Smart technology is upon us, and it’s helping people save money. The following are some great additions to your home that could save you money this coming winter.
Take control of your heating with a smart thermostat
A smart thermostat gives you control over your home’s heating whether you’re at home or away. You can essentially access the thermostat settings using a smartphone or tablet. There are also a variety of options in the market. Most of these can work with the existing heating systems and help you save money. Explore the market and find out which options will work best for you.
If you forgot to turn off the heating before you left the house, or you found yourself getting home later than expected, you could easily turn off the heating from the app. This means you don’t have to waste energy or money heating your home while no one’s there. You can set your schedule such that the heating turns on when you want it on. If you’re sitting on the couch and you start feeling chilly, you won’t even have to get up as you could just open the app and raise the heating.
Turn the heating down by a degree
Experts recommend that you should reduce your thermostat by just one degree to generate a lot of energy and money savings. You could easily save up to 10% on heating bills alone. If every house in the country did this, it would save upwards of 3.5 million tons of CO2 and millions of dollars every year. Plus, this doesn’t mean reducing it to a point of freezing – just select the lowest temperature that you will be comfortable with. For most people, this is 18 to 22 degrees. Corgi can help keep the boiler working at its most efficient, and you could see significant savings on heating bills.
Some apps come with the capability of letting you easily monitor your energy usage at any time. This can be a great tool for those looking for easy ways to save. Make a budget and stick to it – this will help lower your carbon footprint. It can also be a fun game as you will easily know the exact amount of energy you’re saving in real-time.
Using TRVs to control the individual room temperature
TRVs (Thermostatic Radiator Valves) can help you set different temperatures in each room of the house, meaning that different people can set different temperatures as they wish. This way, no one will complain that it’s cold while another says it’s too hot. These devices are usually easy to install, and their accompanying apps are easy to use. With such tools, it’s easy to set comfortable temperatures room by room.
They can also save you a lot of energy and money when you only heat the areas in use. For instance, if your kids are at school, turn off their radiator while the rest of the house stays cozy. If the whole family is in the living room enjoying a movie night, why not turn off the radiators in every other room apart from the living room? You could set it up such that it turns on 10 minutes before the movie ends. This will ensure the rooms are comfortable when everyone retreats to their rooms.
Replace regular bulbs with smart light bulbs
Traditional light bulbs have been on the market for more than a century, and they are known to be quite inefficient. Only 5% of the electricity they consume is converted into light. There has also been a lot of advancement in the area of lighting, and modern LED lights are a perfect option. They help to improve the efficiency of lighting, and significantly reduce carbon emissions.
Choosing smart LED lighting over conventional ones can save you a lot of energy and money. Went upstairs to grab something but got distracted while at it? You could easily turn off the light in the living room without having to go downstairs. You can even set a schedule for the lighting from anywhere on the planet, and adjust the color, brightness, and even turn them on/off and reduce your carbon footprint.
Install a smart meter to monitor energy usage
If you want to know how much energy you use every month, you could do so with a smart meter. It can track your energy usage and the accompanying costs in real-time. With this information, it’s easier to monitor where you’re spending much of your energy and come up with ways to cut back and generate more savings. This can monitor traditional home energy usage and also now work with things like EVs or electric bikes and the like.
This could be done by doing things like washing and laundry when the tariff is lower or by taking shorter showers to save on water and energy. It’s also wise to have a budget and try sticking to it. You will find yourself gradually adopting habits that help you lower your energy expenses.