Saving Energy

In recent years we have become more environmentally conscious, household appliances are more efficient and energy saving is encouraged by the government with subsidies and discounts. To give you an idea of the effect: the electricity consumption between 2016 and 2017 decreased by nearly 2%. Electricity demand has fallen by 9% in the UK in the past seven years. While that may not seem like a large decline, bear in mind that the number of houses and UK population has grown in those years. The largest savings are gained by using more energy-efficient appliances and lighting: this has seen saving in electricity consumption of 1.2% between 2012 and 2016. (The Guardian, 2018)

Tips for saving electricity

Saving electricity in your home naturally contributes to a better world, but you will also notice a difference in your wallet. How can you save electricity using a smart home? Here are a few tips:

1. Smart plugs

Devices in standby mode consume quite a bit of energy even while they are not in use. This is called "sleep consumption". To prevent this and reduce costs, you can use smart plugs.

These are plugs that you place between your device and your outlet. You then use an app to set when the device is switched on and when it needs to be completely switched off. This can be done manually or according to a schedule. For example, you can turn on a table lamp at 7 pm every day and at 11 am. Even if you are not at home.

You can also reduce sleep consumption of other household appliances such as digital boxes, games consoles, and your TV. If you have regular hours of work, you can activate the plug at 6 pm and deactivate it again after 1.00 am. So, your TV does not consume power outside those times. Want to watch TV outside of those regular times? Simply switch on the smart plug manually via the app.

Some smart plugs even monitor the energy consumption of a device, so you can see which devices in the house consume the most electricity giving you the ability to reduce their energy consumption.

2. Replace old household appliances

Washing machines, refrigerators, dryers: traditionally these are large power consumers in a household. With the new generation of white goods, however, this is no longer the case. The tip is: replace your old white goods for newer energy-efficient models!

3. Smart lighting

One of the biggest energy consumers in the home is lighting. You can also save a lot if you currently use old light bulbs. These can easily be replaced for energy-efficient LED lighting. If you also do that with smart LED lighting, then you also create the possibility to programme your lighting. This way, you never use electricity unnecessarily. You can also easily control smart lights via the app, set schedules or have them activated by a motion sensor. One of the best known brands is Philips Hue, but also think of Innr, myStrom or the wireless lights with motion sensor from mr. Beams.

4. Place solar panels

Natural gas is used to heat up your water and to cook. So, if you shower, cook on a gas stove or heat your house, use your gas. We have also seen a downward trend in natural gas consumption, falling by 67% from 2013 to 2017. How can you ensure that you use less gas with (smart home) solutions? (Office for Natural Statistics)

1. Heating smart

Heating is important, but also uses a lot of energy. That is why it is important to be a smart heater: heat rooms only when needed, and only heat the needed rooms. In practice, however, that is difficult to achieve. Forgetting to turn off a radiator and opening a window while the heating is on are factors that make your bill unnecessarily high.

Our tip: a smart thermostat with smart radiator controls. A smart thermostat ensures that you have more control over your heating and can also heat it in a much smarter way. Most smart thermostats know when you are (almost) home and only then switch on the heating. Are you away from home or sleep? Then the heating automatically goes down. With smart radiator buttons you are even able to heat spaces separately. So you can choose to heat 1 bedroom, without radiators on the whole top floor.

Do you want to know more about smart thermostats? Take a look at this page. HHere you can find how these work. If you need help in choosing a smart thermostat, check out our shopping guide.

2. Isolate and ventilate

Good insulation is important to not lose the warm air in the house. Therefore, make sure that you insulate your entire house properly by using, among other things, HR ++ double glazing, insulating pipes, floors, roof and (cavity) walls.

Start by measuring indoor air quality with an indoor climate sensor. This will let you know when you need to ventilate or air your home.

We We use household water for various purposes: heating, showering, washing, washing pots, watering and spraying the garden. There’s so much to save in many different ways. We consume on average about 120 liters of water a person per day, of which a third is consumed by showering. How can you save on your water consumption with smart home solutions?

1. Smart heating

Earlier on this page we talked about smart heating to save gas, but that also goes for reducing how much water you use, and how much energy you use to heat it. Installing a smart thermostat, smart radiator controls will also help you reduce your water consumption.

2. Replace old washing machines and dishwashers

Old washing machines and dishwashers consume a lot of water. Replace them for smart washing machines and smart dishwashers . These machines automatically adjust water consumption to efficiently clean your dishes or laundry. If you often do half-loads, the machine will use less water helping you reduce water consumption.

3. Smart watering

This will not apply to every household and we are used to a fair amount of rain in the UK, but if you are going to water your garden and plants, then do it the smart way! How do you do that? Smart watering is based on the watering requirements of your plant. You do not want to water when you do not need it. Smart solutions help you with this. First of all you can place a soil sensor that measures the moisture content in the soil. Based on this, the smart watering installation can be controlled to automatically water your plants until they have had enough. In this way you only water your plants if necessary. And the best part is: you do not have to spray yourself anymore!

4. Shorter shower

Showers cost us the most water on a daily basis. On average during a 9 minutes shower we consume almost 50 litres of water. There’s definitely room to improve, but how? The Hydrao smart shower head measures how much water you use and changes colour for every 10 litres of water consumed. As soon as the shower head turns red, you already know that you have consumed a large amount of water. As soon as you go over 40 litres, the lights in the shower head will flash. This is a nice way to deal more consciously with water.