Why a Smart Home Is a Greener Home

Just under a fourth of the energy consumed in the U.S. is consumed by residential properties. While homes have more electronics than ever before, smart building styles, efficient appliances and rising population densities in temperate climates have reduced energy use on the whole. 

A high-tech home doesn't have to mean high electricity bills. Setting up a smart, energy-conscious household can help individual homeowners preserve environmental resources by conserving energy and water.

How Smart Homes Save Energy

Eco-friendly smart homes can help homeowners reduce energy waste. Up to 35% of home energy gets wasted. Smart thermostats, plugs and motion detectors only activate when someone is nearby, or when engaged through a smartphone app.

Smart appliances like thermostats combine the use of sensors, algorithms, machine learning, and cloud computing to help make your home as comfortable and energy efficient. They can also provide remote control and automation based on your activity and preferences.

The Role of Smart Thermostats

Smart thermostats save energy by allowing homeowners to program set points. The set points help the heating and cooling system in the home maintain the desired temperature. This helps avoid the need for the furnace or AC to run on high for an extended period of time due to temperature fluctuations during off-peak times.

Smart thermostats also have the capability to acclimate to the daily habits of homeowners. The thermostats are then able to program themselves. This can ensure the house maintains a comfortable temperature without running the home's HVAC system at full capacity.

Most smart thermostats use a motion sensor to detect when a user is home - that is, when they walk in front of the thermostat. They can use this or geo-fencing (your phone's location) to determine whether you're home and override your schedule to save you energy if you're away. 

Some use temperature sensors to focus on the temperature of a specific room, the thermostat, or the average of all the sensors. This lets you avoid heating or cooling your home more than you need to. Plus, your intrusion sensors can signal the thermostat to pause when doors or windows are open.

How Smart Power Strips and Plugs Work

Smart homes can be plug and play, literally, with smart power strips and plugs that can help optimize energy usage. These are designed to save energy when connected to devices that go into standby mode. When the connected devices go into standby mode, these smart outlets can shut down power to save energy.

Smart plugs can help you save 1-4.58% of energy usage per year. Use them on TVs, computers, gaming consoles, slow cookers, coffee makers, sound systems, and dehumidifiers.

Smart plugs are often compatible with smart speakers and voice commands. You may be able to turn out your kitchen light from the driver's seat, by saying "Hey Siri, turn off the kitchen lights." 

To conserve space on your phone, you can select smart plugs that you can manage from the same app as other smart appliances.

Smart Lighting and Motion Detectors in Smart Home Environments

Instead of using energy to maintain a brightly lit room at all times, smart lighting allows homeowners to adjust the lights based on the size of the room, time of day and personal preferences.

Motion detectors are useful for energy saving purposes because the integrated sensors turn the lights off at night. Motion detectors can be triggered by movement when anyone moves in the area.

Plus, you can integrate smart lighting with scenes, or if-this-then-that programs for automating multiple smart appliances at once. This means you can turn your lights off automatically with a simple voice command, while also dialing back your thermostat.

How Eco-Smart Homes Save Water

Eco-smart homes can also help owners cut down on unnecessary water consumption. Smart sprinklers and valves adjust to accommodate the weather and alert homeowners to plumbing problems.

Saving Water with a Smart Sprinkler System

A smart sprinkler system can automate watering the lawn or garden based on weather conditions. The smart technology in the system is able to check the weather forecast and trigger the irrigation to begin when indicated by the forecast. When the sensors detect wet weather, the smart irrigation system holds off on activating the sprinklers.

You can also connect smart irrigation devices to your home security, so you can control your sprinklers with the same app as well as voice commands. You can water (or not water) your yard from anywhere, even turning on a single sprinkler zone as needed.

Flood Sensors and Smart Valves Address Water Loss

Smart flood sensors provide leak detection, and smart valves can give homeowners a chance to halt water loss almost as soon as a pipe bursts. This helps can reduce the damage leaking water can cause, and it can also offers the green benefit of preventing freshwater from being wasted.

Smart valves can also help cut water bills because they regulate water pressure and compress air that's in the water. Compressing the air in the water means the homeowner may only pay to pump actual water, instead of paying for air bubbles.

Learn more about the eco-friendly benefits of living in a smart home environment from AAA Smart Home solutions. Our home automation offerings put you in control with a tap of the screen on your mobile device.