Celebrate Earth Day with These Smart Home Ideas
Ever heard of Earth Day? We bet you’ve at least heard about Earth hour, another widely celebrated and marketed global movement for nature. Celebrated on the 22nd of April, about a month after Earth Hour, the first Earth Day was observed in 1970 – yes, you read that right, 1970! Over 50 years ago, millions of environmental activists took the streets to protest habits that are slowly destroying the world. Today, a movement aimed at driving transformative change, it focuses on educating people about global warming and the push for clean energy
Smart Technology to Counter Environmental Impacts?
Although we might not reach Elon Musk’s status as the poster child of low-carbon technology, we can jump on the green energy bandwagon and make small conscious changes to our daily routines to protect and conserve the Earth. Not sure how? Well, for starters, we can begin with the place we spend most of our time – home! Imagine the amount of energy we could save if we programmed our entire house to conserve energy every chance it got? This is where a smart home equipped with devices such as smart lighting comes in. From smart home lighting control systems connected to motion sensors to smart lighting that can be controlled remotely with an app, technology has given us an abundance of options to choose from. Here are a few to consider.
1. The Near App
Smart Home Lighting Control System
An app to order food, an app to keep your mental health in check, and an app that will transform how homeowners use smart devices like smart lighting. When it comes to an efficient smart home automation system, Near is the app of that! Available for free on Google Play and the Apple app store, you can pair the Near app with our universal smart remote to control appliances such as air-conditions, TV sets, and remote-controlled fans. You can even set up routines so that your lights and other devices switch off when the setting is activated. How does this help save energy, you ask? For one, you can control your appliances remotely through the app.
Watch our Near smart remote installation guide on ways you can control your appliances with ease.
2. Smart Plugs
Automate Devices on the Near App
Probably one of the most user-friendly smart devices is a smart plug. An easy way to get into smart tech, this small device can fit directly into your electric outlet and can turn almost any device into a smart one. Easy to manage anytime, anywhere, it will help create more sustainable energy habits. Only need the lights turned on at a specific time when there is a lot of movement or activity in your home? The smart plug paired with devices like the smart motion sensor will save you the need to have your lights on at all times.
3. Motion Sensor
Yes, we know this might seem strange at first glance, but motion sensors are a handy home automation solution. Did you know that automating your smart lighting with a motion sensor is a great way to control indoor lighting? When there is movement, the motion sensor will trigger the lights in your home, ridding you of the need to switch them on when you enter a room. It will also switch the lights off when movement is no longer detected – a fool-proof way of saving energy at home.
4. Smart Lighting Control Systems
Smart Home Voice Control with Google Alexa
Forgot to switch off the lights before leaving your home? Fret not! With a smart home lighting control system, homeowners can automate and remotely control their lighting, cutting back on the amount of electricity that gets wasted by unnecessarily leaving your lighting off. If you have a smart home voice control assistant like Alexa or Google Home Mini installed, you can have your smart lights turn on and off with a voice command – it is that simple! Think of all the times you avoided turning off a device because the thought of manually doing so while you’re deep in your work or movie. Now, all you’ll have to do is command for them to be turned off – convenience plus small energy savings, the ultimate combination.