There’s an app for just about everything today, including apps to run every aspect of your smart home. If something in your home has electricity running through it, chances are you can upgrade it to a smart device. Smart devices help you easily control your home appliances and systems with the push of a few buttons. They will also save you money by making the most efficient use of your energy and cutting down on your utility bills.

What Is a Smart Home?

A smart home allows you to automate tasks of your home systems, like your HVAC, lights, security, sprinklers and other systems. You can manually control these devices through an app on your smartphone, tablet or computer. Some systems you can set on a schedule. Others will learn your usage patterns and help you get the most for your energy buck.

How a Smart Home Saves You Money

The up-front cost to install smart home equipment is usually offset by the savings over the lifetime of each appliance. Here are just a few ways smart homes can save you money.

• Energy savings – New, energy-efficient appliances with smart home capabilities can be programmed around your schedule. For example, if you have a thermostat with smart technology, you can program it to make the house a few degrees cooler in the summer when you arrive home from work and raise the temperature a few degrees when nobody will be home. Smart lights can turn on and off with motion in the room or according to your schedule. This means you’re not using excessive air conditioning, heating or lights while you’re not home, and you’re saving money on your energy bills.
• Protect your home from damage – Smart home technology allows you to remotely monitor systems so that you can prevent damage before it becomes very costly. You can install a water leak and moisture monitoring device that will let you know if you have a leaky pipe before you have to pay to replace drywall or deal with a mold issue.
• Homeowners’ insurance savings – With smart technology, particularly security systems, you can often get a good discount on homeowners’ insurance. Other insurance-saving smart devices are carbon monoxide detectors, motion sensors, humidity sensors, smoke detectors. Check with your insurance company for qualifying devices.

With automation comes freedom. The more devices you can remotely control, or better yet can learn your patterns and reprogram themselves, the more free time you will have.

Smart homes can improve your safety, as well. There are devices that allow you to record in and around your house, answer your doorbell remotely and check in on your pets, kids or aging parents. You can keep an eye on everything at home without actually being there. Smart home technology makes your life easier and is an appealing feature to future buyers when you decide to sell your home.

Looking for real estate services in Gainesville, Haymarket or Bristow? Contact your local real estate expert Belinda Jacobson-Loehle of Jacobson Realty and Home Staging today. Also be sure to sign up now for a FREE copy of my eBook, “The Real Estate Key – What You Need to Know!”

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