These smart home habits are running up your electricity bill

It’s been one of the most common housing trends over the past 20 to 30 years. Making your home a smart one to minimize small tasks and run your home efficiently makes a lot of sense. Being able to turn on your lights as you’re walking up the stairs, holding hampers of laundry, by just saying “Alexa, turn on bedroom lights” is a good innovation for your home.

Of course, the more smart home devices you use, there are bound to be some drawbacks. For one, they can be a massive drain on your Wi-Fi usage, as many smart home devices need internet connections. But there are more problems with having a lot of them, which are a burden on your electricity. With some simple changes, you can still have a smart home and not have a gargantuan electricity bill.

Unplug devices that aren’t being used frequently

They don’t always have to be on

There are plenty of devices that you aren’t using every day in your home. They don’t all have to be plugged in if you aren’t going to use them. Many idle smart home devices and even devices in general still draw power from their outlets, even if they are USB outlets. While it may seem useless to not have your smart plug plugged in, it does pull a small bit of wattage, and that can build up over time.

Are these the biggest drains on your electricity bill? No, as many smart home devices are designed to be eco-friendly and watch how they are affecting the home. But if you have a lot of smart bulbs, the ones in rooms that you don’t go into regularly probably don’t need to be plugged in at all times. The vampire loads that plugged-in devices, especially ones connected to the internet, can build up.

Having a smart thermostat when you don’t need one

This only applies to some people

Some people just aren’t home that often. Having a smart thermostat that learns your habits and sets itself to a preferred temperature might not be the smartest use of your money. Plus, if you don’t use the smart thermostat features as such, there aren’t any savings on your electric bill from it.

Smart thermostats are most commonly preferred in hotter and colder climates. There can be large temperature fluctuations, making it a smart investment so you don’t always have to be in front of it to change the settings. Smart thermostats can be accessed from apps, so you can adjust the temperature when you aren’t home. But if you live in a milder climate, you may not have a great need for cooling and heating.

Smart thermostats can still draw power, as they are connected to the internet in order to be used remotely. Some also have built-in security features, like offering video doorbell access through the thermostat. These just may not make the most sense for people who aren’t getting the full benefits of a smart thermostat, and it could potentially cost them money in the long run.

Smart TVs with listening capabilities

They’re listening to help you, but at what cost?

If you have a smart TV, you have made it easier to use the internet on your TV. Smart TVs are hooked up to Wi-Fi so they can stream without the requirement of a streaming device. They also give you more features built into their operating systems, such as smart home compatibility and gaming, that make them worth the purchase.

But there are many smart TVs that also offer voice activation, so you can speak to the TV, and it can change the channel or lower the music. My TV listens and will raise the volume if the conversation is loud around it. It’s helpful at the moment, but because the TV is always in standby mode at a minimum, it is pulling power from my home.

This means that the TV is always somewhat on and never fully off. I don’t unplug my main TV because it’s the one we use most frequently in the home, and it’s the smartest of the bunch. Also, I don’t want it to have to wait for it to boot up every time I want to turn it on. But because of that, it is still using up power, even when it isn’t on. That’s because it’s waiting to hear us call it and jump into action. It’s something that I live with, as it is immensely helpful when I do need it, but others may not welcome this.

Installing a smart home electric vehicle charger

It’s the name of the game

If you decide to make the switch from a gas car to an electric vehicle, one of the main challenges of owning one is figuring out how to charge it. There are public chargers that you can rely upon when you’re running low on electricity. But those who are able to will install an electric vehicle charger in their home.

This allows you to charge your vehicle whenever you like and set parameters around how much you charge the battery. There are many manufacturers that make smart home electric vehicle chargers, since there are many different kinds of chargers. So there are some play in terms of which one you can choose for your home. But, regardless of which one you choose, your electricity bill will go up.

A lot will go towards how much your bill goes up, such as how big the battery is and the cost of electricity in the area. But many can assume that their electricity bill will go up by at least $50 a month if they’re doing regular charging at home.

Smart cameras with night vision

You need to be able to see in the dark

Protecting your home is a priority for any homeowner. Having a security system with smart cameras that you can control through an app gives you access to see what’s going on around your home when you aren’t there. Whether it’s outdoor cameras, a video doorbell, or indoor cameras, you can keep an eye on your home.

If you want to see what’s happening when it’s dark out, your camera has to work with night vision. The night vision comes from infrared LEDs in the camera and can provide you with a clear look at your surroundings in the dark. If your camera has night vision, it does increase the electrical pull of the camera.

Depending on how much you use night vision and how much you’re recording, the consumption of power by your camera varies. In general, having smart cameras will add to your electricity bill because they have to be online to work. But recording images at night will increase the amount of electricity they use.

Not all smart home devices make for an eco-friendly home

Smart home devices, for the most part, do a good job of lowering your electricity bill, thanks to their settings. They are made to make your life easier and help automate things that can be a pain to deal with manually. However, some of them drain power in a larger way compared to others. It’s important to keep that in mind when you’re setting up your smart home devices and to make sure that you’re using them to the peak of their efficiency abilities.