When I realized that I wanted to go back to school, I stopped to think about what I would need to do. It had been years since I cracked open a textbook, much less learned something new on a computer. However, I wanted to succeed, so I started to learn more about technology. I spent hours brushing up on my computer troubleshooting skills and when I was done, I felt a little more prepared. After I started school, I learned even more. I made this blog to teach other people a little about technology, so that you can keep up with your peers.
If you've been wondering about all of the excitement surrounding whole house automation, there's never been a better time to consider it. With summer weather bringing the heat and humidity to its peak and the kids home from school, your home energy costs and other associated expenses have likely gone up. Some home automation features are designed to help you prevent energy waste and make your home more efficient. Here are a few ways that home automation could help you to reduce costs and save your budget.
Don't Pay For Cooling When You Aren't Home
Some home automation systems offer features that control your thermostat when you're not home. This reduces the demand on your climate control system when you aren't home by raising the temperature on the thermostat a little bit.
With some systems, this is done by setting it through the remote control or the mobile app. When you set the system in 'Away' status, it then cuts back on your climate control demands because you're not there. Once you arrive back home or remotely set the system to its 'Home' status, it restores your previous settings.
Some systems can even be integrated with the GPS system in your smartphone. This then controls your home's climate control settings based on the proximity detection of your GPS. You can configure the system to restore your climate control settings any time you're within a certain radius of your home.
Reduce Your Stand-By Energy Demand
You probably already know that many of your appliances continue to draw small amounts of electricity when they are powered off. Televisions, DVD players, coffee pots and other things have a steady power draw even when the item isn't being used. With home automation, you can add specialty plugs to the outlets those items are plugged into. These plugs will actually shut off the power supply to those outlets during predetermined hours, so you can turn the power off at night to reduce your energy costs. You can also turn those outlets off when you're not going to be home, saving you even more.
Avoid Overworking Your Air Conditioner In Severe Heat
When the temperatures soar outside, it can put a lot of strain on your cooling system. As the temperature reaches its peak in the middle of the day, it can be harder for the air conditioner to keep up. Some automation thermostats have integrated sensors to adjust your climate control settings when the temperatures are excessive. For example, you could set your system to raise the thermostat temperature a couple of degrees any time the temperature outside exceeds 96 degrees. The difference of a couple of degrees won't make the space uncomfortable for you, but it could save significantly in wear and tear on the air conditioner.
Keep Your Cooling Indoors
When the kids are home from school for the summer, the steady flow of traffic in and out the doors can be persistent. It can also lead to doors accidentally being left open, which increases the demand on your air conditioning. With a home automation system, you have two different options to address this.
The first is to have an audible alarm sound any time a door is left open for longer than the pre-programmed time. This reminds your kids to shut the door behind them, but the programmed timing allows you to have some leeway for bringing things in the front door.
Another alternative is to have an automatic adjustment on your thermostat when the doors are propped open. It shuts off the air conditioning until the doors are closed again so you don't spend your money pumping cold air out the door.
With tips like these, you can understand the value of home automation. Make the most of your summer by talking with a home automation specialist today. He or she can tell you if these features will help, and may even be able to help you find other ways to simplify your summer.
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