More than half of a home’s typical energy bill goes towards heating and cooling. This is partially due to heat loss through improperly sealed windows and uninsulated walls, but inefficiency can also play a role. Homeowners that leave their thermostat on during the day or in empty rooms are wasting unnecessary energy, which can have a significant impact during particularly hot or cold times of the year.
Switching to a smart climate control system gives homeowners more control over their heating and cooling systems throughout the day. They can program their furnace or AC unit to operate only when the house is occupied, saving on wasted energy and wasted money when out at work or asleep.
ontrol. By 2022, that number is expected to rise to over half of American households. There are several reasons behind the booming success of technology such as smart thermostats.
Using less energy doesn’t just save money. It also helps to save the environment, slashing carbon emissions that can contribute to climate change. Installing a smart thermostat in your home is an important step in going green and reducing your energy consumption as much as possible. Adding other devices to your smart home setup such as energy-efficient lighting can also help you to do your part to reduce your carbon footprint.
Traditionally, homes have been equipped with a single central HVAC system that controls the climate throughout the house. This set up means that more energy than necessary is being used to heat empty spaces in the home.
A zoned climate control system allows you to set different temperatures for each room in your home, turning the thermostat up or down depending on whether or not an area is occupied. Not only does this save both money and energy but also maximizes the efficiency of your HVAC system. Since all energy is directed towards a select few rooms, you can heat or cool a room more quickly.
Smart thermostats make is easy to turn your home into a zoned setup. Many systems available on the market are optimized for a multi-room layout, though some require additional devices to add new areas to the climate control setup.
Perhaps one of the most enticing aspects of a smart climate control setup is the convenience that an intelligent thermostat can offer. You can control your HVAC system remotely anytime, anywhere by using an app on your smartphone or mobile device.
Many models also allow you to set a schedule around work, sleep, and vacation. For example, you can easily set your heating to turn on automatically in the morning or as you’re on your way home from work at night. Some setups even allow you to use voice control to alter your thermostat settings.
Some smart devices are able to track your smartphone, allowing you to set them to turn off or on when you’re a certain distance away from the house. There are also systems that can learn your routine and set up a schedule revolving around it.
Heat and humidity can lead to mold and mildew, destroying both property and belongings. Not only that, but mold spores in the air can cause irritation and even lead to health complications in sensitive individuals.
An automated AC system can help to keep the house cool during hotter months, helping to prevent the growth of mildew and keeping your family safe. Similarly, in the winter, a smart heating system can prevent damage caused by frozen pipes bursting.
Most smart climate control setups follow a similar format. As a homeowner, there are a couple of essential devices that you need to get a heating or cooling system up and running. Here’s everything that you need to perfect your climate control setup and start saving energy.
Every smart home setup needs a hub to operate. This until can be installed anywhere in the home, and it’s central to communication between different devices and your phone. The smart hub can connect to an app that allows you to input temperatures and schedules for each room that has an intelligent thermostat.
You can also control features such as lighting, plumbing, and security systems using a smart hub. Some of the most widely used setups include Such as Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Google Home.
With a smart climate control system, you’ll need a programmable thermostat for each room that you plan to include in your setup. These allow you to set on and off times throughout the day to create a schedule centered around your lifestyle. Some thermostats are even capable of learning using geolocation cues from your smartphone.
Each smart thermostat is comprised of three crucial components. You need a unit that can plug into your boiler and communicate with the main thermostat device. Both of these interact with a smartphone app that gives the user complete control over interior temperature.
To gauge the surrounding temperature in a room, smart thermostats need to communicate with specialized sensors that gather information about humidity, pressure, and of course, temperature. These sensors should be placed in high traffic areas or those that are prone to temperature fluctuation, such as around the bed or by the stove.
You can also add motion detectors to your smart thermostat setup. By connecting these to your system, you can set your heating or cooling system to turn off when there’s no activity in a room. This feature can come in handy for busy households, as it can operate around an unpredictable schedule.
Though not completely necessary, a smart meter can make your life a little bit easier as a homeowner. Instead of having a technician come out and manually read your meter, a smart meter is capable of digitally sending readings to your power company.
