Do you know all the details about your HVAC system? For many people, the answer is “no,” followed by, “why should I care?” HVAC may sound boring but for the average household, it accounts for 40% of your energy bill. That reason alone should cause you to take notice of your heating and A/C and determine how efficiently and how smart it’s running.
Because HVAC systems greatly impact energy bills, major home automation headway has been made. While there are dozens of products and opportunities for home automating your HVAC systems, from vents to thermostats, I want to share with you three unique options that will reduce your energy bill and make life in your home more comfortable. After all, the whole point of home automation is to make things easier and more enjoyable. Let’s take a look at the top 3 ways to automate your HVAC system.
Upgrading Your A/C
In the summer, your energy bill likely jumps significantly due to your A/C. Even more efficient air conditioning systems tend to require a lot of juice in order to cool down your home. Often, air conditioning systems – especially those with Variable Refrigerant Volume and Variable Refrigerant Flow – don’t work with home control and automation systems. Luckily, this can now be done with some new products that have hit the market, such as CoolMaster. Serving as the communication gateway between your A/C and your home’s control system, you can monitor and control your A/C’s critical parameters. Through these types of systems, you can even use an app on your smartphone to control your A/C and when and how it’s working and what rooms it’s affecting. This helps you maximize your A/C’s use and minimize your energy bill.
Zone Your Heat and Air
One of the biggest reasons so many HVAC systems are inefficient are because they aim to heat or cool down your entire home. It takes a lot of energy for these systems to cover so much square footage, which is why your energy bill is high. New home automation systems are designed to take care of this by allowing your HVAC system to be zoned. This means you can choose which parts of your house are heated or cooled. This can save significant energy and money. Also, it makes it easier for your heater or A/C to heat or cool a certain room faster. With these systems, such as ZoneFirst’s Plug and Play Control Panel, you can set up a thermostat in each room or zone in your house, such as upstairs, downstairs, kitchen, living area, etc. You can control up to 103 zones and you can service multiple zones at the same time.
Floor Heating
A few years ago, floor heating was a complicated feature that many people didn’t want to invest in due to its limited options. Today, thanks to home automation advances, electric floor heating is becoming more easily controllable and customizable. A few new devices are making it possible for you to control your electric floor heat with a WiFi thermostat, which allows you to wirelessly control all settings through your smartphone or web browser. You can create a schedule and see your energy usage. This is a must-have for winter in cooler climates – pretty much everywhere but southern California and Florida. You no longer have to cover your nice hardwood or tile floors with an ugly rug, all for the sake of warm feet when you get out of bed in the morning. Schedule your floor heater to turn on before your alarm goes off each morning and you won’t have to freeze your feet.
