree in Business Administration from the University of San Diego.

Ian Lerner

Ian Lerner

Chief Executive Officer

Ian has founded multiple technology companies as well as been a CEO and Chief Product Officer at companies such as X-Digital Systems, Pico Digital, and ATX Networks Corp. In addition to his current role at Anacove, Ian lectures at the UCSD Computer Science and Engineering & Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute on the subjects of IoT systems and analytics. Ian holds a Computer Engineering degree from UC San Diego.



Anton Monk, PhD 

Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Wireless Initiatives at Viasat

Anton sits on various industry, advisory and academic boards, including the UCSD Jacobs School Dean’s Council of Advisors. His focus is on 5G, telecom technology strategy, networking and wireless R&D, and startup fundraising and advising. In addition, Anton is a noted corporate technology evangelist and keynote speaker as well as a legal expert witness. Dr. Monk earned a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology and B.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego.

David Steigelfest, JD 

Chief Platform Officer, Director, Super League Gaming

A trained attorney, David has served as an executive and entrepreneur in the digital, technology and financial space for more than 20 years. David’s experience as an innovator and creative problem solver, which includes decades of managerial experience and board-level oversight, stems from his pioneering work in yield management optimization software and overseeing multi-million dollar change management projects on Wall Street. David specializes in innovation, product development, and complex business process change. He is an expert in all aspects of software development and an inventor with nine distinct patents. 

Annette Friskopp, MBA

Global Head and General Manager, Specialty Printing SystHewlett-Packard Companyems 

Friskopp is a well-rounded business executive with more than 30 years of experience growing profitable businesses in the United States, Europe, and Asia. She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1990 and has held senior management roles for a range of companies from startups to multinational enterprises. Her areas of expertise include customer-driven technology innovations and value-creation leadership; P&L ownership and solution delivery; growth strategy; and strategic account management, sales management, business development and deal negotiations.

Ramamohan Paturi, PhD 

Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering University of California, San Diego

Ramamohan Paturi is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. His research interests include algorithms, computational complexity, and the satisfiability problem. Ramamohan was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Computer Science at Harvard University. He earned his PhD in Computer Science at Penn State University and a Master’s Degree in Computer Science at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras,

Richard Lewis, MSEE

Senior Vice President Research and Technology Zenith Electronics LLC

Lewis is responsible for business development, and intellectual property licensing in the United States, in addition to setting the technology vision for the LG Electronics USA commercial products division. He earned his BSEE from the University of Iowa, and holds 15 issued patents. In 2002, Richard appeared before congress to testify on issues related to the implementation of digital broadcast television, including how to overcome industry obstacles and accelerate its implementation by the 2006 mandated deadline.

Ask any hotel owner or GM why they've put off upgrading their in-room thermostats, and you'll usually hear some version of the same story: it sounds like a construction project. Contractors in the hallways. Rooms pulled out of inventory for days. Wire runs behind walls. Guests complaining about noise during their stay. For a property that lives and dies by occupancy, that's a hard pass — even when the upside (lower energy costs, better guest comfort, PMS integration) is obvious.

That mental picture is the single biggest thing standing between hotels and a smart thermostat upgrade. And it's outdated.


The upgrade is a retrofit, not a renovation

Anacove's smart thermostats are built to replace what's already on the wall — no new wiring, no cutting into drywall, no electrician on site for days at a time. The unit is wireless, so installation is a swap: old thermostat off, new thermostat on, room back in service.

Per room, that process takes 10 to 15 minutes. Not per floor. Per room. A property can move through dozens of rooms in a single day without pulling significant inventory offline or disrupting a guest's stay.


What "minimal disruption" actually looks like

For an owner or GM, "minimal disruption" isn't a marketing phrase — it's a scheduling question. Here's what it means in practice:

- No guest displacement at scale. Rooms are turned around fast enough that housekeeping and installation can move through a property without holding large blocks of rooms out of inventory.
- No structural work. Because the system is wireless, there's no need to run new wire behind walls or coordinate with an electrical contractor.
- No specialized crews standing around. Anacove deploys installation teams in regional clusters, moving property to property across nearby hotels back-to-back, so a property gets a focused, efficient install window rather than a drawn-out project with idle downtime in between.


Why this matters more than the energy bill

Energy savings are real and they matter, but they're not the reason this upgrade is worth doing now. The bigger story is what happens to the guest experience and the operational metrics owners actually get evaluated on: RevPAR, ADR, and review scores.

