Owning a home can be expensive. For all of the tremendous benefits that come with being a homeowner, there also comes a long list of costs. Heating and cooling bills, electricity for the lights and appliances you use every day, Internet, cable – the list goes on. As energy costs continue to rise, energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important. Not only will home automation technology improve the convenience of your daily life, but it can also save you money over time.
Home automation actually reduces several of the expenses mentioned above by removing the potential for human error. How many times you have left the lights on? Or set the thermostat just a little too high in the winter? Automating these utilities with smart technology can improve your quality of life while cutting down on wasted energy.
In short, home automation makes heating and cooling, lighting, and appliance usage more efficient. However, it can also yield other financial benefits as well.
Heating and Cooling With Home Automation
The first way home automation can save you money is by making heating and cooling more energy-efficient. To reap the full benefits, it helps to have excellent Sub Floor Ventilation at home. This ensures stale air is sucked out of the sub floor space and replaced with fresh air blown into it. These systems are designed to maintain a set level of comfort in your home at all times, without requiring much (if any) manual intervention.
The amount of energy needed for your AC or heating system is based on several factors, including:
When are you home?
If no one is home, leave it alone! Unless it’s set to be repaired, there’s no point in running the AC or heating unit in an empty home. Automated systems can be programmed to shut off during the day and turn on just before you get home.
What are the outdoor temperatures?
The hotter it is outside, the more your AC will have to run to keep the temperature consistently cool. During especially cold days, the furnace will have to work a little harder and use more energy. Monitor the local weather to make adjustments as needed.
Where are your windows located?
Windows do more than letting in sunlight. During the summer, AC units need to work a little harder to combat the extra heat that accompanies solar rays. During the winter – it actually works to your advantage as less heat is required by the furnace or heat exchanger. Also, don’t forget to get cheap furnace filters to change them once in a while!
Livewire Tip: To keep your house cooler in the summer, consider automated shading! Program shades to close when in contact with sunlight, and keep your house cool when the temperature starts to climb!
What are your behavioral patterns?
During the middle of the day, you have higher outdoor temperatures and more sunlight, but people may not be home. During the night, people are asleep and may not need the same level of heating/cooling they would while awake. Depending on your typical patterns of behavior, automated systems can adjust to improve your system’s efficiency and save money.
The primary technology used in saving on heating and cooling costs is a smart thermostat. You can program these devices to follow a schedule, some can “learn” your usage habits and make adjustments accordingly. Models with a Wi-Fi connection can even take weather forecasts into account when setting a schedule. That way, when the spring showers roll in the thermostat will make adjustments on the fly.
By automatically reducing usage at the right times, you could potentially save 10-15% on energy costs each year. U.S. households spend about $100 on electricity every month on average, so these savings can reach $180+ every year.
Automated Appliances
Yet another way that home automation can save money is by reducing appliance energy usage. From refrigerators to coffee makers, the number of smart appliances available on the market is staggering. Several of them are designed to shut off after sitting formant for an extended period of time. So next time you fall asleep with the television on, your wallet won’t hold it against you.
Other appliances can be programmed to shut off with the use of motion sensors or can be controlled remotely. Even appliances that don’t have Wi-Fi capabilities can be controlled remotely if plugged into a smart outlet or power strip.
Lighting Automation To Lower Costs
Another way home automation can save money is through your home’s lighting controls. We’re all familiar with the rigamarole of running around the house before vacation to turn off every light you find. After all, when no one’s home there’s no reason for the lights to be on…
Remote lighting controls and sensor-activated lights are both great solutions for getting rid of the last-minute rush. They save electricity while also eliminating the possibility that you’ll still accidentally leave some on.
- – Motion Sensor Lights – Used to turn lights on when you enter a room and automatically turn them off after you leave, making life both more convenient and less electricity-intensive.
- – Remote-Controlled Lights – Complete control from the palm of your hand! If you’ve left for the day but forget to turn off the lights, pull up your phone and shut them down from anywhere at any time.
Some automated lighting systems can also be configured to respond to daylight. As you get more sun coming in through the windows, the lights will automatically dim and shut off. This is useful for households where you inevitably have someone leaving on lights in an already well-lit room.
Other Ways Home Automation Saves Money
There are a few other financial benefits to home automation we want to touch on before we wrap up. While they don’t necessarily impact savings directly – they could save you big time in the long run.
One of the biggest benefits is theft prevention. In businesses, risk management is always a real concern, and consistently reducing risk has been shown to have measurable financial benefits. The same is true for your home! If you can prevent losses through theft, you have essentially saved yourself the cost of recovering or replacing stolen property. Home security systems (or even a simple motion-activated lighting system) can deter home intruders, theft, and vandalism.
Another long-term benefit of home automation is that it can increase your home’s value. If you ever choose to sell your home, the extra value added by home automation systems can lead to a higher asking price. Additionally, the extra value can be useful when refinancing or taking out a home equity loan since those are both based on the value of your property.
Installing a Home Automation System
The exact savings you can expect through home automation depends on several factors, including the number of appliances you use, the size of your home, how efficient your heating and cooling systems are, and so on. Generally speaking, larger homes tend to benefit most from home automation in terms of overall savings, but smaller homes can still see some financial benefits as well.
In either case, smaller, simpler automation systems are often best for getting the maximum benefit in terms of lower energy costs, but not always. Sometimes, something a little more complex is necessary to meet your needs.
Interested in finding out how home automation can save you money? Livewire has been in the home automation industry for over twenty years, and we have the expertise you need in order to use home automation to save energy.
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