Spare bulbs and batteries for Airbnb: the 10-item kit that ended my 10pm trips to Tesco

It was a Tuesday in October. Guest checked in at 5pm. At 9:47pm: 'Hi, the bathroom light has gone out, is there a spare?' I was forty minutes away, with nothing at the property. I told them to use their phone torch for tonight and I'd fix it in the morning.

They left a 4-star review. Accuracy: 5. Cleanliness: 5. Check-in: 5. Location: 5. Value: 4. Communication: 4. The one comment: 'Small issue with a bulb not fixed during the stay.' I deserved that.

I now keep a small maintenance kit at every property. Guests can fix minor things themselves if they want, or I can turn up with the right parts in under five minutes from wherever I am.

The 10-item kit

This lives in a small clear labelled box in the airing cupboard or the utility space at each property. It's not hidden — guests get told it's there in the guidebook, with a note that says 'help yourself if you need it':

1. LED GU10 bulbs, 4-pack: These are what most modern halogen fittings have been converted to. I have GU10 downlights in every kitchen and bathroom. I keep a 4-pack of warm white (2700K) 5W GU10s at every property. Philips or Osram from Screwfix — about £7 for 4. Not the cheap unbranded Amazon ones, which have inconsistent colour temperatures and shorter lifespans.
2. B22 bayonet LED bulbs, 2-pack: For any pendant or table lamp with a standard bayonet cap. The older properties still have these. One warm white (2700K), one cool white (4000K) because I genuinely can't always remember which a specific fitting uses.
3. E14 small bayonet LEDs, 2-pack: For bathroom cabinet mirrors and smaller decorative fittings. These are the ones that go in unexpectedly and are the hardest to find at 10pm in a corner shop.
4. AA batteries, 4-pack: For remote controls (TV, Sonos, heater), bathroom scales, and whatever else I've inevitably forgotten runs on batteries. Duracell or Energizer — I've tried supermarket own-brand and they're fine until they leak.
5. AAA batteries, 4-pack: Same reason. AAA tends to be the TV remote standard; AA tends to be the larger remotes and some smart locks.
6. CR2032 coin cell, 2 units: Smoke detector low-battery chirp at 3am is one of the top five worst guest experiences. All of my smoke alarms take CR2032s. Two spares per property means a guest can swap it themselves without waking up for a 3am chirp.
7. Fuses, 3A and 13A: A small fuse assortment. Mainly 13A because that's what plug-top fuses are, and occasionally a lamp cord fuse goes. Costs almost nothing; lives in a labelled bag.
8. Stanley mini screwdriver (flat and Phillips): For changing socket faceplates, tightening loose hinges, adjusting furniture. I also use it for the battery compartment on remotes.
9. Small torch (AA-powered): For when the mains go — tripped breaker, power cut. Every property has a torch somewhere guests can find it. The kitchen drawer at most of mine. Alkaline batteries pre-loaded and checked on every quarterly inspection.
10. Spare set of keys, sealed in an envelope with the property address: This is not a maintenance item. But it lives in the kit box because it's the one thing I always forget to put somewhere useful. Guests can find it if they're locked out and I'm not reachable. Only one envelope, only used as a genuine last resort.

What I tell guests

My guidebook has a section headed 'If something needs fixing.' Two paragraphs. Short version: message me on Airbnb first if something breaks; there's a small kit in the airing cupboard if it's something simple like a bulb; and if it's an appliance fault, let me know and I'll sort it within 24 hours or provide an alternative.

Roughly 30% of guests who need a bulb replacing just do it themselves from the kit. The other 70% message. Either way, the kit has been there, and either way the problem has been resolved faster than if I had to drive to a Tesco Express.

Where this matters most

My rural Lake District barn is 40 minutes from anywhere with extended opening hours. There is no late-night corner shop. If a bulb goes at 7pm in January, and I don't have a spare on site, the guest is in the dark. Or using their phone torch. Which is annoying and shows up in reviews.

Even for the Edinburgh flat — which is central, with a Tesco Metro three minutes' walk away — having spares on site means a guest can fix it themselves in two minutes without it becoming a conversation. Guests who fix small things themselves tend not to mention them in reviews. Guests who had to message about a bulb for forty-five minutes and then wait for me to come over definitely do.

The cost of maintaining the kit

I buy bulbs in bulk from Screwfix or Toolstation — usually a box of 10 GU10s for about £18, a box of 6 B22s for about £12. These last three properties for about eighteen months before they need topping up. Batteries from Amazon Business in multipacks. CR2032s from Amazon, 10 for about £4.

Total annual spend on spare kit maintenance across five properties: roughly £60–70. The night I drove 25 minutes each way to replace one bathroom bulb and generated a 4-star review cost me more than that in reputation alone.

Bulb types to watch

If you're still running halogen GU10s — the hot ones, the ones that get genuinely hot enough to burn you — switch them out. LED GU10s use about a fifth of the power and run cool. Guest safety. Fire risk reduction. And the running cost difference on five properties across twelve months is significant enough to care about.

My Edinburgh flat had 16 halogen GU10s in the kitchen and hallway. Switching to 5W LEDs saved roughly £180/year in electricity at current rates. The bulbs paid for themselves in about three months. I should have done it sooner.