On Wednesday, 1 February 2017 09:13:11 UTC, wrote:
However I get the point made by a couple of you that making the
holiday tenant have to faff around topping up does seem niggardly,
when the weekly rent is going to be high. That's a good point.
Deducting the cost from their deposit or including it in the
rent seems a more equitable option, now you mention it. Thanks!

If this is a summer let there shouldn't be much heating used. Consider 1 or 2 hour 'boost' switches for the heating and hot water so it can't be left on continuously and forgotten. They're also easy for tenants to understand - "press this one hour before you want a bath, the water will stay warm for the rest of the day if it's not used."

Depending on the market you could put the washing machine / tumble dryer on a coin meter and advertise the property as heating/hot water included, laundry extra. Outdoorsy/sporty people might do a an unexpected lot of washing and drying.

Charging for "laundry" means you can charge at a profit; reselling gas/lecky you can only recharge what you pay and what the tenant accurately uses.

Owain