Reduce Energy Usage and Save Money with Home Automation

How a Smart Home Helps You Manage Energy Consumption

Smart homes not only make your life more enjoyable, convenient, and safer, but they also offer energy solutions, reducing electricity usage and saving money in the process. In addition to optimizing how you use energy in your home, smart home automation can reduce dependence on the power grid by utilizing renewable energy sources and storage solutions. 

According to Bosch, an engineering and technology company, smart-home owners can cover up to 50% of their yearly energy needs using locally generated electricity.  Let’s find out how.

SEE ALSO: The Combined Power of Smart Home Automation and Design

Home Automation

You may think that smart homes, with their many connected devices, would use a tremendous amount of energy. However, due to their "smart" nature, they can actually reduce energy consumption. 

For example, motorized shades and lighting automation work together to manage daylight and reduce HVAC usage. The shades let in just enough diffused light to bring warmth and beauty. When the temperature rises, the shades automatically lower, reducing solar heat gain and the strain on HVAC systems. 

You can program lights to turn off in unoccupied rooms and dim or brighten based on the level of natural light. The growing use of LED lights in tunable and dynamic lighting offers significant savings in electricity. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, LED lights use at least 75% less energy than incandescent lighting. 

And how many times has someone left home without adjusting the thermostat? A smart climate control system learns your schedule and recognizes when no one is home. When the house is empty, the system lowers the shades, sets the temperature, turns off the lights, and locks the doors. If you'd like to return to a warm and inviting home, it can even prepare your home in advance - either based on your schedule or geofencing (a technology that uses the location of your phone as a trigger to turn your smart home systems on or off). 

Energy Management

Clean energy is generated by renewable sources like the sun and wind. While solar energy has been a viable energy source, problems include its lack of availability during evening hours when we routinely use our lights and heat or cool our homes.

A home energy management system changes that. These systems use renewable energy sources, like solar photovoltaics, to make energy and store it in batteries. Now, you can use the sun's clean energy when needed, creating an eco-friendly home and reducing your reliance on the power grid. 

These systems integrate with your smart home, letting you see where you’re using the most energy and when the demand is greatest, allowing you to make intelligent choices on energy usage. They also alert you to approaching storms, enabling you to ensure you have enough energy should the power grid fail.

At Kasted Design Group, our 40 years of experience in lighting design and automation make us uniquely capable of creating a beautiful home that reduces energy consumption, saves money, and is easy to manage. To learn more about energy solutions or to schedule a complimentary consultation, contact Kasted Design Group today.