2019: The Year of the Smart House

The concept of a ‘smart house’ has been explored through future-looking books and cinema for decades. Now nearly twenty years into the new millennium, we are much closer to these advancements in technology becoming a reality for our homes. The best part is that you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to make ‘smart’ upgrades to your home – you can start small and still make strides toward improving comfort, cost savings, and ease. The Sponsors of Mass Save® – Cape Light Compact, Eversource, National Grid, and Unitil – offer discounts, incentives, and rebates to help you make energy-efficient upgrades in your home that are also technologically savvy.

Prevent Phantom Loads

Adding a tier 2 advanced power strip (APS) to your home entertainment center may not feel like a huge step toward making your home smarter, but this simple addition can prevent a lot of energy from being wasted, saving you money – and all with little to no effort from you after the first few minutes of initial set up! Tier 2 advanced power strips offer improved surge protection, reduction in standby power loss, reduction in active energy waste, and most come with a lifetime warranty. Over the course of five years, a tier 2 APS can help to save you up to $300.

‘Alexa, Turn Off the Lights’

Today’s market offers a variety of smart LEDs that are compatible with voice commands for Amazon Alexa and Google Home, or that can be controlled through apps on your smart phone or tablet through either ZigBee, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth. With LEDs being highly energy-efficient compared to incandescent bulbs, you’ll be experiencing cost savings just by swapping those out, but you’ll also be able to monitor when any lights are left turned on, and then turn them off even when you’re not home, in order to increase those energy savings. With diverse ranges in color, many smart LED bulbs are also able to adjust color temperature – so you can have a cooler light option in the morning or a warmer light option when you’re winding down for the evening.

The Age of the Smart Thermostat

A smart thermostat is a brilliant way to better manage your energy use. Programmable thermostats are a great tool to help better manage your home’s energy use through setting practical schedules, and some are eligible for a rebate through Mass Save, but you can take your energy management capabilities a step further with the installation of a smart wireless thermostat. Smart wireless thermostats put the power in the palm of your hand, literally, by giving you control of your thermostat through your smart phone. Like smart LEDs, many smart thermostats are also compatible with Hub devices such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home. To take full advantage of the rebate amount offered for thermostats, opting for a smart wireless model will give you the best bang for your buck up-front and you will benefit from the anticipated cost savings over time with the new level of control you obtain through this simple upgrade.

While we might be seeing fully-smart homes as a norm in our lifetime, we are much closer than we were even at the beginning of the century. Making these smart, energy-efficient upgrades will not only help you manage your energy use, but also make your life easier.