Four Smart, Effortless Ways to Save Energy This Summer

The pleasant mornings and lazy afternoons of summer have arrived! Unfortunately, those high summer energy bills are looming now that your AC has kicked into gear.

The good news this year is that you can reduce them easily with smart home technology. In fact, the Consumer Technology Association estimates that you can lower your home's energy consumption by up to ten percent, especially on summer cooling and winter heating.

And those savings become even sweeter when you don't have to lift a finger to achieve them.

Alarm.com has a range of ways to save energy effortlessly in summer, including a smarter thermostat that saves and keeps you comfortable in equal measure. Here are four energy-saving features that you (and your wallet) will love.

Save When You Leave the House

Home-versus-away automation is the smartest way to save money on summer air conditioning, and Alarm.com knows precisely when you're there and when you're not.

The simplest way is to automate based on your security system's status. When your home is 'Armed Away', your Alarm.com Smart Thermostat sets back to save energy. When you disarm or 'Arm Stay' the system, it returns to ‘comfort' mode, giving you the ideal temperature.

Geo-Services is another great feature that gives you a similar effect, triggered by your location (via your smartphone). You can adjust it so that your home starts cooling when you're a set distance from arriving home, giving you the perfect temperature when you arrive.

Don't Pay to Cool the Neighborhood

If you're a parent, you know that kids have more important things to do than keep the back door closed as they run in and out of the house. As a former kid yourself, you get it.

There's a smarter solution than just yelling, though: Alarm.com's auto-setback feature, which keeps open-door energy waste to a minimum. When a door is left open, it sets your thermostat back. When you close the door (let's face it; it's the parent's job), the thermostat returns to the target temperature. No more paying to cool the neighborhood!

Save When It's Extra-Hot

On extra-hot afternoons, when your AC works hardest, it makes sense to raise your indoor temperature by a few degrees to reduce your home's cooling load and energy bill.

Alarm.com makes this simple with the option to automatically adjust your thermostat when the temperature outside hits 95 degrees or higher. As it's still far cooler inside than outside, you're unlikely to notice—especially as the temperature returns to normal when the heat of the day is over.

Cut ‘Standby' Energy Waste

Now that your AC is covered, what about the other appliances in your home?

Smart plugs are one of the easiest and most versatile ways to save energy in summer and all year round. By adding one to a device like a TV, you can have its power supply turn off automatically at night or when you leave the house, eliminating the energy waste of leaving the appliance in standby mode.

They're also an easy way to automate lighting, giving you additional security and convenience benefits.

Even More Ways to Save

Want to get even more energy-efficient?

The savings above are the easiest, but there many more opportunities to be more energy-efficient, including tracking your consumption, discovering new ways to save, and creating energy goals. For a quick guide to saving even more energy with Alarm.com, click here.