How Does Smart Home Technology Lighten Your Environmental Footprint?

A lot of people are more eco-conscious today then they were 20 or 30 years ago. On the other hand, today we can see much more clearly why it is necessary to respect the environment and conserve resources. This is all good, but if things start to get complicated when being eco-conscious becomes popular and trendy. In other words, it becomes profitable for businesses to position themselves and their products as being somehow eco-friendly.

The question there needs to be asked by discerning individuals is simple: Which of those services, products or technologies will genuinely lighten your environmental footprint? The answer is, some much more than others. It seems that every tube of toothpaste or box laundry detergent these days claims to be eco-friendly. In many cases this is true, and meaningful advances are being made. But once again, there is are also questions of marketing at stake.

Home automation is in another category of technologies and services. When it comes to the ability to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle, intelligent interfaces between our mobile devices and the various components of our homes will prove to be a very important step forward in terms of looking after the environment.

So what are some specific ways in which home automation technology can help people save energy and the planet?

Thermostats are obviously a big one. Statistics show that huge amounts of energy are used every year by America’s HVAC systems. The ability to control your thermostat from wherever you are in the world, and to monitor and adjust your own usage patterns (the system will also learn to read your heating and cooling patterns), can translate to big energy (and financial) savings.

Smart sprinklers are another smart use of resources. Again, you can intelligently monitor your water usage, program an appropriate watering schedule, and literally watch your water usage shrink while your grass grows healthy and strong.

Lighting is a third ecological benefit. Intelligently managing your home’s lighting patterns is bound to save resources — and it’s amazingly useful to have pre-programmed lighting configurations that can be recalled at the tap of a button.

Aside from these three areas, sound and entertainment is another area where energy can be saved. In general, the home automation gives you the power to easily monitor and control your home’s entire energy and resource grid. Let’s hope that more people adopt smart home technology — and that manufacturers and specialists keep building and installing products that are not only convenient, but which lead to energy savings for the planet.

Finding the right expertise

It’s a common misnomer that anybody can achieve the same results with home automation technology, as long as you read the instruction manual for the various different products and technologies that you purchase. The reality is, many of these products come from different manufacturers and it may not work together seamlessly. In many cases, even if everything works properly, you may have multiple apps indifferent user interfaces to learn in order to manage everything. The easiest way to avoid this in other frustrating scenarios is to consult a dedicated home automation specialist who can’t answer your questions and perform installation services at a high professional level.