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Household

Smart Home Features That Can Help You Save Green

It’s not that difficult to find homeowners that are content with the amount they pay for their monthly bills. If they’ve done a decent job with their budget and they strive to live within their means, then chances are good that they’re meeting their financial obligations, spending a little fun money, and squirreling some away for a rainy day. Even so, you’d be hard pressed to find a homeowner that isn’t interested in the prospect of lowering monthly utility bills. And these days, smart home technology is leading the way when it comes to decreasing energy consumption in order to cut one’s carbon footprint and save some scratch in the process.

If this sounds interesting and you’d like to know more about smart home products that are sure to help you save, here are some you might want to try.

The first thing you’ll want to look into when it comes to smart home technology is mobile applications and the many devices that they can control remotely. A smart home setup is based on the ability to use sensors and wireless technology to monitor and control everything electrical from a central hub, i.e. your computer in most cases. However, the latest advances have expanded that functionality to allow for remote management via smartphones and tablets. And if you’re looking to cut your carbon footprint and shave down your utility bills in the process, then the best potential for savings is going to be offered by technology that lets you make changes at any time, no matter where you are (provided you have mobile connectivity).

December 16, 2013

Household

5 Things To Consider Before Purchasing A New Furnace

When it’s really chilly outside and we happen to be out in the cold weather, one thing that we can’t wait to do is get home where it’s nice and warm. And for many of us, we are able to do that because of our furnace. But just like almost everything in our homes, there will come a time when you’ll need to purchase a new furnace either because it has stopped working altogether or it’s simply time for an upgrade. This will mean contacting a company that offers furnace installation in Arlington, TX, or installation wherever you are based, to get a new appliance brought in!

If you’d like a few tips on what you should consider before you decide to buy a new one, we have five things that we think you should keep in mind below:

Look for the kind that is energy efficient. As more people are looking for ways to conserve energy, thankfully there are manufacturers that are making all kinds of items to accommodate their customers’ needs. This would include energy efficient furnaces. So, as you’re spending time looking at different models, try and go for one that has an Energy Star label on it. They are specifically designed to help you use less energy than many of the standard models.

December 14, 2013

Household

Common Thermostat Myths That Cost You Money

Every time that you look at your monthly electricity bill and it’s a bit higher than you expected, if you’re anything like us, one of your first thoughts may be that it has something to do with your thermostat. After all, especially during the summer and winter seasons, when we’re trying to keep the rooms of our house at a comfortable temperature, that tends to be when we see a hike in our energy costs.

And while sometimes it could actually be our thermostat settings that are causing us to pay a lot of money, the reality is that there are a lot of myths out here about thermostats. So, in order for you to know what’s true and what’s not, we wanted to take out a moment to provide you with some common thermostat myths below:

Myth #1: You save more energy when you turn your thermostat off during the day and then back on when you return. In theory, we could definitely see why you might think that you should turn your thermostat off when you’re not using it; however, being that it requires quite a bit of energy to get it back up and running again once you do, our recommendation is not that you turn it all the way off but that you simply turn it down. This brings us to Myth #2.

December 13, 2013

Household

Heating Costs In Winter – 5 Ways To Save Money

When there’s snow on the ground and the temperature outside is well below freezing, the last thing that you want to do is walk into your house and have to wait your HVAC unit, furnace or fireplace to warm up. Yet when you’re trying to prevent your heating bills from breaking your budget, sometimes you feel like you have to turn these things off while you’re gone in order to conserve energy.

The reality is that there are several things that you can do to keep your home at a comfortable temperature and still save money on heating costs. If you’re interested in knowing what some of those things are, we have enclosed five of them below:

December 12, 2013

Household

How Home Automation Equals Money And Energy Savings

It’s a brave, new world and the name of the game when it comes to modern households is the smart home system. You might think that remote controls are only good for turning your TV, DVR, and stereo system on and off, but it turns out that smart home systems now allow you to control a slew of electronic devices in your house, including the thermostat, lighting, garage door, home alarm system, and even some appliances, depending on what you hook up. And the best part is, you don’t even need a special remote to control these devices. You can change the temperature, turn on the lights, or arm the alarm from anywhere with your smartphone or tablet when you download the right apps to go with your smart home setup. But how can installing such a system save you money? While it will cost you something to get your home working smarter, you’ll find that these changes will help you to cut back on energy usage, saving you money over time and potentially paying for any initial expense and then some.

December 11, 2013

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