One of the best things about living a more sustainable life is that you also get to be quite high-tech and energy-efficient. Many innovations have resulted in devices that can help you make your lifestyle greener and lower your bills. Installing solar panels on your home may require an initially high financial output. But as they begin working, they will be able to take over all your water heating needs while significantly lowering your power bills.
Today’s solar panels are so efficient. You can run hot water in every shower in the house and your washing machine and still have enough juice remaining in the batteries for light and charging devices. This is just one way to reduce your bills while maintaining your comfort and living more sustainably.
Imagine if your whole house could be managed to be more efficient. Home automation systems can help you reduce your energy use even further by giving you direct control over your HVAC system, lights, security features, and even windows.
Being able to directly connect to the systems allows you to reduce the active usage time as needed so that your utility bills become lower without losing any comfort or functionality. All you need is a smartphone or a dedicated tablet, and you can manage everything from the temperature of the house to the music that plays as you relax.
The future is now, and your comfort and sustainable living hopes are within your reach.
Smart Thermostat
Managing the temperature of your house is one of the most important things you can do for your comfort. But, it can also cause quite large power bills, which you want to avoid if you can only get power from conventional providers who burn fossil fuels.
A smart thermostat can help you reduce these bills and manage the temperature in your house in a more intuitive manner. Since your smart thermostat can be controlled from your smartphone, you can direct it to reduce the heating or cooling to a minimum when no one is home. You can then set a reminder for it to begin cooling down or heating the house up to an hour before someone arrives home. Imagine walking in the door on a warm summer’s eve and being met with a cool and comfortable atmosphere.
Simply lowering your thermostat reduces the amount of power consumption, and this will be reflected in your bills. It also means that you are drastically reducing energy wastage as well.
Insulation and Sealing
Another great thing about a smart thermostat is that it can monitor the temperature of different rooms in the house. This means that you can find out if your house is leaking heat or losing cool unnecessarily. It is a sign that your home is not well-sealed, and you may want to get an energy auditor in to check. Most states will provide this service for free under their green initiatives so that you can get a thorough inspection without spending.
The energy auditor will check the sealing and insulation of your house as these are intrinsically connected. Pay attention to their comments and take their suggestions seriously. Replacing insulation and getting new double or even triple-glazed windows can be expensive at the moment, but the money you save because of it is well worth the effort.
An improperly sealed window can leak out a lot of heat, which means you are losing energy and paying higher utility costs for a service that you cannot enjoy to the full. In addition, there are plenty of small activities you can do to weatherproof your house and improve insulation. Paint your home with non-toxic weatherproof paint to cover cracks and reseal the outside of the home.
Water-saving Measures
Saving water is a major part of sustainable living. People waste several gallons of water daily doing simple activities like leaving the tap running while brushing teeth or not knowing how to wash dishes properly.
Low-flow showerheads, toilets, and faucets are a great way to lower water wastage and improve usage in a significant way. These are appliances you use every single day, from showering to washing up. Ensuring that the sheer volume of water you need for these activities is reduced to a quarter of the usual amount will greatly help reduce the water wastage your home generates and lower your utility bills.
In many ways, sustainable living is about paying attention. Think about how much easier your life is because of your smart devices and energy-efficient appliances. But to keep them working well, they need electricity.
Yet, ambient electricity usage is essentially wasteful. The extra few seconds it takes you to switch on the power outlet or wait for the coffee machine to cycle into ready mode is rewarded by further reducing your power bills. It is also a moment you can spend appreciating how you are helping the environment in a simple way that does not impact your quality of life.
