Owning a home comes with a plethora of expenses. There’s usually a mortgage to pay, to start. Then there’s homeowners’ insurance, property taxes, utility bills, and the cost of maintenance and upkeep. It’s expensive. Fortunately, smart home technology can help you save some of your hard-earned money.
Smart Thermostats
Have you ever been shocked by the amount of your energy bill before? According to Direct Energy, heating and cooling your home can be responsible for nearly half of the bill all by itself. Changing out an old model thermostat for a new, smart thermostat can help you reduce that cost. You can more easily set your thermostat to reflect whether or not anyone’s home. It’s also easier to adjust it for daytime and nighttime temperatures. Keep in mind that a smart thermostat doesn’t change how much energy is needed to heat or cool your home. What it does do is help you avoid having to unnecessarily heat or cool your home. This saves you both energy and money.
Smart Lighting
While heating makes up a much smaller percentage of the power bill, the cost of lighting your home still makes up a measurable chunk of the bill. Smart lighting gives you another opportunity to save some money by reducing your energy consumption. Using the right type of bulb is a good place to start. According to Lighting & Supplies, LED light bulbs can last up to ten times longer than conventional light bulbs. They also use less energy to produce a comparable amount of light. Like other smart devices, smart lighting can often be controlled remotely. If you leave a light on, you can turn it off from wherever you are and save the cost of lighting that room until you need to again.
Smart Sprinklers
You’ve probably seen at least one lawn that had the sprinklers going while it was raining. Maybe that’s even been you before. It’s a bit silly to water your lawn when the world’s doing it for you, isn’t it? By installing a smart sprinkler system, you can save money by making sure you don’t use more water than needed for your lawn again. Some systems will even monitor the weather for you and adjust your watering schedule to match. It’ll be easier to customize your water usage to meet your actual needs as indicated by changing weather patterns, soil moisture, and the needs of the plants in your yard.
While it’s not likely to do much for your mortgage or make a dent in the cost of maintenance and upkeep, smart home technology can help you save some money on your utilities. Smart thermostats, lighting, and sprinkler systems can help reduce your energy and water usage, reducing the corresponding bills. Between the added savings and convenience, what’s not to love?
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