
- HEY GOOGLE TURN OFF THE LIGHTS INSTALL
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- HEY GOOGLE TURN OFF THE LIGHTS TV
It can be used to play music, answer questions and show recipe suggestions, but we also love how it acts as a central command centre for your smart home.

The Nest Hub (previously called the Google Home Hub) is a touchscreen smart display with the Google Assistant baked in, which can be used to play music, answer questions and show recipe suggestions.Although not directly responsible for lowering your home energy bills, we love how it acts as a central command centre for your smart home. Lastly, a feature called presence mimicking turns your lights on and off to make it look like an empty home is occupied, in a bid to deter potential burglars that is smarter and more energy efficient than leaving a couple of lamps on all day and night. Via the Hue app (or Alexa, Google Home and other automation systems), bulbs can be divided into groups and given daily or weekly schedules, and motion sensors can be used to have a bathroom light come on at night, for example, then automatically switch off again a few minutes later.

It’s also possible to lower bulb brightness, adjust the temperature from a cool white to warm orange, and even pick from 16 million colours. Philips Hue smart lights consume slightly more power than non-smart LEDs, owing to their wireless connectivity, but they have some nifty features to help restore that balance.įor example, the Hue system can be given the location of your smartphone, and with that information it can be set to turn off some (or all) of your lights when you go out. LED lighting is a great way to lower your home energy usage, since they are around 90 per cent more efficient than traditional incandescent or halogen bulbs.

HEY GOOGLE TURN OFF THE LIGHTS TV
For example, you could set a schedule that turns your TV and soundbar off at the wall for a few hours each night.Īs well as individual smart plugs, the same technology can be found in multi-socket extension cables and even wall sockets. The Kasa is quick and easy to set up, schedules can be set for every day of the week, and the plug can be controlled when away from home – handy to check if your straighteners are off, or want to turn a lamp on to make your home look occupied at night.Īlthough smart plugs consume energy to function, the wireless tech they use is incredibly efficient, with Zigbee and Z-Wave, a pair of smart home wireless standards, accounting for around half a watt.Īs for saving you energy, this is done by setting schedules that shut down your devices when they aren’t needed, instead of leaving them in standby mode. Fitting between an appliance’s plug and the plug socket, they have Wi-Fi for connecting to the internet and can be controlled from smartphone apps, home automation systems like Apple HomeKit, and voice assistants like Alexa. Smart plugs like this one from TP-Link’s Kasa range can make almost any household appliance smart.
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The controllers come with various attachments and are designed for DIYers to install without professional help just make sure your radiators have thermostatic valve heads.Īdd Tado’s thermostat to your smart home system, and your home will be heated or cooled according to local weather forecasts, and the app will alert you if it thinks you’ve accidentally left a window open, or if a room isn’t heating correctly. We recommend buying a starter kit, which includes two radiator controllers and the bridge, which is required for wirelessly connecting Tado devices to your Wi-Fi router. By knowing the location of your smartphone, the Tado Smart Radiator Thermostat can automatically increase the temperature as you approach home, and it’s easy to set schedules for each room in the Tado app, so only those you use regularly are heated. Once fitted, your radiators can be controlled individually, making it easy to turn down those in rooms that aren’t being occupied, lowering your home’s energy demands.
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Powered by two AA batteries, this replaces the manual temperature controller already on your radiator, then connects to your Wi-Fi network and can be directed from an app, or smart home system like Google Home, Alexa or Apple HomeKit. Controlling your heating centrally with a smart thermostat is a good start, but taking things a step further is the Smart Radiator Controller from Tado.
