Over the years, we’ve learned to become more conscious of our consumption of resources. Beyond the environmental impact, it’s also important for our budgets. As you shop for electric plans, remember that your home’s energy-efficiency also depends on the kinds of gadgets and appliances you have. You don’t need to replace every single appliance in your home. Instead, a few strategic choices can help you lower costs and consumption at home.
Smart plug
A smart plug can make any gadget or appliance that’s plugged into it smarter. You can go out to run a quick errand while leaving your laptop to charge on your desk. While you’re away, you can turn off the smart plug via your smartphone when you think your laptop has reached a full charge.
Smart lighting
Apart from mobile app control, some smart light bulbs also support Amazon Alexa and other voice command systems. Some smart lights also let you toggle between warmer and cooler hues of lighting and set a schedule for them. For instance, you can set cooler lights during the day and warmer lights at night. This is a great feature as it’s scientifically proven that cooler lighting hues are good for work and productivity, while warmer ones are conducive for rest.
Heating and cooling
Another thing we can spend a lot of money on is our heating and cooling systems. One way you can address this is by investing in a smart thermostat. Monitor and control it remotely by way of the mobile app that it syncs with. You can also program it to run on a schedule and adjust according to the temperature outside. Smart thermostats can also boost your home’s real estate value.
Some people, however, live in smaller homes where it might not be necessary to spend money running big heating equipment – at least not all the time. In such cases, these portable heaters can do just the trick. This tabletop fireplace from Nu-Flame burns clean bio-ethanol fuel to produce a warming flame flanked safely by two panes of tempered glass. It also comes with a snuffer.
If you want a portable heater that can also humidify your room, look no further than Egloo. It’s a heater, oil diffuser, and humidifier all in one portable package. Egloo is a dome-shaped device that you can open up to reveal 3 wood wicks in wax. Surrounding the wicks and wax is a well for pouring in water and a few drops of the essential oil of your choice. Place the dome cover back on and let the warmth and fragrance engulf your room in as little as 5 minutes. To snuff Egloo, all you have to do is blow out the flame.
Energy Star appliances
Appliances that are Energy Star certified consume less energy than those that are not. Some of the best Energy Star appliances you can get are the ones for your laundry room. High-efficiency washers and dryers are the only ones you can use with high-efficiency laundry detergents. These detergents require less water and produce less suds, which can cause your clothes to wear out faster. This way, you can save not only on water and energy consumption but also on new clothes.
Smart sprinkler
Maintaining your garden and lawn isn’t always a pleasant task, and it doesn’t help that it tends to consume a lot of resources. Installing a smart sprinkler will help you to monitor both maintenance and water consumption.
Like other smart gadgets, you can control smart sprinkler systems using its mobile app and, sometimes, voice control. Turn your sprinklers on or off using the mobile app or a voice command. Smart sprinklers also let you set watering schedules, so forgetting to water the lawn is no longer something for you to stress over.
Some smart sprinklers, such as the Rachio Smart Sprinkler, have a weather awareness feature. This means that it will monitor the weather and adjust its watering schedule according to rain forecasts. It will know not to water when it’s raining or if it might rain within the next few hours, helping you cut costs. Other smart sprinklers, such as the Eve Aqua Smart Water Controller, can also give you an estimate of your monthly consumption.
As we learn to be kinder to the environment, we also learn how smarter consumption can benefit our budgets. The gadgets and appliances we’ve listed above are geared towards being kinder to the environment and our wallets. Most of them also allow you to control them remotely with your smartphone or set a schedule for automatic operation, effectively reducing your stress.
