You Won’t Believe How One Simple Trick Can Slash Your Utility Bills in Half – See How These 4 Smart Devices Can Help!
Are you tired of receiving exorbitant utility bills every month? Do you want to reduce your carbon footprint and conserve energy? If yes, then you are at the right place. Technology has made our lives easier in numerous aspects, and energy management is not an exception. You can now control your energy usage with smart home devices that will help you save money and contribute to a cleaner environment.
Below are 4 smart devices that can help you cut your utility bills in half:
1. Smart Thermostat
A smart thermostat is an intelligent device that can learn your schedule, preferences and adjust the temperature of your house automatically. It can be programmed to set the temperature higher or lower according to the time of day or when you’re away. It can also detect if a window is open and adjust the temperature accordingly, helping you save up to 10% on heating and cooling bills.
2. Smart Power Strips
These devices are designed to reduce energy waste when your electronics are idle. Smart power strips can detect when devices are turned off and shut down the power to those devices to save energy. They allow you to control individual outlets with apps or voice commands, reducing standby power consumption by up to 30%.
3. Smart Lighting
Smart lighting systems are equipped with motion sensors, ambient light sensors, and timers, allowing you to control your lighting remotely and more efficiently. You can set your lights to turn on or off when you leave the room, adjust the lighting intensity, or create preset lighting modes that will dim or turn off specific lights in your home to save additional energy.
4. Smart Energy Monitors
Smart energy monitors are devices that analyze your energy usage and provide real-time data on your energy consumption. By tracking the energy usage of various appliances and devices, these gadgets provide insights that will help you make informed decisions about energy usage in your home. You can identify the appliances that use the most power and adjust your habits to save more energy, reducing your monthly utility bill.
By incorporating these smart home devices in your home, you can take control of your energy consumption and save money. Not only will you enjoy reduced utility bills, but these simple steps also help in conserving energy and creating a cleaner environment.
In conclusion, if you want to take a significant step towards energy efficiency, investing in smart home devices is a good start. With the availability of cost-effective devices and various sustainable technologies, there’s never been a better time to improve your energy consumption habits. Start exploring the options available and make the shift towards greener living!
As of August, the price for utility gas had risen by 25% in the US compared with the year prior, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. And with electricity costs being up by 14% in the same time, inflation, and the prospect of a recession, not to mention increasing grocery costs, people are feeling the pressure. There are small changes we can all make to ensure that we’re saving as much energy as possible, both for the health of the planet and for the health of our bank accounts. Implementing these changes can have an impact on your utility bills within just a few months. Also: The future of money. These innovations will change how we shop, spend, and save
How to save on utility bills with 4 smart home devices
1. A smart thermostat
Kiss the thermostat wars goodbye for good with a smart upgrade. The startup cost for a smart thermostat can range from around $100 to $300, but the return can easily make it well worth it. Besides, you may be able to get a rebate on an upgrade to a smart thermostat. A smart thermostat means you’ll never have to worry if you forgot to turn down your AC before you left the house and instead will be able to do it right from your phone. Or take advantage of the option to set scenes and automations to run without you having to think about them. Did you know a change as simple as setting your thermostat 7 to 10 degrees off its usual setting for 8 hours a day can save you up to 10% a year on gas and electric? This doesn’t have to translate to discomfort either. If you work outside the home during the day, you don’t really need your home to stay at 72° while you’re gone. Letting it go to 80° in the warm months and 62° in the winter while you’re away from home can make a big difference at the bottom line. And a smart thermostat can do this for you automatically. With Alexa, Google, or HomeKit you can set your smart thermostat to adjust the temperature automatically on a schedule, or on a trigger such when you say, for example, “Alexa, I’m going to work.” Here are some good options to choose from: Also: Nest Learning Thermostat vs Nest Thermostat: Which is right for you?
2. Smart lightbulbs
You may be familiar with that stereotype of the budget-conscious dad going around the house turning off the lights. It’s me, I’m that dad. This is where smart lightbulbs truly shine, pun intended: LED lightbulbs are the most energy-conscious lighting option. All of the options below are LED bulbs, and can fit right in to replace a standard lightbulb in your home. Aside from upgrading to LED lights, a smart lightbulb means never forgetting what lights were left on, as this information is always on your phone. Smart lights can also be put on a schedule, so you can have them all turn off at 11 pm each night, for example, and never accidentally leave a light on. Though different smart devices can be expensive, there are quite a lot of affordable smart lights on the market that perform extremely well. And if you don’t want to spend too much to get started, you can also determine which lights are the most used – or, in my case, which ones are the ones I always forget to turn off – and start by replacing those with smart bulbs. Also: How to set up motion-triggered smart lights as an Alexa routine
Lumens and consumption
LED lights consume 75% less energy than standard incandescent bulbs on average. We used to look at wattage when buying an incandescent bulb to get an idea of the brightness we could expect from it. But for LEDs, the metric you want to keep an eye on is lumens, the unit that measures a bulb’s brightness. The higher its lumens, the brighter the light. An incandescent bulb and an LED bulb can have the same lumen quantity, but the LED one can consume up to about 80% less watts for the same brightness. A common 60W incandescent bulb typically has an 800-lumen brightness. But the same 800-lumen brightness can be achieved with an LED bulb that only consumes 9W. A wide gamut of smart bulbs can give you these benefits in different price ranges:
3. Smart outlets or plugs
Smart plugs or outlets can bring you the most control of energy consumption because they’re attached straight at the source. A smart outlet replaces the existing outlet in your home, but a smart plug you simply plug in, no wiring required. Either way you go, the benefits of a smart plug or outlet are undeniable: You can set light schedules, triggers, and scenes and automations, and always see which lights are on right from your mobile device. And some of these devices offer energy monitoring options, so you can see historical and real-time data on how much energy is consumed by what you have plugged into it. Also: I got the $3.49 smart plug on Prime Day, here’s how it went Instead of smart outlets and plugs, you can also get smart switches and smart power strips to serve the same purpose.
4. An IR/RF blaster
This is one of those little devices that can make your existing dumb devices smarter at a low cost. An IR/IF blaster can connect to both your mobile device and your remote-controlled appliances like pedestal or ceiling fans, fireplaces, portable AC units, and blinds. With an app in your mobile device you can control these dumb devices from wherever you are, as the blaster will effectively replace the individual remote controls. Review: Broadlink RM4 Pro: Make your home smarter for less than $50 And many blasters on the market can also set up scenes and automations, such as one to turn off any ceiling fans you may have forgotten to switch off in your living room each night. I’m a fan of saving money whenever I can. As the family budgeter, I’ve seen how the prices of everything we buy at the store have risen, and don’t even get me started on fuel, gas, and electric bills. Though these smart devices incur an upfront cost, the savings from using them could well be worth the investment.
