Just recently we talked about top 5 reasons why home automation is an essential upgrade for every home owner.
We believe in a great future and a great future means eco-friendly gadgets, ergonomic environments and most importantly energy efficient tools that make our day beautiful and more productive.
It may sound over-optimistic, however this is the reality that every smart home owner lives every single day.
Smart technology is always focusing on renewable energy and smart energy consumption. This means that all new tech will follow certain standards designed to optimize the energy that your home uses for daily activities.
Save money and energy through climate control
One of the biggest energy consumption concerns floats around the heating and cooling of our home.
Google has developed the “Nest Learning Thermostat” to solve this issue. This small, round device will automatically detect your presence and only then trigger the heating temperature you configured. Additionally, you can set up Nest to pre-heat your home for when you arrive back home.
This can be done remotely via the iPhone and Android app.
According to Google, this will result in a heating bill save of 10% to 12% and over 15% in cooling bills. This is a significant cost reduction which translated in hundreds of kW saved over the period of one year.
Of course, this same exact principle applies to air conditioning through predictive residential air conditioning control.
According to the Department of Energy, the air conditioning systems are responsible for over 54% of the energy consumption alone.
Smart locks & smart doorbells
Another good example that we love is the August smart lock. This smart lock can detect when your phone is around and unlock the main entrance. You can also opt-in to add guests or family members in the list of recognized persons.
The reason why this solution is time and cost-effective is due to the fact that you can remotely choose to lock or unlock doors. This way you can effectively run your home when you are in your spare time or in a holiday vacation.
It is also a good and smart way to support a productive home-renting business.
The same principle applies to the SkyBell, smart doorbell. This easy to install device will replace your old doorbell with a more secured / camera powered doorbell.
SkyBell detects when someone approaches your main entrance and notifies you via SMS. This way you can check who visits you even when you are away in vacation.
Save more energy using smart lighting systems
Smart lighting usually means incorporating LED light technology and smart dimmers alongside lighting control.
We love LED because for two reasons:
- Long life (3-5 years)
- Extremely low energy consumption
- More powerful light in more variations
- Available in multiple colors alongside remote controller
To help you understand how smart lighting can be an effective strategy for saving more, we created a comparison table between incandescent, CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lights) and LED (Light Emitting Diode).
|
|
Incandescent |
CFL |
LED |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Avg. Cost / Bulb |
$1 |
$2 |
$7 |
|
Lifespan |
1000 – 1200 hours |
Aprox 8000 hours |
Over 25.000 hours |
|
Consumption |
60W |
14W |
10W |
|
Cost of use for 25.000 hours at $0.12 |
$180 |
$42 |
$38 |
Our conclusion is that LED lights are winners by far. Even though the initial investment may seem higher, the overall result is in favor of LED smart lighting.
Keep in mind that these are the savings you get from just one bulb. Sum up all the bulbs in your residence and see what you get.
On top of that, you should know that LED’s can be customized with different RGB colored strips and light bulbs that can be controlled remotely or via a mobile app.
Eliminate water waste
Did you know that the average American household will waste up to 10.000 gallons of water each year due to leaks from dishwashers, washing machines and faucets.
In 2016 the Consumers Electronics Show focused on finding the best tools to help remediate this issue. The solution comes from smart appliances like the smart shower head.
This shower head is able to tell you exactly how much water you are using. The same goes for smart sink faucets that can save up to 200 gallons of water each month by turning off while you are brushing your teeth according to Get Notion.
Save money using efficient remote home monitoring
Remote home monitoring refers to being able to check the status of your home via internet even when you are not home. This means you will be able to check if the lights are on, if the door is locked or not or even if you left the oven on.
All these are available thanks to smart home technologies. A great gadget that we like for remote monitoring is the Canary security system which allows you to tap into full HD videos of your home 24/7.
Also, the mobile application for Samsung SmartThings will allow you to check the status of lighting, washing machine, TV and pretty much every smart device that is connected to the smart hub.
Conclusion
Even though in some cases home automation turns out to be a bit more expensive than traditional electronics, it is definitely a smart investment.
An automated home means that you will be able to set certain patterns and behaviors for your smart appliances (only use tech when it’s needed). This will result in a significant decrease of power use in your home.
