Cooling habits need a written brief — not a monthly bill argument
Briefing your helper on aircon and fan energy habits (Singapore) is the employer checklist for when to use aircon vs fan, timer settings, and overnight rules. General appliance safety sits in Teaching Your Helper to Use Household Appliances Safely. Power trips sit in Briefing Your Helper Before a Power Trip or Blackout (Singapore). Sleep timing sits in Sleep Schedule Expectations for Live-In Helpers. This page owns aircon / fan energy habits.
General guidance only. MOM: mom.gov.sg. SmartMaid.com.sg is a marketplace. Licensed EAs place helpers. — never publish made-up kWh or bill amounts in house rules.
Neighbouring hubs:
- Household appliance safety
- Power trip or blackout briefing
- Sleep schedule expectations
- Written house rules sheet
- Day-one orientation checklist
- Building trust while maintaining standards
- When co-employers disagree
- Preventing burnout through fair workloads
- This article: aircon and fan energy habits
Step 1 — Demo controls once
Show on/off, mode, timer, and which remote belongs to which room (Day One Orientation Checklist for New MDWs; safety Teaching Your Helper to Use Household Appliances Safely).
Step 2 — Write the household rule
Examples: fan first until [time]; aircon only in [rooms]; overnight max hours; windows closed when on. Put it in house rules (Creating a Simple Written House Rules Sheet). Co-employers align (When Co-Employers Disagree About the Helper (Singapore)).
Step 3 — Her rest comfort
Do not use “save electricity” to deny reasonable sleep cooling (Sleep Schedule Expectations for Live-In Helpers; fairness Preventing Burnout Through Fair Workloads). MOM welfare still applies.
Step 4 — Filters and trips
Who cleans filters / when to call you. If breakers trip from overload, use Briefing Your Helper Before a Power Trip or Blackout (Singapore).
Step 5 — MOM rules
Clear instruction beats scolding after the bill. Soft framing on mom.gov.sg. Trust with standards: Building Trust While Maintaining Employer Standards.
MOM rules
Adequate rest conditions matter. Soft only on mom.gov.sg.
Checklist
- Controls demoed once
- Fan-first / room / overnight rules written
- Her sleep comfort protected
- Filter / trip path clear (#179)
- Co-employers aligned (#120)
Scripts
To helper: Fan first in the day. Aircon in [rooms] with the timer set like this. Overnight, keep it to the rule we wrote — if you are too hot to sleep, tell us; we will adjust fairly.
To co-employer: Cooling rules go in house rules — we do not invent a dollar target for her to hit.
Bottom line
Demo the remotes, write fan-first and overnight rules, protect sleep comfort, and never invent bill figures. Browse on SmartMaid; place through a licensed EA under MOM rules.
