How Smart Technology Can Help Your Home Go Green?

More and more, today’s homeowners and home buyers are making green homes a priority. There are many ways to create a greener, more sustainable home by going back to a more natural way of life, but technology is not the antithesis of sustainability.

On the contrary, one of the most efficient ways to reduce your carbon footprint is by using smart home technology.From smarter insulation and recycled construction materials to devices like smart lights, smart thermostats, or solar panels, the future of homeownership is green and there are many ways to achieve it. 

How Does Smart Tech Help Your Home Go Green? As we’re taking steps towards making our lifestyle more sustainable from every point of view, it becomes apparent that we’re overlooking one major aspect of our life – our home. The typical home can be pretty carbon-negative: traditional construction materials are not green, homes produce a lot of waste, and maintaining a house, in general, requires massive consumption of water, energy, and money. By opting for a smart home, you are taking active steps to curb your carbon footprint. Choosing recycled materials and prioritizing the harnessing of natural resources and energy efficiency in every step of the construction, decoration, and set-up of your home through both design and technology is essential. It requires a significant upfront investment, but it’s an investment that pays off not just financially, but also in terms of sustainability, long-term. A smart home isn’t just about making things comfortable and convenient for the person living there, but it’s also about managing resources in the most efficient way possible. By automating different aspects of your home, you are able to save resources like energy and water, as well as time and money. In fact, a smart home can reduce your carbon footprint and create a carbon neutral lifestyle.

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Smart Tech That Helps Reduce Carbon Footprint But what devices and smart home technology can help you, as a homeowner, to achieve this goal of a greener lifestyle? There are many innovative devices on the market Solar panels Solar panels are, perhaps, one of the most important sustainability elements you can add to a home – whether you’re constructing your own or moving into a ready-made building – because they make a huge impact on your household’s energy consumption and energy bills. More and more new builds are incorporating solar panels from the get-go, for smarter, greener, more sustainable ways of life. While they require a high upfront cost, the long-term savings are significant – tens of thousands of dollars.
Not to mention the impact on energy consumption. That means that you can run a household based on energy harnessed naturally from solar power, making the most of freely occurring – and free of charge – energy and creating no additional waste. In addition, in cases where you generate more than you need, you can sell your surplus back to the power grid, creating a profit.  While solar panels are common for individual homes, they are being included more and more often in shared housing buildings, like apartment buildings, where all the residents can split the cost, thus making it even more affordable. In addition, smart solar panels are now emerging, allowing one to even further customize and create more efficient energy use. 

Smart thermostat Energy consumption reduction and making heating and cooling more efficient starts with the materials you use, like your choice of insulation. However, that can be made even more efficient by using a smart thermostat. A smart thermostat helps you regulate your environment, ensuring the ideal temperature with minimal consumption. The best thing about it is that it can be controlled remotely – including when you’re away from home – and the difference in your energy bills will be immediately apparent. As long as you have an internet connection, you’re in full control of your home environment, no matter where you are. Smart lights Smart lights are another area where you can save big and also make a significant impact on your consumption and overall carbon footprint. We create a lot of energy waste because of inefficient light use, so smart lights paired with LED light bulbs are the perfect combination to change the way you use lighting.  Not only can smart lighting be automated to adjust based on natural light conditions or time of day, you can also control it remotely on your phone, so there is never a situation where you forget a light on. That adds up to major savings and a palpable reduction in your overall energy waste. By setting up homes with efficient lighting and light bulbs, we ensure that homeowners come to expect this in new builds. 

Smart sprinklers Did you know that the average household wastes 180 gallons of water per week? Outdoor use makes up between 30% and 60% of that amount, and it can be more efficiently managed if you choose to use smart sprinklers as your preferred lawn irrigation system. Smart sprinklers help create more efficient use of water by determining the right amount of water for the season, time of day, weather conditions, and the humidity in the soil. That drastically reduces the amount of water waste. It’s also much better for your lawn and garden, and it’s an entirely automated process, which requires less oversight and is basically a chore you can cross off your list. Smart lawn mower Think about the amount of fumes your lawn mower generates during a normal day of mowing. The smell, the fuel you consume, and the general waste and damage is not just inconvenient and unpleasant, it creates long-term damage.  A smart lawn mower minimizes that damage while taking over this chore completely, leaving you free to lounge, work, or do something else with your time. Seeing as a smart lawn mower operates on the same sort of model as a robot vacuum, it maps out your entire yard and knows exactly where it needs to go. That enables it to do its job in the most efficient way possible, which means less time and less waste. 

Final thoughts As you can see, there is more than one way to go about home ownership. While traditional homes and lifestyles can generate a lot of waste, upgrading your home to smart technology can help you create a more efficient lifestyle and a greener home. From the construction materials you choose to the way you produce energy and even the way you choose to do regular chores, there are greener options every step of the way. By promoting a smarter, more efficient lifestyle through technology, we can achieve the goal of a greener, more sustainable existence and a lowered carbon footprint for home ownership.