Top Smart Home Devices To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

By Rachelle Dragani

Hoping to make your home more green? You’re in luck. Every day, new smart home technology is making it easier to reduce your carbon footprint. There are eco-friendly solutions that help our planet, slash your energy bills and better protect your home. From smart systems that save water to apps that give you a better idea of your carbon emissions, let’s take a look at tech that helps makes sustainable living more possible.

Energy monitoring system for a greener home

The first step in reducing your energy usage and, in turn, carbon emissions? Keep better track of just how much you’re using in the first place. Thanks to advances in machine learning and AI sensor technology, it’s now easy and affordable to accurately monitor your energy usage. This can help you realize when you’re using more than you need.

There are tons of devices and apps you can add to your smart home to make such monitoring simple. You may already be familiar with smart thermostats. They do the work for you, not just cluing you into how much energy you’re using, but automatically adjusting to reduce unnecessary expenditures. And since nearly half of the energy usage of the energy usage in most households comes from heating and cooling, the potential for home energy savings from smart thermostats is huge.

You can also gain a better picture of energy use with smart plugs that have an energy monitoring feature, like the Kasa Smart Plug. It will measure a device’s energy use both in the moment and over time. You can see which gadgets are eating up the most juice when not in use and, using the app, leverage automation to remotely turn plugs on and off from anywhere.

For a higher upfront cost but a more comprehensive look at your consumption, you can check out devices like Sense or the Ted Power Meter. These total energy home-monitoring systems track all the real-time and historical energy use in your home. You can set goals for cutting back, get estimates about upcoming bills and learn more about how to optimize your usage. (Other more expensive models exist, too. And while they might give slightly more accurate or comprehensive readings, we like these two because you can install them yourself and still get a really good idea of your day-to-day use.)

Refrigerators are getting smarter about monitoring their energy use, too. Smart refrigerators from makers like Samsung are using AI to more optimally spread energy throughout the appliance.

Smart home technology for reducing water use

Kickstart a carbon emissions reduction by decreasing your water usage. In addition to slashing costs and cutting down on usage as water infrastructure problems increase, monitoring usage can help you keep track of leaks. Those little leaks can start big problems, like structural damage to your home or mold growth.

Your first water reduction strategy can be a smart showerhead. One from Hai tracks your water usage in the shower and lets you adjust pressure to your liking, leading to more sustainable shower time.

If you’re going through tons of water keeping your lawn green, check out a smart irrigation system. Products like a smart sprinkler system from Rachio use local weather intel and info about your specific landscape to tailor watering schedules that minimize unnecessary usage.

And don’t forget about spotting leaks before they get out of control. A smart water monitor like one from Moen learns about your typical water usage and sends you alerts when something is off. Your carbon footprint goes down—and so does your monthly bill.

Clean energy smart home products

Tons of cool tech products are on the horizon, including more smart home products that use clean energy to help you reduce your carbon footprint.

Breathe easier and get the peace of mind that eco-friendly products provide with a moss-powered air purifier. You can use solar energy to power smart home devices like outdoor cameras. If you commit to solar to power your home, you can even get a sustainable backup system to convert some of that energy for when you need it most. Solar or battery-powered lawn mowers are another excellent way to reduce emissions when you’re sprucing up your yard.

Stay connected to home with Frontier Fiber

When you power your smart home with the best fiber internet connection, you can rest assured you have reliable access to your smart devices. Learn about the advantages of Frontier Fiber. Frontier Fiber is available in select areas—check here to see when it’s available at your address. And check out Frontier’s SmartMarket for a great selection of quality smart home devices.