So many times whilst I’m out and about around Canberra I get asked about electricity bills and whether there are any tricks of the trade to reduce them. The short answer is no, besides what you all already know such as replacing existing down lights with LEDs and good old-fashioned turning things off as you leave a room.
All this interest though has had me thinking about home automation and what role it will play in making our electricity bills higher or lower – will it be a force for good or evil in the bill war?
Home automation can be really high-tech. Every single electrical appliance can theoretically be controlled from your smart phone from anywhere in the world.
If you’re thinking about going down the path of full home automation, it’s important to keep a few things in mind: compatibility of devices with software, ease of use, what your budget is, what method you want to use and whether technical support is available. I also recommend that you really think through what you want to do. We’ve all spent money on technology before that didn’t really fulfil our wants and needs…but home automation is an expensive one to get wrong!
How about for those of us though who aren’t ready to fully automate our homes? What can we do to reduce our bills in the long run and make our homes feel a bit more high-tech? There are lots of fun options here:
· How about hard wiring timers for things that you do every day? Blinds can be set to go up and down at sunrise and sunset, outside lights can come on at night, music can start up at the time you normally walk in the door in the afternoon.
· Have you considered putting indoor lights onto sensors? Hallways for example where kids often turn lights on and forget to turn them off can work very well on a sensor. No more getting home from a long day at work to realise that the hallway or toilet light has been on all day wasting electricity with only Fido to enjoy it.
· If you want to get a bit more technical without going the whole way with home automation there are devices like the Belkin WeMo which is a wireless automation system that plugs in to your power point. It connects to your Wi-Fi and can be controlled with an iOS device providing a bit more flexibility than simple timers.
In short, there are lots of options. Some require an electrician and some don’t. I’m more than happy to chat to you about what I know and how I can help.
All this interest though has had me thinking about home automation and what role it will play in making our electricity bills higher or lower – will it be a force for good or evil in the bill war?
Home automation can be really high-tech. Every single electrical appliance can theoretically be controlled from your smart phone from anywhere in the world.
If you’re thinking about going down the path of full home automation, it’s important to keep a few things in mind: compatibility of devices with software, ease of use, what your budget is, what method you want to use and whether technical support is available. I also recommend that you really think through what you want to do. We’ve all spent money on technology before that didn’t really fulfil our wants and needs…but home automation is an expensive one to get wrong!
How about for those of us though who aren’t ready to fully automate our homes? What can we do to reduce our bills in the long run and make our homes feel a bit more high-tech? There are lots of fun options here:
· How about hard wiring timers for things that you do every day? Blinds can be set to go up and down at sunrise and sunset, outside lights can come on at night, music can start up at the time you normally walk in the door in the afternoon.
· Have you considered putting indoor lights onto sensors? Hallways for example where kids often turn lights on and forget to turn them off can work very well on a sensor. No more getting home from a long day at work to realise that the hallway or toilet light has been on all day wasting electricity with only Fido to enjoy it.
· If you want to get a bit more technical without going the whole way with home automation there are devices like the Belkin WeMo which is a wireless automation system that plugs in to your power point. It connects to your Wi-Fi and can be controlled with an iOS device providing a bit more flexibility than simple timers.
In short, there are lots of options. Some require an electrician and some don’t. I’m more than happy to chat to you about what I know and how I can help.
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