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We’re living in exciting times as homeowners. Remember the stuff you’d see on sci-fi films when people could walk into rooms and ask the lights to come on? We’re there - now!
Only, home tech isn’t just about the stuff that impresses your friends - it serves a very valuable purpose in energy efficiency, too.
In fact, if you pick the right home gadgets, you could save yourself a tidy sum on your bills each month.
With that in mind, here are five of our favourite energy saving devices for the home in 2020.
The humble thermostat has remained an important device in homes for decades, but thanks to the latest technological developments, it’s taken on a whole new role.
Now, you can invest in a relatively low-cost thermostat that connects to your broadband router and consequently gives you the ability to control the heating in your home from the comfort of your smartphone.
Some even connect to devices like Alexa, which means you can now talk to your boiler. Brilliant.
Rather than have trails of extension leads and dodgy four-way plug points hanging out of the wall, modern homeowners are catching onto smart power points.
These are little devices that you plug into your sockets and which can be either timed to come on or controlled remotely.
This isn’t a new idea, but the ability for these devices to be controlled by your phone means you can turn stuff off if you forget to do so after leaving the house and set multiple timers for the best energy efficiency.
Let’s come clean - we’ve all got a lot of devices that need charging. From laptops to smartphones and tablets, that’s an awful lot of power needed in the home - particularly if you forget to unplug those devices when they’re done charging.
This is known as ‘phantom power’ and can use as much as 8% of a home’s power for no gain.
You can fix this issue with automated charging stations, which switch themselves off after a specific length of time or when your devices are fully charged.
You might remember seeing the Energy Star logo many moons ago on computers of old, but it’s still a standard that is relevant in 2020.
When you buy any kind of electrical device, look for that Energy Star certification - it really does make a difference to the amount of power each device consumes. They’re safer, too.
LED lighting isn’t new, but it is finally becoming more commonplace in the home (it has been in offices for some time now).
The best news? LED lights last longer than their older brethren and they’re even brighter. If you want to get fancy, you can also invest in smart lighting that can change colour and - you guessed it - be controlled via your smartphone.
LED lights cost a little more, but they’re far more cost-effective, safe and energy efficient in the long run.
Ready to get super-energy efficient in 2020? We’ve scratched the surface above, but just investing in one or two of the devices mentioned will help you save, big time.