Tips From The Top

Wondering how you can improve your home’s energy use?

With smart technology, you can get more accurate information and make better choices about how your home uses energy.

Energy for our smart home technology is evolving as quickly as the technology itself. Besides the increase in home technology, electric vehicles (EVs) are ushering in the next big shift in a home’s energy use.

A recent Power Technology analysis, “The future of smart home energy,” looks at current trends in how the relationship between customer and smart home system is becoming a two-way street. The client is no longer just a consumer; they are also responsible for serving the system and helping it run smoothly.

A smart meter can be key to helping homeowners make better-informed decisions about their home’s energy use. A smart meter is an electronic device that records the consumption of energy and then communicates the information. They usually record consumption in near real-time and provide regular reports. With a smart meter, homeowners can monitor their home’s energy use, noting supply and demand and peak energy use times. They can then identify better ways to manage their home’s energy costs and the use of renewable energy sources, like solar power.

Smart home solutions will play an increasing role in boosting residential energy efficiency and convenient, connected living, according to an Energy Matters guide.

Energy is now just a power source for a smart, connected home – it’s also a part of how the system interacts and operates. Smart inverters, energy monitors, batter storage and solar energy systems are now part of the Internet of Things (IoT), playing a crucial role in the energy efficiency of an automated smart home.

The Energy Matter guide provides this example: if you try to run your washing machine during the day when energy is most expensive, your smart home could tell your washing machine to only run if the weather is good for solar power generation, or if your home’s battery system has enough charge to support the wash without drawing electricity from the grid.

And while the home can be set to make smart decisions like these, ultimately, the homeowner is in control, able to monitor overall performance and energy use to make decisions.

To learn more about how you can improve your home’s energy use with smart technology, call us at Jackson Hole AV. We’d love to discuss the possibilities.