With electricity costs rising and load shedding likely to be a part of life for the foreseeable future, South African homeowners are looking at how they can be more energy-wise.
By Rami Osman, director for corporate sales and marketing at MediaTek Middle East and Africa
A combination of energy-efficient appliances, smart home devices, and investments in solar power offer ways to reduce your electricity costs and mitigate the impact of power outages.
Over the past five years, smart home technologies have made significant advancements, providing an array of affordable solutions to automate and enhance the functionality of your home. These advancements not only offer convenience but also contribute to improved energy efficiency.
Many homeowners aren’t stopping with just one device – they are investing in a collection of smart devices to open up new possibilities for entertainment, learning, work and much more. In addition to making life easier, saving you some money, and helping to reduce the ways load shedding affects you, these technologies help you to be more eco-conscious.
Smart home platforms that enable IoT in your home
Today’s smart home platforms can not only help manage connected devices in your home, but can also learn your voice, habits and preferences to help you explore new music, stay informed about current events and even solve a math equation in a pinch. Behind the scenes, IoT chipsets like the MediaTek Genio 1200 bring the potential of the smart home to life.
Here are a few ways that Internet of Things and smart home tech can help your household save power and navigate the load shedding crisis:
Renewable energy
Solar power is becoming more accessible to South African homeowners, with prices falling and a range of innovative ways to fund your purchase. Using solar power for some of your electricity needs will save you money on your power bill. It’s also better for the environment than coal-fuelled power from the grid.
A solar solution generally comprises solar panels, an inverter and optional batteries. You can start off with the panel and inverters if your priority is to save money on electricity–then add batteries and more panels later. Most solar installations will be ‘grid-tied’ because it’s expensive to go completely off-grid. This means that you can’t use solar power during an outage without investing in battery storage.
Once you’ve invested in solar power and batteries, you’ll want to put energy efficient appliances and devices in place to optimise electricity consumption.
* LED lighting – LED lighting is a relatively quick and easy way to get some gains. Smart light bulbs can be controlled from an app. You can programme them to turn on and off at certain times to save energy or switch them off from your phone if you forgot to turn them off when you went out. Some allow you to dim them as needed, so you can make your batteries last longer during load shedding.
* Smart thermostats – If you have an air-conditioner, it will be one of the biggest electricity consumers in your home. Smart thermostats enable you to monitor and adjust your home’s temperature even when you are away. They can also automatically turn down your heating and cooling when it’s not needed.
* Security – Connected, energy-efficient security systems–doorbells, cameras, garage doors and lights–can help ensure you stay safe and feel comfortable in your home. Some models might have battery backup to keep running through power outages. You can receive alerts when a motion detector is tripped or a door is left open, and remotely monitor your property when you’re out.
* Smart plugs – It’s probably not feasible to replace every appliance and device in your home with a smart alternative at once. Internet-connected plugs can help. You can use them to check the real-time power consumption of appliances, switch them on and off remotely with your phone, programme on and off times for your devices, and more.