Help the environment by saving energy through home automation

Kristene Blackham — Lowering the costs of energy around the home is a great way to go green. This can be achieved with an automation system that can make your home energy efficient.

The Energy Triangle

This is a term that refers to your home's heating, cooling, and lighting. The goal of a home automation system is to get all these functions to work together. This ensures your home is comfortable and will be energy efficient. A home automation system coordinates the functions of window coverings, lights, and your thermostat to obtain increased energy efficiency. The benefit of automating your home is that your system can be accessed via smartphone or other mobile device.

Lighting

Lights that are turned on in your home are a big source of energy use. You will be using more energy if incandescent lighting is still the source of light. A device can be attached to the wireless router for your network that connects to smart lighting. This allows you to turn on lights from home or from any location outside your home from a mobile application.

Window Coverings

Traditional window treatments are often thought of as a design aspect and not often for energy efficiency. If a new automated window covering is installed on the windows of your home, then they can control levels of sunlight. The blinds or shades are controlled using a hub connected to the wireless network in your home. This allows you to raise or lower the blinds to help control the amount of light and affect the temperature in the house. The blinds or shades can be programmed or monitored by an app installed on your mobile device.

Thermostat

A smart thermostat can be installed as part of a home automation system. This type of unit works using a wireless connection that allows you to monitor the thermostat from a mobile device. A new thermostat will need to be wired and is a process that often takes less than 30 minutes. The benefit of using an app to control the thermostat is that you can adjust the temperature when out of the house. This is an option when taking a vacation and have turned down the thermostat to reduce energy use.

If you want to know how a home automation system will benefit your home, then visit Vivint's Facebook page for details. There are also a variety of tips for saving energy that are found on Vivint's Twitter page.