Eco-Friendly Home Automation

We can’t turn on the television, browse the internet or read a newspaper without seeing a reference to ‘Go Green,’ but sometimes it’s difficult to understand what we are being asked to do. Going green can refer to many different things, but it generally refers to the little things that we choose to do to become more environmentally-friendly.

With all the tasks that one has to do, many wonder why we should make the extra effort to go green- For some, their decision is based on strong personal values,and while others are motivated because of the money they can save. Even though the most obvious reason for going green is to conserve resources for future generations, starting to implement green habits provides benefits we can immediately enjoy, like lowering the month’s energy bill.

Going Green at Home

Going green within our home is a great place to start, and it has the added benefit of lowering our energy costs. Everyone has had months when they dread opening their utility bills. How great would it be to know you are helping the environment, while also paying considerably less in energy costs?

Using Home Automation to Go Green

Since a large part of going green focuses on energy conservation, home automation systems can facilitate efforts of going green within our homes. There are many resources available to help organize your efforts of saving money and making you home a little greener. A home automation system can improve all areas of home energy usage:

1. Air Conditioning and Heating System: With a smart thermostat, you can save money and energy by programming your thermostat to go easy on your home’s heating and air system when you’re not home and remotely change the temperature from any smart phone or other web-enabled device. Adjusting your thermostat just one degree you can save 5% on your energy bill.
2. Lighting: Replacing your light bulbs with energy efficient light bulbs is an easy way to go green. When combining this with dimming, you can save as much as 25% of your lighting bills with bulbs last ten times longer than a standard bulb. A home automation system can be used to implement timers and regulate light usage within your home, and you can also turn off/dim lights remotely.
3. Electronics: A homeautomation system can allow you to program your electronics to turn off when not in use. Also, being able to remotely control your home electronics and appliances such as televisions, desktop computers and curling irons allows you to ensure you are not wasting energy. 
4. Motorised Shades- Shades not only reduce glare, protect your upholstery and fabric but also help reduce your air conditioning bills because of insulation. However, the common problem with manual shades is that unless really required, the chances of drawing the shades or parting them is not convenient. Enter motorised shades, lo & behold-touch of a button brings bright sunlight when required and another touch at a different time helps close the same shade. Motorised helps in conveniently using the shades to give user comfort and also at the same time indirectly saving considerable amount of energy

The more we learn about the importance of making green decisions, the easier it becomes to enable the small lifestyle changes that help sustain our environment. Starting with a home automation system can significantly assist in making green decisions easier. Not only does a home automation system lower monthly energy bills, it is also a small step towards the worldwide ‘go green’ initiative.

- Alok Hada, Anusha Technovision Pvt. Ltd.