Question

So, it occurred to me that if I am trying to "justify" the spend I need to save money. So this is mostly entertainment and convivence tech. The only place I have to save money is electricity and lighting. Which isn't a ton of savings for a very large investment. To do that is seems like I need motion sensors in every room and all the Smart Switches I looked at, none of them have build in Motion detectors. So that means additional cost. Is anyone actually saving Money with Home Tech? The kind of saving that really justifies the spend?  

Answer 1

No, we all do it for the joy (and to annoy our families)

Answer 2

Probably not enough to balance the cost More is convenience.  

Answer 3

I don't consider it saving money but a switch with built in motion sensor.  
https://byjasco.com/ge-z-wave-plus-...immer

Answer 4

You want to do this to save money.  All this is going to do is continue to cost you money - if you need to justify spending money on this tech you might as well stop before you start.  

Answer 5

Man this is such a good question. I think the answer is going to be different for every person and every situation based on precisely what is being automated and for what reasons. Personally I live in a new construction home with LED lighting throughout that costs significantly less to operate than traditional incandescent bulbs (though these days LED bulbs are become the norm for everyone I think) which means that realistically I’m not saving anything by purchasing hundreds of dollars worth of smart switches and sensors and what have you. To be honest I’m doing this because it’s fun more than anything else. Now outside of electricity there are other things to consider such as water, if you think about it any sprinkler system is a form of automation whether or not it’s “smart”, and really CAN impact water use through efficiency. First of all it’s going to be more uniform coverage than hand watering yielding a more consistent lawn and it can be tuned to not over water and waste water so that CAN save money. Now, ANY amount of savings over a long enough period of time will in fact pay for itself it’s just a matter of longevity. If the hardware lasts 30 years and cost you 30 dollars and saves you 1 dollar per year. because math  As I said though I’m mostly doing this stuff to entertain myself and I’m less concerned overall with “savings” or seeing an immediate return on my investment but then I’m only dealing with a residential setting whereas others may have large commercial applications.  

Answer 6

Ok, So I just need to get over it and do it because it's cool!  

Answer 7

Ecobee paid for itself in 3 months at my house.  

Answer 8

I saved money with the Nest thermostat. That paid for itself in less than 3 months. Everything else is about convenience and the cool factor. I don't expect to make my money back on the switches, at least not for a very long time. LED bulbs are how you save the money.  

Comments

@imperturbation91375 if your NEST paid for itself in 3 months something is seriously wrong with your HVAC or was seriously wrong with your last thermostat. Most ROI savings are like 10-20% a YEAR and that’s if fully configured and utilized properly. So 3 month ROI is crazy unless there was an underlying issue

Answer 9

I have not seen anything that I have done yet that will yield any savings. If anything, it will cost me a very small amount of electricity. Mine is for safety and convenience. With my wife’s scentsy nightlights, my automated lights, and Alexa, I very, very rarely turn on a light. My house smells good and I just tell Alexa what I want.  

Answer 10

With my kids and wife incapable of ever turning off a light switch, I'm sure being able to tell Google to turn off all the lights has saved some money. Don't know how much, with LED bulbs everywhere, and the fact that the smart home stuff is also always taking up electricity. I couldn't ever get a before and after look, my upgrading has been incremental.  

Answer 11

I have Honeywell smart thermostat (4) on a zoned system. So when I want to cool my bedroom at night, that thermostat only cools that bedroom. I don’t need to cool the whole house. That is probably the most cost saving tech. Then there is also the security side of tech. security system, cameras, smart smoke detectors. they may not save money but they do protect most people’s largest investment. Electrically, solar is a big savings. And you don’t care as much about saving electricity when you generate it yourself.  Lighting control is really just convenience. Switching to LED is a savings.  

Comments

Funny you would say that, I already have a Solar Array and Geo-thermal HVAC. So.  

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21 kW system here.  

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@rutkowski 12. 6, (42x300w) but not meeting my current need throughout the year, I may add a few.  

Answer 12

You don’t have to invest that much to get returns, especially if you go down a DIY route (which is between 15 to 40) times cheaper. My goal is improved quality of life. How do you quantify the value of this?  

Comments

Good Question, I have no answer at this time. I look at the cost to implement and think really? I like it, it's cool, I want to do it, but it seems like the prices points are not in line with the tech.  

