Making Your Home Work Smarter: Saving Money with Home Automation
Smart home technologies can help you conserve energy and trim your expenses.
When you think about ways to save money on household expenses, automating your home probably isn't the first idea that comes to mind. Don't be too hasty to write off smart home technology as a money-saver: home automation is no longer relegated to celebrity homes and luxury mansions. Most smart home technologies are quite affordable and easy to use; in addition, the majority of these systems don't require major renovations to your home. Automating your home's heating, cooling and lighting systems can add up to serious savings on energy costs and simplify your life at the same time. Let's take a closer look at these innovative solutions and see how they can help you slash your household bills.
Programmable Thermostats
Most homes have heating and air-conditioning systems that are somewhat inefficient: Energy is wasted heating or cooling rooms that remain unoccupied. It's no wonder that heating and cooling costs represent the lion's share of a typical home's energy bill. Programmable thermostats can solve this problems by allowing homeowners to control their home's temperature remotely with their tablet or smartphone. With this technology, you don't have to waste energy heating or cooling your home when you're out; in addition, you can set the thermostat to ensure that your home's temperature is comfortable when you return.
Remote Control
Do you find yourself following your kids from room to room, turning off lights that they accidentally left on? Do you often wonder if you remembered to turn off lights or appliances after you leave for work? Occupancy sensors in the home can help you slash your utility costs and can be a great first step into the world of smart-home technology. These sensors ensure that televisions, lights and other appliances are turned off when people leave the room. Some systems even allow users to control these lights and appliances remotely with their smartphone or tablet.
Timing is Everything
In addition to sensors, timers can also be used to control lighting in your home. You can program your lights to go off after you leave for work and then come on later in the afternoon when your children get home from school. Timing-based automation is useful to manage other settings as well: your usage of heating and cooling systems, motorized shades, garage doors and surveillance cameras can all be optimized with an automated schedule. Small changes like these add up to significant energy savings over time.
Cutting Insurance Costs
Beyond the obvious savings on energy bills, smart home technologies can also help you cut your home insurance costs. Insurers know that these systems can reduce the risk of insurance claims due to theft, fire damage or water damage; people with automated home systems often receive discounts of 20 percent or more on their home insurance. If you've recently installed an automated system in your home, be sure to inform your insurer to make sure you're getting the best possible price on your insurance policy.
Savings and Safety
The same home automation technologies that help you save money on insurance and energy costs can also help keep your home safe. For example, systems that allow you to control your lights remotely from your smartphone don't just ensure that the lights are off when you head to work: They also allow you to turn the lights on when you want to give the appearance that someone is home. Motion sensors can ensure that potential fire hazards like candle warmers are turned off when nobody is in the room. Even door locks can be automated and controlled remotely, eliminating the worry that you forgot to lock the front door on your way out.
Patience is a Virtue
It's unrealistic to expect overnight savings from automated home systems. Although none of these technologies are prohibitively expensive, the purchase and installation of these devices requires some degree of initial investment. The monthly savings from each solution may seem small at first glance, but they add up to a substantial amount over the course of a year. In fact, most automated solutions save enough money each month to pay for themselves within just a couple of years.
It's clear that home automation technologies offer a wide variety of benefits to homeowners. These automated systems have a positive environmental impact, offer significant cost savings and provide homeowners with increased control and flexibility. Contact a home-automation company to help you create a customized system that meets your family's needs.