Automated vents are also an optional addition to any climate control setup. Vents not only heat or cool a room efficiently but can also improve airflow. This helps to reduce humidity and reduce the chances of mold or mildew growth, particularly in areas such as the kitchen or bathroom.
Though it’s possible to hook up an older furnace with a modern smart climate control setup, in recent years there’s been a growing demand for intelligent furnaces. There are few currently available on the market, but producers are looking at innovative new ways to include self-configuration and self-diagnostic capabilities in their furnaces. This would allow homeowners to monitor their furnace remotely and ensure that it’s operating at full capacity.
Homeowners that live in warmer areas can upgrade their ceiling fans to smart fans, which respond to cues and programming from a mobile app. If you have a smart AC system setup, you can sync up your fan to maximize its efficiency and keep your house cool. Including a fan in your home can also help to improve air circulation and prevent the buildup of dirt, grime, and dust.
Traditional thermostats are controlled by hand, usually with a dial. A thermometer is connected to a metal strip that expands and contracts as your home gets hotter and colder, which sets off an electrical circuit connected to your boiler or furnace. This design, though effective, is imprecise and difficult to control.
Digital thermostats are a little bit easier to use. An electronic display face allows you to set temperatures by the degree instead of estimating using a dial. When the desired temperature is reached, the thermostat automatically shuts off your heating system.
Though this model is more user-friendly than traditional thermostats, it doesn’t allow you to program a climate control schedule, making you more likely to end up wasting energy.
Smart thermostats are the latest development in the world of home climate control and one of the most important components of an intelligent heating setup. They connect your existing thermostat to your furnace or boiler using your Wifi network, making it easy to set up and use your new system almost immediately.
Programmable thermostats give you the highest level of control over your home heating setup, adjusting automatically throughout the day based on the schedule that you set. Some are even able to learn more from your behavior and adjust accordingly.
As more and more households adopt smart technology, the market has seen multiple climate control solutions to meet just about any family’s needs. Here are some of the most popular smart thermostats available today.
Honeywell offers a couple of different intelligent climate control options geared towards homeowners. The Lyric thermostat uses geolocation to detect when user’s smartphones enter and exit their house, allowing it to adjust temperatures when an area is vacant automatically. The company also boasts programmable Wi-Fi capable thermostats and smart thermostats with voice control.
Google’s Nest system was one of the first smart thermostats to hit the market back in 2013 and continues to remain an industry standard. It offers powerful tools that seamlessly connect with Android devices to allow you to control the climate in your home. The Nest is also able to track your phone and learn your routine to maximize energy efficiency.
The Tado allows you to control both heating and AC from your smartphone and is compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT. It requires little effort in the way of setup and can sync existing climate control systems with a new smart home setup. The Tado also makes it easy to add different zones to your home using individual radiator thermostats.
Honeywell offers a couple of different intelligent climate control options geared towards homeowners. The Lyric thermostat uses geolocation to detect when user’s smartphones enter and exit their house, allowing it to adjust temperatures when an area is vacant automatically. The company also boasts programmable Wi-Fi capable thermostats and smart thermostats with voice control.
Active heating system
Available in both the US and the UK, the Hive is notoriously easy to set up and operate. It runs on batteries, so it doesn’t need to be hooked up to a home’s electric grid. The Hive offers the basics of intelligent thermostat technology, allowing users to remotely control heating and set schedules.
The rising popularity of smart home technology is inspiring tech companies to come up with novel innovations designed to make life easier for homeowners. Smart climate control is still a relatively new phenomenon, but it’s expected to take off in the coming years.
We can expect to see thermostats that are even more advanced and more efficient continue to hit the marketplace and help users to save both money and energy. Sensors are also getting more sophisticated, offering a precise reading of local temperature, humidity, and even pressure.
Learning devices are predicted to gain more traction in the coming years as a simple and user-friendly solution to more complex technology. We can expect to see thermostats that can more accurately learn and predict user behavior, making them even more efficient and cost-effective.
Many homes waste a huge amount of energy each day through their heating and AC systems, which can have both a financial and an environmental impact. Installing a smart climate control setup can help homeowners to reduce their energy consumption, doing their part to reduce carbon emissions and saving on their utility bill each month.
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