Presence-sensing AC cut-off
Your rooms switch their own AC off.
Vacaire watches for real presence — down to breathing — waits out a grace window you choose, then sends your aircon its own OFF signal. Guests keep their remote. You stop paying to cool empty rooms.
The problem
The AC nobody switched off.
Checkout was at ten. Housekeeping came at two. The aircon hummed to an empty room in between — and again all afternoon, because noticing isn't anyone's job. At South African tariffs every runaway hour is real money, and across rooms and a season it's quietly one of the biggest lines on the bill.
Vacaire exists because its builder runs eight self-catering apartments in Durban and got tired of paying that line. So he built the thing he couldn't buy: a device that notices.
Illustrative — run your own numbers in the calculator below.
How it works
Three steps. No new habits.
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It knows someone's there.
24 GHz radar reads presence down to breathing — a sleeping guest is never "empty." You tune how far it watches and how sensitive it is, from the app.
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It waits like a human would.
Room empties and a grace countdown starts — you pick it; 20 minutes is the sweet spot. Guest pops back in? Countdown cancels, nothing happens.
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It presses OFF for you.
It sends the room's own remote signal — learned during setup — three times to be sure. When someone returns, they use their remote as normal. Vacaire never switches an AC on.
The safety gate
"Now prove it can't switch the AC on."
That's a real line from Vacaire's setup wizard — because some remotes use one shared signal for on and off. A naive gadget replaying that signal could switch an AC on in an empty room: the exact opposite of the point.
THE NAIVE GADGET
- 01Copies whatever the remote sends — including toggle codes.
- 02Room empties, gadget fires the code.
- ✕If the AC was already off, that toggle just switched it on. It cools an empty room until someone walks in and wonders why.
VACAIRE · TAUGHT · SAFE
- 01Learns your remote's OFF, then makes you run a negative control: AC already off, Vacaire fires the signal — it must stay off.
- 02Until that check passes, the unit refuses to arm. The cloud refuses too.
- ✓Only verified signals ever fire automatically.
Worst case, an AC is left running. Never switched on in an empty room.
Two ways to hang it
Pick your puck.
Same matte-white fluted shell, same radar, same safety gate. The difference is how it gets its power — and how fast you can move it.
Vacaire
WIREDThe set-and-forget one. A slim white cable to the nearest plug and it's on duty forever, with live occupancy in the app every ten seconds. For rooms where a plug is within reach of the ceiling.
Vacaire Go
BATTERYThe no-wires-anywhere one. A slim steel disc tapes to the ceiling; the puck snaps on with hidden magnets and runs 8–12 months on a charge. Move it between rooms in seconds — and charge it in place over USB-C, without taking it down.
Do your own math
What's an empty afternoon costing you?
rooms × hours × 1.5 kWh × tariff × 30 days — the same constants the Vacaire app uses for its savings estimates. Your rooms, climate and tariff will vary.
The app is half the product
Set up, tested and watched from your phone.
Every unit is claimed, taught and monitored from a little web app — it installs straight from the browser, so there's no app store between you and your rooms. Sign in from your phone or the front-desk laptop.
20 min is the guest-room sweet spot. Shorter saves more; longer is gentler.
Fired the learned signal at an off AC — it stayed off. Only now will it arm.
Tap "Blink" in the app and the right unit winks at you from the ceiling — a soft blue glow through the shell. No hole, no dust, invisible when off.
The fine print, proudly
Every number, side by side.
| Spec | Vacaire | Vacaire Go |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Ø88 × 36 mm | Ø96 × 42.6 mm |
| Presence sensing | 24 GHz mmWave radar, breathing-level | Same, ultra-low-power variant |
| Detection range | Tunable to 6.75 m, in 0.75 m steps | Same |
| Sensitivity | Relaxed / Standard / Sensitive presets | Same |
| Grace window | 1–60 min, default 20 | Same |
| AC control | Learns any IR remote + built-in brand profiles. Verified-OFF only, sent ×3 | Same |
| Works offline | Yes — decisions on-device | Yes |
| Power | 5 V USB | 4 000 mAh Li-Po · USB-C · 8–12 months/charge |
| App check-in | Every 10 s (live view) | Daily + on every cut-off |
| Mounting | High-bond tape pads | Magnet snap onto slim steel disc |
| Setup | Own WiFi hotspot + 6-char claim code, ~5 min | Same |
| Updates | Over-the-air | Over-the-air |
| Finish | Matte white, fluted shell | Matte white, fluted shell |
Pricing
Simple prices. One job.
Smart AC controllers retail around R3 000 — and still count on the guest to care. Vacaire doesn't need anyone to care.
- The wired puck, USB power cable and mounting pads
- Live occupancy in the app every 10 seconds
- The label with its claim code — setup in ~5 minutes
- The battery puck, ceiling disc kit and USB-C cable
- 8–12 months per charge — charge it in place
- Snaps between rooms in seconds. Charged and ready
- Every room, every property, one dashboard
- Savings roll-ups per property, arm/pause from anywhere
- Fleet firmware updates over the air
Questions, answered
The things everyone asks.
Will it work with my AC?
If your AC has an infrared remote — and almost every split unit does — yes. Vacaire doesn't rely on a brand database: during setup you point your remote at it and press OFF once, and it captures that exact signal and replays it. Common brands like Gree and Daikin are also built in, but the learn path means the honest answer is simply yes.
My guest is asleep. Will it switch off on them?
No. The radar reads micro-motion down to breathing, so someone lying still — asleep, reading, watching a film — counts as present. "Empty" means empty.
Could it ever switch my AC on in an empty room?
By design, no. Only signals that pass the safety check — fired at an AC that's already off, and it stays off — are ever sent automatically. If a remote fails that test, Vacaire refuses to arm at all. The worst case is an AC left running, never one switched on.
Does it need the internet?
Not for the job itself. Presence, the countdown and the OFF signal all run on the puck, so a WiFi wobble or a full outage changes nothing. The internet is for the app: setup, dashboards and savings history.
How long does the Go battery really last?
8–12 months in typical rooms. To get there, Go reports to the app daily and on every cut-off rather than streaming live — the cut-offs themselves still happen instantly, on the device. When it's finally hungry, charge it in place through the USB-C port on its rim.
Do I need an electrician?
No. The wired puck tapes to the ceiling and plugs into a normal socket; Go snaps onto a slim steel disc you tape up first. Setup is about five minutes from your phone, once per room. Stuck? Email support — a human answers.
What about load-shedding?
Vacaire doesn't need the cloud to do its job, so an outage doesn't confuse it. When the power comes back it boots in seconds and is watching again — if the room is empty and the AC restarted itself, the countdown is already running.
I run multiple rooms — or multiple properties.
That's the Fleet plan. Every unit across every property on one dashboard: savings per property, arm or pause any room from anywhere, firmware updates pushed over the air. The first unit is free forever; after that it's R39 per unit per month.