The smart way to save energy at home

Did you know that over 50% of a typical energy bill goes on hot water and heating and 15% of electricity bills are for lighting?

The good news is there are small changes you can make at home that can make a big difference to your energy bills.

Research has shown that installing, and correctly using, a programmer, room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves can save you about £70 and 300kg of carbon dioxide each year, and LED light bulbs can save you up to £40 a year.

This guide uncovers how smart home technology such as smart heating, smart plugs, and smart lighting can help you save energy and money, and make your home more energy efficient.

So, without further ado, let's look at the ways you can upgrade your home with smart home devices.

Smart heating

Smart heating lets you control your heating remotely from your phone or tablet. It's an easy and convenient way to customise your heating to meet your family's needs, and have greater control of your home energy.

When it comes to the latest smart home heating technology, the tado° Starter Kit includes everything you need to control your heating and hot water.

Compatible with all boilers, wired and wireless thermostat setups, and wet underfloor heating systems, the tado° wireless smart thermostat is easy to install and easy to use.

You can schedule and control your heating and hot water from anywhere using the tado° app, and, because it works with smart assistants such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, you can control the temperature with your voice.

Other money-saving features of the tado° include geofencing, which uses your phone's location to alert you to turn off the heating when the last person leaves, weather adaptation, so the heating adjusts depending on the temperature outdoors, and open window detection, so you don't waste energy on warmer days.

Smart plugs

If you've ever wondered 'what are smart plugs?', read on. They are devices that plug the gap between an electrical outlet and a device so you can control the device from an app on your phone. For example, instead of plugging a lamp directly into a wall socket, plugging it into a smart plug lets you schedule the light to go on and off from the palm of your hand.

Energy efficient smart plugs include the TP-Link Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug Slim, which empowers you to control devices remotely using the free Kasa Smart app or using hands-free voice control via a smart assistant. Got your hands full with groceries when you walk in the door? “Hey Google, switch on the hallway light”. Don’t want to get up to turn off the light at bedtime? “Hey Google, turn off the bedroom lights.” It’s that simple.

The compact design means the Kasa Smart won't block adjacent plugs, and you can set schedules to automatically turn the plug on and off, which is a great safety solution when you're away from home.

If you're keen to monitor your energy in real-time, this Kasa smart plug has an energy monitoring feature so you can track your device's energy consumption and reduce unnecessary energy loss and save money using the schedule and timer.

Smart lighting

Smart lighting is the future of home lighting. Smart light bulbs connect to an app so you can control your lights without the need to flick on wall switches. Not only do they use less energy and have a longer life span, but they can be used as a good security measure as you can schedule your lights to come on when you're not at home. And if you’ve forgotten to turn them off when you’re away, it’s not a problem - you can simply switch them off remotely.

The Philips Hue Mini Starter Kit is a great way to introduce smart lighting to your home. With over 50,000 shades of warm to cool white light, you can set the scene in your home for work, play, or relaxation. You can choose to start the day with brighter lighting and wind down in the evening with warmer mood lighting - it’s your choice to make.

And that's not all. With over 16 million colours, you can also customise the light in each room to match the decor. Whether you're having a party. movie night, or telling a bedtime story, you can choose the perfect light colour to illuminate the experience.

For more enlightening tips about how smart lighting can increase home energy efficiency, check out our guide to smart lighting.

Want more energy saving tips?

There’s no doubt that smart home technology can help you manage your energy usage and bills, but we’ve also got plenty more energy saving tips and resources on our energy-saving advice page and on our blog.