A thermostat that mis-reads occupancy, or leaves a room too hot or too cold shows up in guest reviews fast. Anacove's occupancy detection uses multiple sensor types plus AI, not a single motion sensor, so it can tell the difference between a guest asleep and an empty room, and it won't cycle the HVAC in a way that disturbs someone at 2 a.m. The system also integrates directly with your PMS to pre-condition rooms ahead of check-in and set back HVAC in unrented rooms automatically, so guests walk into a comfortable room without staff manually adjusting a single unit.

Put together, energy efficiency ends up being a side effect of a system that's really designed around guest comfort and reducing the manual workload on your staff.


The takeaway

The "this will disrupt my property" mindset made sense when in-room HVAC upgrades meant wired systems and construction crews. That's not what this upgrade looks like anymore. A retrofit, wireless design means most properties can complete an install without pulling significant inventory, without a construction footprint, and without the guest complaints that come with either.

If your property has been putting off a thermostat upgrade because it sounded like too much of a project, it's worth a second look, the project you're picturing isn't the one you'd actually be signing up for.


 

Alistair 20Chatwin 202014-07-10 2015_edi

Alistair Chatwin 

President

Alistair headed up commercial business for DISH Network, where he engaged with hotel owners and operators in developing entertainment plans that suited the unique needs of the hospitality industry. Before that Alistair served as Director of Product Management at EchoStar Corporation, a premier global provider of satellite communication solutions. He also served in similar roles at ADB Software Systems Services and STMicroelectronics. Alistair earned a degree in Engineering at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. 

Carlos Shteremberg

Carlos Shteremberg

Managing Director

Carlos has held executive positions including President, Chief Operations Officer, and Principal at various technology and industrial companies. They include ATX Networks Corp., Pico Digital, Talon Holdings, and Maketory. Carolos earned a degree in Business Administration from the University of San Diego.

Ian Lerner

Ian Lerner

Chief Executive Officer

Ian has founded multiple technology companies as well as been a CEO and Chief Product Officer at companies such as X-Digital Systems, Pico Digital, and ATX Networks Corp. In addition to his current role at Anacove, Ian lectures at the UCSD Computer Science and Engineering & Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute on the subjects of IoT systems and analytics. Ian holds a Computer Engineering degree from UC San Diego.



Anton Monk, PhD 

Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Wireless Initiatives at Viasat

Anton sits on various industry, advisory and academic boards, including the UCSD Jacobs School Dean’s Council of Advisors. His focus is on 5G, telecom technology strategy, networking and wireless R&D, and startup fundraising and advising. In addition, Anton is a noted corporate technology evangelist and keynote speaker as well as a legal expert witness. Dr. Monk earned a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology and B.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego.

David Steigelfest, JD 

Chief Platform Officer, Director, Super League Gaming

A trained attorney, David has served as an executive and entrepreneur in the digital, technology and financial space for more than 20 years. David’s experience as an innovator and creative problem solver, which includes decades of managerial experience and board-level oversight, stems from his pioneering work in yield management optimization software and overseeing multi-million dollar change management projects on Wall Street. David specializes in innovation, product development, and complex business process change. He is an expert in all aspects of software development and an inventor with nine distinct patents. 

Annette Friskopp, MBA

Global Head and General Manager, Specialty Printing SystHewlett-Packard Companyems 

Friskopp is a well-rounded business executive with more than 30 years of experience growing profitable businesses in the United States, Europe, and Asia. She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1990 and has held senior management roles for a range of companies from startups to multinational enterprises. Her areas of expertise include customer-driven technology innovations and value-creation leadership; P&L ownership and solution delivery; growth strategy; and strategic account management, sales management, business development and deal negotiations.

Ramamohan Paturi, PhD 

Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering University of California, San Diego

Ramamohan Paturi is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. His research interests include algorithms, computational complexity, and the satisfiability problem. Ramamohan was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Computer Science at Harvard University. He earned his PhD in Computer Science at Penn State University and a Master’s Degree in Computer Science at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras,

Richard Lewis, MSEE

Senior Vice President Research and Technology Zenith Electronics LLC

Lewis is responsible for business development, and intellectual property licensing in the United States, in addition to setting the technology vision for the LG Electronics USA commercial products division. He earned his BSEE from the University of Iowa, and holds 15 issued patents. In 2002, Richard appeared before congress to testify on issues related to the implementation of digital broadcast television, including how to overcome industry obstacles and accelerate its implementation by the 2006 mandated deadline.

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Cut guest room electricity consumption while ensuring optimum guest comfort

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Identify the location of luggage carts and other items for rapid retrieval