Winter is right around the corner and while I have talked about winterizing your car and making it more road efficient, I haven’t really spoken about how to make your home more energy efficient. It really is important to make your home a smart home. Both in Winter and Summer we tend to use higher energies. In Summer, the AC is constantly running. In Winter time, we usually have all or most of the lights on and the heat fired up.
Right after I got married, and was out on my own for the very first time, I got a rude awakening. I was facing an electric bill close to $500!
It was insane!
I couldn’t figure out why it was so high. Then – then I noticed my husband left the AC running in our bedroom ALL day, the basement lights were never turned off (no I rarely went down there), and he left the lights around the house on too.
So I did the subtle thing. I would go after him and turn off the lights and the AC, and then I hit the store and bought energy efficient lights. I even subtly asked him to change our thermostat.
He finally caught on and became a little bit better at conserving energy.
Fast forward five years and we have a full on Smart Home. I even convinced him to get a Smart TV! It of course comes with the Energy Star® seal of approval!
Here are ten tips to help you do the same.
How to Make Your Home a Smart Home
Need help thinking of ways to make your home smarter and more convenient? We’ve got a mixture of energy efficiency and smart home ideas for you!
1. Install a smart thermostat, such as the Nest Learning Thermostat. Smart thermostats offer you climate control, the convenience of programming away from home, and more.
2. Your living room typically has multiple active light sources available. Make sure your lighting is energy efficient by switching traditional bulbs to CFLs or LEDs.
3. Replace your old, inefficient appliances with new, efficient, Energy Star® appliances. Old appliances tend to run inefficiently.
4. Replace the showerhead in your bathroom(s) with low flow showerheads. These showerheads regulate the flow of water, assuring you a more efficient shower.
5. Make sure you have a strong Wi-fi signal from your smart thermostat and smart devices. Because you can remotely control your smart thermostat via the internet, periodically check the signal strength in the network settings on the thermostat’s control screen.
6. Installing light dimmers can save cut your electricity use 40% over time and make your lightbulbs last 20 times longer.
7. Use an automated pet food and water dispensing system so you don’t have to worry about feeding your pets if you happen to be away from home for longer than you had intended.
8. Planting trees in optimal spots on your property will provide shade during the warmer months making your system work less hard to cool your home down.
9. Even when your appliances are turned off, they are still using electricity. Use smart power strips to combat energy vampires.
10. Use a smart sprinkler to control your sprinkler system from your smartphone. They adjust setting based on weather and time of day so you don’t have to.
And as the saying goes: “There’s an app for that!”
That is truly the beauty of living in the 21st Century. We can truly control even the smallest aspects of our lives…for the better of course!
Direct Energy is hosting a sweepstakes where 5 lucky winners will have the chance to win Nest Learning Thermostats! To enter the sweepstakes, visit the campaign landing page and simply fill out the entry form. How easy is that? The giveaway will take place from Wednesday, October 1st to Wednesday, October 22nd. Winners will be selected in Mid-November.
**For Mobile Users: If you are having issues viewing the sweepstakes, please follow this mobile link to enter!**
Who Is Direct Energy? I’m glad you asked!
At Direct Energy, we are committed to helping our customers build a smarter home, and thus cut down on their energy usage – saving the customer time and making their lives easier. Currently we’re offering the opportunity for anyone to learn more about creating a smarter home by visiting our Facebook page, or exploring our Comfort & Control Plans.
Our Comfort & Control Plans 24 or 36 month plans offer fixed rate price stability, and a Nest Learning Thermostat (a $249 value) at no cost to you.
How are you turning your home into a smart home? What steps have you taken?
**Disclosure: Thanks to Direct Energy for sponsoring today’s discussion**
Maria
Maria is a Writer, an advocate for Infertility and PCOS, and an avid baker and cook. Follow her adventures as an overworked work at home mom! Grab a cup of strong coffee, I recommend a nice espresso or a cappuccino and get ready to be entertained and educated.
Follow Me:
Alaina Bullock says
October 14, 2014 at 9:00 AMI love the idea behind these! I cannot wait to get a home, because this will be a definite addition!
Marysa says
October 14, 2014 at 9:56 AMI have an old thermostat, which we have tried to program, but can never get it to work right. So, it’s old, and it is not intuitive at all.. you certainly cannot access it with a smartphone! Time to update!
Lisa - BetweentheKids.com says
October 14, 2014 at 11:18 AMOh man, I can remember when we first moved to Katy, Texas. It’s east of Houston and SOOOO hot! We moved right toward the end of summer, and the electric bill started out ok. What we didn’t know was the garage conversion to a bedroom……… had faulty a/c ducts. Our bill went from 200 to 300 to 400…. In December, when we thought it would go down….. we put up Christmas lights. MISTAKE. OUr bill was $700 for the month of December!! We were already broke as it was. Fast forward 8 years, and we’re doing so much better. I am eyeballing one of those Nest Thermostats, though! Would LOVE that!
Debra says
October 14, 2014 at 12:13 PMMy Husband has been talking about getting the house “smart” ready. We have a few things that we can control remotely – but I think being able to control the heat/cool air in the house would be great.
Lesley says
October 14, 2014 at 1:51 PMI am so technically challenged I’m almost afraid to make my home smarter than I am. LOL Your instructions were very simple and easy-to-follow, thank you.
Jeanine says
October 14, 2014 at 2:47 PMGreat tips! Our house is pretty big and we do what we can to conserve where we can! This will help
Amber Nelson says
October 14, 2014 at 5:00 PMWe are definitely working on trying to make our house a smart home. It is a process!
Celeste says
October 15, 2014 at 2:08 AMGreat tips! Our bill during the summer was doubled. Having a Nest Learning Thermostat would help.
Rosey says
October 15, 2014 at 6:24 PMSo many good ones on here. I like the self-feeding pet feeders, those are great if you’re gone longer than you meant to be too!
katrina g says
October 16, 2014 at 12:18 AMgreat tips. i’m working on making my house a smart home. i love it!