Personal Finance

9 Smart Gadgets That Will Lower Your Monthly Bills

Want to cut monthly bills and save the planet at the same time? Invest in these smart gadgets to help increase efficiency with heating / cooling, reduce water usage, monitor your energy from your phone and more!

9 Ways to Use Technology to Lower Your Bills

Smart ceiling fan

The Haiku Home L Series is a ceiling fan that is WiFi enabled so you can control its speeds from your Smartphone. The LED lighting can be super bright or dimmed, and is very efficient when it comes to saving you energy, as it has 4x the cooling power of a normal ceiling fan.

Energy saving thermostat

Cooling and heating are two factors that can increase your home’s utility bill during the winter and summer. With a smart thermostat, like Nest for example, you can eliminate unnecessary energy use with custom schedules and save between 10-15% on your electricity output. Another brand that is popular is Ecobee 4. This smart thermostat senses when a room is occupied and doesn’t waste power on heating or cooling if there’s no one in it.

Budget conscious air conditioner

There’s no more nasty surprises with your utility bill with this smart air conditioner. The Frigidaire Cool Connect is a window-mounted air conditioner that works within your budget so you can stay on top of your energy costs. A great device for people who want to reduce electricity usage and keep their house cool for as little money as possible. You can control it from your Smartphone from anywhere with a WiFi connection.

Smart window blinds

Wouldn’t it be great if there were blinds that could keep the sun out of your home while you’re at work? Well, now there is! MySmartBlinds are app-controlled window coverings that you can use as tools to lower your monthly bill. You can set them up to automatically close when your windows reach a certain temperature. This means your air conditioner won’t have to work as hard to cool the room and you’ll save money. Genius!

Water saving sprinkler system

Watering your garden can get expensive but you can save water by installing a smart sprinkler. Handy smart gadgets, such as the Rachio Smart Sprinkler Controller, and Orbit B-hyve can save you up to 50% on your outdoor water bill. Since they’re controlled by their own app, you can switch them on and off remotely, or even create a watering schedule that takes weather forecasts into account.

Smart LED light bulbs

One of the best smart home gadgets to save you money on electricity are smart, long-lasting LED light bulbs. LED light bulbs use 75-80% less energy than normal bulbs, and if they’re Smart you can save further money by using an app for remote control access. This lets you turn them off if you’re not using a room or dim them to use less electricity. You can also turn them off from outside the home if you’ve left them on. Two options for Smart lights include the Philips Hue collection and WiZ smart lights.

Smart plugs

Smart plugs are also a great money saving device as you can easily switch off any electricity hogging appliance with a tap on your Smartphone. Although you may not think they contribute to the cost of your utility bill, TVs and computers can suck up energy, even if left on standby. Smart plugs, such as the iDevices Switch on Amazon, are designed to remotely turn off and turn on any appliance that you’ve added to the app.

Water leak detectors

Washing machines or dishwashers can periodically break down leaving your home and possessions in a wet, soggy mess. Flood protection smart home devices such as the Fibaro water leak detector, will send you an alert if a leak is detected. It sits on the floor and still runs even if it is submerged. If you have underfloor heating, this smart home gadget can also communicate with your thermostat to adjust the temperature of your floors and cut monthly bills.

Energy monitoring system

If you have high energy bills and aren’t sure what’s causing them, then you need an energy monitoring system, like CURB. This system accesses real-time information from your home’s breaker panel and sends it directly to your phone. It allows you to see the energy consumption for an individual appliance and also monitors your solar power, to show how much your home is producing.

While you may have to spend a bit on the initial outlay of these energy saving gadgets, smart home tech is one of the ways you can lower your utility bills in the long term. That’s good news for your bank balance, as well as the planet!