How to Save on Summer Energy Bills with Smart Home Upgrades

When summer hits, the heat and humidity of Ocean County will have you cranking up the AC. Unfortunately, your AC is one of the most electricity-draining appliances in your home, which means that it can cause your energy bills to spike. That's not even accounting for other energy usage, such as lights, your washer, and dryer. Fortunately, thanks to technology, you can upgrade to smart home devices to help save on energy costs and make things more efficient overall. Don’t put up with any malarky! At Mister Sparky®, we can help upgrade your home and transform it into a smart home. Here is how we can do it.

Smart Thermostats

Other than smart doorbells, smart thermostats are probably the most common upgrade you can make to your home. At their core, smart thermostats function like typical programmable ones. You set a temperature or schedule, and the unit takes care of the rest. This helps you reduce the amount of electricity you use, such as turning the AC a little warmer during times when you're at work.

Wi-Fi

Where smart thermostats really shine is in their additional features. The most obvious one is Wi-Fi. By integrating with your wireless internet and a smartphone app, smart thermostats allow you to control them remotely or via voice control. This is huge for convenience, but even better for energy savings. For instance, if you have an inconsistent schedule, you may not be able to set your HVAC system to run reliably at the exact times when you're away from home. Sometimes, you may make a mistake inputting the schedule, or you might just forget to update it before heading out for the day. Regardless of the reason, as long as you have internet access, you can control your smart thermostat. This also helps if the occupants of your home have different schedules. You might head out on an errand halfway across Ocean County and then realize partway through that everyone else is out of the house, for example. Should that happen, you can simply open the app and adjust it so that your AC doesn't cool an empty home.

Geofencing

Most smart thermostats can use your phone's location services as a factor in determining when to turn on and off. They do this through geofencing, where you designate a radius around your house to serve as your home area. When your phone's location services indicate that you're outside of that radius, the HVAC system will switch to a holding temperature of your choice. Essentially, instead of programming your thermostat by time, geofencing allows you to program it by location.

Usage Reports

Smart thermostats provide detailed usage reports that show how long your system runs and the temperatures you set. By monitoring these reports, you can usually determine the hours of the day when you waste the most energy and adjust accordingly. You can also check if you need to adjust your thermostat to stay cooler at certain times of the day. Arm yourself with more knowledge from a smart thermostat's usage reports to make your home more energy-efficient.

Learning Capabilities (in Some Models)

Some smart thermostats can learn your routines and adjust accordingly. This feature even allows them to adjust your programming to use energy more efficiently. Whether you program your thermostat or use it manually, learning thermostats will observe when you change the temperature and how to respond. With advanced algorithms and the ability to understand your usage, along with local climate and how long it takes to cool your home, learning thermostats can minimize the amount of energy you might waste.

Summer Energy Incentives

Sometimes, utility companies offer discounts for purchasing a smart thermostat. This isn't about the rebates you earn when you first buy a unit. In addition to those, energy companies often offer a flat or percentage discount off your summer electricity bills in exchange for access to your smart thermostat. It doesn't require an electrician to access your home. Usually, your utility provider will automatically adjust the temperature during times of peak use. This way, you use less energy during higher-cost hours while getting a discount. You can usually opt out of individual days should it become uncomfortable. Smart thermostats can provide some of the biggest savings on your summer energy bills, but they're far from the only smart home upgrades that can help reduce your energy costs.

Smart Switches

Smart switches replace conventional light switches with Wi-Fi-enabled ones. Like thermostats, this provides remote and voice controls, which you can use to monitor usage even when you're away from home. As with other smart devices, you can schedule smart switches. This is great for safety, as it can make it seem as if people are home when you're on vacation. Additionally, it saves energy by ensuring that lights aren't left on unnecessarily.

Smart Plugs or Bulbs

If a smart switch isn't available to you, such as when you're renting or can't install one, you still have options. Smart plugs fit into outlets and function like a typical on/off switch. Smart plugs are more versatile than smart switches because you can use any outlet, as long as the plug shape matches, rather than having to hardwire them into your home's electrical system. Use smart plugs to schedule and control additional lighting fixtures, such as lamps, decorative features like fountains or seasonal displays, or even to regulate the use of portable air conditioners. Smart bulbs are somewhat more limited due to their nature as light bulbs. They typically cost more than regular light bulbs. Still, they are often capable of producing a wide range of colors, from different color temperatures of white to the entire color spectrum. You can dim smart bulbs without a dimmer switch to manage your energy usage, and you can also set programs to have them turn on and off automatically.

Smart Appliances

At first glance, you might wonder why you'd want a screen on your fridge door or why you'd want to see that your laundry is done early. Not all smart appliances have high-tech screens, but they still give you finer control over your belongings. A smart refrigerator might send you a notification if someone accidentally leaves the door open, saving you not just energy but also money on potential wasted food. A washing machine with smart technology can alert you when a load of laundry is finished and remind you afterward. That way, you're more likely to swap out the laundry instead of forgetting and having to run a new cycle the next day. Smart appliances can also often provide diagnostics to ensure they work efficiently. At Mister Sparky®, we provide Ocean County residents with help for their home electrical systems, from electrical repairs and new panels to smart home installations. Play it safe and choose Mister Sparky®. We can help you with all your smart home needs in Ocean County.