Feb 28, 2020
Climate change and global warming are affecting us all. Can smart homes be the key to conserving energy? Read on below to find out some ways we can preserve energy in your smart home.
Smart homes connect to your mobile which allows your home to know your location. When you are arriving home, it will react by turning the heating on. The smart home will allow you to conserve energy and by not having the heating on at set times, and only be on when you need it.
When your home knows you have left, it will turn off the heating to make sure extra energy is not wasted.
By using motion detectors your smart home can detect what part of the house you are in. If you are in the master bedroom the home will react by turning the heating on in that room. whilst making sure other rooms in the home are not heated, saving wasted energy in empty rooms.
Infrared sensors are also integrated into intelligent lighting. Lights will turn off in a room if you come in and then leave within a few minutes, or if there is no activity.
By closing the shades, blinds and curtains you will be saving energy both in the winter and the summer. Heat transfers easily through windows, inwards and outwards. In the summer when temperatures are high, shades will respond by automatically closing and stopping the transfer of heat from a window into a room (this is called solar gain).
In the winter heat will escape through windows. However, with our blinds and curtains, which are made from an insulated fabric, the transfer of heat is slowed down significantly.
The heat will stay inside the room and slowly dissipate, keeping a room warm without the need for heating from radiators and air conditioning.
Further energy savings are made when air conditioning and heating systems are integrated into smart home systems. Our systems are intelligent enough to know which device is on: the heating or air conditioning.
If the heating is on in a room the air conditioning will automatically turn off and vice versa. This will stop energy being wasted.
Air conditioning has been used for cooling in homes for a long time. But they waste lots of energy and can prove harmful to your health. Air conditioners recycle air in a room that often contains a lot of carbon dioxide.
Monitoring temperature and CO2 can be integrated with Smart Window Control. When a room becomes too hot and has a high value of CO2 then the windows will automatically open.
This lets cooler, oxygen-rich air into a room that brings the temperature down without wasting lots of energy with an air conditioner. Smart Window Control can also be integrated with fire alarm systems. If too much smoke is detected then the window will open letting out dangerous fumes.
Sprinkler systems are often seen as a waste of energy and water. Which is a concern in London where we may face water shortages in the next couple of years. But, there are smarter ways to conserve and reuse water.
Homes can capture rainwater from roofs and gardens. This water can then be cleaned through a natural process that produces safe non-potable water. That water can then be redistributed into your sprinkler system for the garden.
This water can also generate high levels of ammonia, which can help plant life grow faster. The same water can also be used for flushing toilets, one of the largest uses of water in a home.
We hope these solutions have opened your eyes about how we can reduce energy usage in your home and keep your home environmentally friendly.
If you'd like to learn more about any of the solutions above - get in touch