Domotics and energy saving

Although the word "domotics" may sometimes seem like a confusing term, it just means "automatic house". The word comes from the Latin domus (house) to which the suffix "-tics" (from automatic) was added. 

It is a set of technological systems aimed at increasing comfort and safety in the home. With the right installation, you can use home automation to save energy and be much more efficient.

How can I save energy using domotics?

New advances in home automation can help to greatly improve energy efficiency and reduce consumption by between 25 and 30%.

Below are a series of points where domotics is of great help to save electricity or gas and pay less on your bills:

1. Smart temperature regulation

Climate control is one of the fields where home automation is proving very useful to promote energy saving.  

With smart temperature regulation systems, you can adapt both heating and air conditioning to meet your needs. For example, you can adjust the use to the number of people, the rooms they are in, their preferences and the outside weather conditions.

If you want to squeeze the most out of your home automation and save energy, you can add a detection system for when windows are opened and closed to prevent heat or cold from being lost.

2. Automatic lighting control

Automatic lighting control is where most of us got started in the world of domotics and energy efficiency.

Smart bulbs that can be controlled from your phone and motion detection systems are also very useful for more efficient lighting.  If you forget to turn off the light you can program them to turn off when you leave the room or the house stays empty.

As with temperature, with lighting you can go a step further in home automation to save energy.

You can install lighting systems in your home that self-regulate depending on sunlight (similar to the brightness of your phone screen in automatic mode). You can also include awning, blind and curtain control to make the most of the sun.

"Comfort and savings are two great reasons to convert to an automated home."

3. Programmable and connected appliances

Domotics technology applied to energy-saving does not always involve highly complex systems. You can often be much more efficient and save on your bills using programmable appliances.

Manual systems or those connected to mobile applications make it possible to activate appliances to take advantage of the cheapest electricity times.

For example, if you know the cheapest time to put the washing machine on according to your tariff, you can program it to do the laundry at that time. Another example could also be smart vacuum cleaners, which can be controlled and even selected from your phone. 

4. Turn on the heating remotely

Water heaters and boilers are also appliances where, thanks to domotics, you can save a lot of energy and be more efficient.

Many boilers and water heaters can be heated on demand, connected to a thermostat or even operated remotely thanks to simple home automation systems. This last point is very interesting, as you can programme the heating to turn on at certain times of the day and come home to a warm house.

You can also adjust the heating to try to maintain a constant temperature while you are out, so it uses much less energy (and money) to increase the temperature. Again, savings and comfort at home are key elements of domotics.

5. Adaptability for everyone 

One of the easiest and most economical ways to implement domotics in a home is through voice assistants. This simplifies domotics even more and almost anyone can use it to save energy.

People with reduced mobility or people with sight problems can easily interact through most domotics and energy-saving systems through voice.

It is estimated that 54% of Spaniards already use voice technology through smart speakers and smartphones.