Answer 13

Don't ruin my fun with your logical questions! :P No way is anyone "saving" money in electrical savings using smart home devices. I define "saving" as, you have paid for the smart home investment in savings within 3 years. I. e. you spend $1, 000 on a smarthome system (many of us i bet have spent way more), you would need to save over $333/year. Its like LED lights. they can take 10 years to really save you money, assuming they even last that long, which many don't, and who keeps receipts and gets a warranty replacement? SmartHome is about convenience and if you setup correct, it does true automation. Some of the easiest ones are; turn on certain lights when you arrive home. Turn on/off a group of lights for a specific task. i. e. I have 3 switchs for my kitchen. its nice to just double click one (or ask google) to turn them all on when cooking.  

Comments

@maclay With lighting that’s true. Smart thermostats and leak sensors, contact sensors are definitely money savers.  

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@lixivium3 not in any significant monetary way that I've calculated (again, talking ROI)

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@maclay My contact sensors cost a couple of £ for each one. They are an essential part of my smart home's ability to track occupancy down to room level and this drives the intelligent automation, resulting in cost savings, convenience and safety. Even at this price it will be hard to justify purely on financial terms. This is why so many smart home providers have been and gone over the 16+ years I've been doing it.  

Answer 14

On smart thermostat yes, everything else is more about convenience, entertainment, comfort and security

Answer 15

Your looking for savings in the wrong places. My Nest thermostats have paid for themselves multiple times. Echo speaks saves money by reminding the kids to close the pantry, fridge, freezer 10x a day. s

Answer 16

When I walk in to the bathroom, laundry room, and bedroom, the lights turn on. In the evening the lamp in the living room changes to a warmer color temperature as a gentle reminder to get ready for bed. When it's time to go to sleep, one button on my phone (and now wrist! ) turns off all these lights. I rarely touch the sink when washing my hands because the soap and water are motion activated. I feel like I'm living in a freaking sci-fi movie and it makes me smile almost every day. That makes it worth it to me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Answer 17

If you have kids it definitely saves money, mostly setting up automations to shut of lights, and adjust temp settings when no one is home

Answer 18

Most people find value in the tech aside from energy savings. However, if you design your home with it in mind, you can save energy and therefore save money. But like you said, some of it is nickel and diming it, while other things can save you a ton. It largely depends on how your household operates. For example, for the life of me, we cannot get our kids to reliably remember to turn off the light switches when they leave a room. There are motion sensor switches available from a number of makers. Off the top of my head I know that lutron and GE both do. Some things you can link together for energy savings that will also control your lights are things like the ecobee sensors. They help control the temp in each room plus they are occupancy sensors. If they detect the kids left the room they can trigger the smart light switch to shut off all while controlling the temp. Other areas you can save money is on external lighting. You can get solar powered motion control lights placed on your home and eliminate the need to run your powered porch lights. They only run about $20 off of Amazon. Also smart vacuums save on wear and tear on your floors and HVAC systems as they lower the stress on the filters. Water leak sensors can save you THOUSANDS in dealing with home repairs and insurance claims. Especially if paired with a smart valve placed on your main. Smart smoke detectors are worth their weight in gold. There are sensors you can place in your dryer that will tell you exactly when your clothes are dry so you don't have to run the full cycle. So on and so on. Lots of ways to save money, but you sure do have to plan it out One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of home owner insurance policies will give you huge discounts for certain tech. It's worth asking yours.  

Answer 19

With LED lights no chance. BUT if you are able to lock/unlock doors from work that saves me money. I don't give out codes, see on camera who is there etc. I also automate moving air around my home with my zone heat/cool. That maybe saves some. Plus walking around enjoying telling my virtual assistant to turn on and off lights makes me happy and I'm probably more productive.  

Answer 20

Speaking as a guy who has done home automation for the past 12 years, saving money is NOT what it’s about. It’s about convenience and, in many cases, solving problems with no off-the-shelf solution.  

Answer 21

I personally don't think it saves much money, it's more of a cool factor, some of it can be an annoyance to tell you the truth.  

Comments

@rutkowski Nguyen If it’s annoying then that’s not really smart. The whole point about my smart home was that it works exactly the way I want it to and is very reliable.  

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@variola0, true but when we designed my system, I thought it would be a good idea to have a bunch of Occupancy sensors everywhere, boy was I wrong, I had my installer deprogram a majority of them.