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Health & Fitness

Save Energy When You Turn on the Furnace

According to Xcel Energy, heating a home during the cold weather months accounts for nearly half of the typical home’s energy usage.

Do you ever wish you could change the thermostat setting or turn lights on and off when you’re away from home?  With the onset of Fall and temperatures starting to drop, many Twin Cities homeowners are finding new ways to leverage “smart home” applications to reduce heating bills, control security settings and make their home more comfortable from remote locations.

Comcast provides Twin Cities residents with Xfinity Home, a one-stop, easy-to-use solution that learns the unique heating and cooling patterns of a home and makes automatic incremental adjustments to the thermostat to conserve energy while optimizing comfort.  Xfinity Home temperature management is based on real-time local weather data, the thermal characteristics of the house, and the temperature preferences of the occupants. Over time, the system adapts to user inputs to help reduce energy while keeping the home comfortable.

In addition, many smart home systems can do more than control the temperature.  For example, Xfinity Home offers professionally monitored home security service coupled with remote home automation and energy management to help customers stay better connected to their homes, no matter where they are.

Here is a check list to look for in your Smart Home app:

  • Can it set up energy-efficient rules, such as automatically turning down the heat when you set the alarm to “away”?
  • Does it use sensors to turn the lights on when you enter a room, and off when you leave?
  • Will moisture sensors alert you to water issues in problem areas like a basement or bathroom?
  • Can you remotely view live streaming video from security cameras with night vision via iPhone, iPad or Android apps or any internet connection (ideal for parents and pet owners)?
  • How easy is it to set up instant, custom alerts to your email or text messaging device based on events – for instance, a door opening (or not opening) during a window of time, such as a pet sitter arriving at your home, or when a son or daughter returns from school?
  • Finally, can you set up unique, dedicated security system access codes for each pet sitter or housekeeper, so that you know when they are coming and going?

While remembering to turn off the lights when you leave a room or turn the thermostat down when no one is home will make a small dent in energy costs, “Smart Home” energy management solutions can save homeowners up to 10 percent annually on energy bills.  It pays to look for these types of features, which are all included with Xfinity Home, when shopping for a new home security and management system.
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