With the rise in energy demands globally, smart home devices are gradually becoming a modern beacon of convenience and automation. These devices, from thermostats to easy-to-control lighting systems, guarantee unparalleled control over household appliances. Using each of the devices ensures you have streamlined tasks and optimized energy usage.
Read on to learn about the most effective smart appliances you need in Denver, CO, and their impact on electricity consumption.
Smart Thermostats
The difference between a smart thermostat and a regular one is in the advanced sensors and learning algorithms. In addition to the temperature regulation functionality, smart thermostats also come with a geofencing feature that recognizes when you are home or away from home. This way, saving on your cooling and heating costs is easy as the HVAC systems are only turned on when you are home. Smart thermostats can also learn and adapt to your HVAC usage preferences and adjust automatically to your sleeping hours and higher or lower house occupancy periods.
Most intelligent thermostats will also connect to your home’s WIFI, allowing you to change their settings remotely through a companion app, and some smart thermostats can diagnose problems in the HVAC systems and notify the user when it is time for maintenance. This keeps the system running efficiently, saving on overall energy costs.
See also: How Old Appliances Can Affect Your Electric Bill
Energy Efficient Refrigerators
Unlike regular models, energy-efficient refrigerators are designed with a focus on reducing energy consumption. From using LED lighting to advanced inverter compressor technologies, and energy-efficient defrosting methods, smart refrigerators lower electricity bills and have a more negligible environmental impact.
Digital inverter compressors reduce power consumption by slowing or stopping their operations when not much cool air is needed. Smart refrigerators also use advanced insulation materials to reduce the workload on the appliance’s cooling system, achieving the utmost energy efficiency. The premium quality insulation is more effective at trapping cold air inside the refrigerator unit, ensuring a stable and consistent internal temperature and preventing the cooling system from overworking to bring down the temperature after each door opening.
Some smart fridge models can sense when the door is left open and activate an alarm system to inform the user. They can also have built-in cameras that give you a sneak peek of inside the unit without opening the door, helping reduce the energy wasted each time someone wants something not inside the unit.
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Smart Washers and Dryers
While the laundry room looks like the last place to make energy-efficiency improvements, it is a space where significant energy and water savings can be achieved. Smart laundry machines have various energy-efficient features, including load sensing and adaptive wash cycles. The load-sensing technique determines the optimal amount of water needed based on the accumulated load, reducing wasteful water consumption and minimizing the energy needed to heat the water, if necessary.
Adaptive wash cycles refer to important washing times and temperature adjustments that only deliver an ideal clean based on the type of fabric. This, in addition to moisture sensors in some smart washing machines, stops the washing cycle when the clothes are dry, preventing unnecessary electricity consumption.
Smart Lighting Systems
Switching to energy-efficient lighting systems like LED bulbs and smart switches guarantees energy savings as they consume less electricity and have longer lifespans, offering you more control over individual lights. They can also have built-in sensors that keep lights off and only turn them on when someone is in the room. With voice control or a mobile app companion, you can easily turn off any lights in the house remotely, in case you forgot them.
You can incorporate the lights with smart thermostats to schedule and automate the activation of your security lights, minimizing energy usage. Alternatively, you can embrace motion sensors that only turn on the security lights when movement is detected.
Energy-Efficient Dishwashers
Smart dishwashers are designed to reduce the amount of water and electricity consumed during their washing cycles. Although the exact energy efficiency varies from model to model, these devices are embedded with new technologies, some of which include highly efficient jets, better water filtration, and soil sensors. By gauging the dishes’ dirty, soil sensors will automatically change the washing cycle to ensure effective cleaning with less water and electricity usage.
Smart dishwashers also have load flexibility features letting you adjust the racks in the unit to accommodate more items. This ensures each wash cycle is fully used to reduce the need for additional wash cycles saving on electricity and water usage.
Smart Lawn Mowers
Smart mowers use advanced visual sensors and GPS to follow precise cutting patterns and detect obstacles in their path, reducing the need for repeated attempts to mow areas that can waste energy.
You can also schedule the smart mowers to trim your grass when energy costs are lower, and energy-efficient electric motors consume less electricity while getting the work done fast.
Smart Energy Monitors
Smart energy monitors are not appliances but provide invaluable insights into your home’s energy usage. These devices monitor and track real-time electricity consumption and then present the data through user-friendly interfaces. With this data, you can visualize your energy usage patterns and make informed decisions that reduce wasteful consumption.
Setting your energy goals according to your reduction targets is also possible with monitors. Such goals may include minimizing energy usage during peak hours or targeting specific high-energy-consuming appliances.
Best Smart Home Device Buying Guide
Consider the device’s compatibility
Before settling on a favorable unit, ensure the appliance is compatible with your existing smart home systems. You should ensure seamless integration with your preferred voice assistants, whether Alexa, Apple Siri, or Google Assistants.
You also have to figure out how these devices can be useful independently in case the system crashes. Even without full integration, smart devices can be plenty useful on their own and provide peace of mind and reliability during unforeseen situations.
Evaluate Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency should be your main basis when choosing the best smart home devices, so it’s important that while considering your preferences about the output of the device, ensure you get something with adaptive features to optimize energy usage. Look for a device or appliance specifically designed to minimize electricity consumption.
You also want to consider necessary energy efficiency certifications, such as the ENERGY STAR rating. This indicates the device’s compliance with industry-standard regulations for energy conservation.
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Check for automation capabilities
Automation capabilities also form a major aspect of your smart home devices, so look for appliances that can initiate specific actions upon triggering or ones that can execute predefined actions simultaneously.
Remember, it’s the automation that saves you time while also saving on energy consumption. For example, think about a smart thermostat programmed to adjust operations when you leave and are about to get home and consider taking advantage of geolocation and presence detection. The appliance should also have a user-friendly automation setup with a convenient manual override.
Assess its performance and reliability
Reliability and performance are important factors when buying any machine, whether a smart or regular model, so the appliance can meet your expected needs without frequent malfunctions.
To be sure about the device you buy, ensure you buy your smart devices from reputable manufacturers and check for customer reviews about the specific machine you want. Choose devices with a long history of consistent operations and positive user experiences.
Think about its value for money
There are different smart home device manufacturers with varying prices. However, your main purchase point should be upon consideration of the price with the device’s features and capabilities. Ensure you avoid compromised quality or poor-performing devices to save on the purchase cost. Above all else, the device must directly contribute to reducing electricity bills while optimally meeting your needs.
A smart home device plays a key role in ensuring reduced electricity consumption at home. While you can use various smart devices based on your preferences and schedule, it’s important to consider the device’s reliability and overall performance.