Smart homes filled with connected products are loaded with possibilities to make our lives easier, more convenient, and more comfortable. Imagine that  you are driving home on a hot summer day. But rather than turn the air conditioner on when you get home and wait for your house to cool, you simply use your smartphone when you leave your office to tell your smart thermostat to lower the temperature.

But beyond this, smart home devices can help reduce costs and conserve energy. In our example above, you had have a comfortable and cool apartment when you get home, but you could also leave your air conditioner off when you’re not home, which would lower your electric bill and reduce energy consumption. Smart lights would function in a similar way.

Home Automation is Essential for Energy Efficiency

• Home automation does the work for you.

Life is busy. People forget. We forget things like leaving the lights on upstairs, because we were coming right back.  Motion sensors have your back. They can turn off that light or television when the room is empty and prevent wasting energy (and money).

Home automation can also free you from the “phantom load,” the energy consumption our televisions, computers, microwaves and other electronic devices have while turned off, but in stand by mode. The recommendation of energy groups that we unplug those devices when not is use is commendable. But…we forget, remember? Or maybe we cannot even reach those outlets!

• Home automation gives you control.

Whether you are home or halfway across the globe, home automation can connect you to your lighting, heating and cooling, and plumbing systems. Did you walk out the door and forget to turn off the lights? Check (and turn them off!) from your computer or mobile device.

That programmable thermostat you already have?  It is actually a home automation device—but how many times do you override the program (if you actually ever programmed it) because your schedule changed? Modern home automation tools allow the simple touch of a button to tell your heating and cooling system that you are “coming home” or “leaving home,” getting your home to the ideal temperature, no matter what your schedule brings.

Not only are these easy automation tools eco-savvy, they are also very easy on the wallet, allowing you to turn off expensive home systems, such as A/C, when not in use.

•  Home automation saves money.

A variety of monitors are available and can provide information on the electricity usage of your entire home or an individual item. Armed with that knowledge, you can have actual data when trying to decide if you should replace that older model dishwasher, for example. Maybe it is not as inefficient as you thought. Or maybe, it really is the energy hog that you suspected and it’s it is time for it to go.