Do home automation devices actually pay off on energy bills?

[DaveBTTF]

I'm in Chicago sharing an apartment with a buddy, and we've been debating whether to add smart plugs and motion sensors to cut down on wasted electricity. Do home automation setups like that actually pay for themselves over time?

 

[Gadragora_Malroth]

If you set them up right, yeah, they can save a bit. My motion sensors cut lighting time by like 30%, and smart plugs kill vampire loads from the TV and console overnight. Took about a year to make back what I spent, but now I barely touch switches anymore.

 

[DaveBTTF]

If you set them up right, yeah, they can save a bit. My motion sensors cut lighting time by like 30%, and smart plugs kill vampire loads from the TV and console overnight. Took about a year to make back what I spent, but now I barely touch switches anymore.

It's impressive that you recovered the costs within a year. Were most of your savings from the motion sensors or did the smart plugs cutting standby power make a bigger difference?

 

[TJTex331]

I'm in Chicago sharing an apartment with a buddy, and we've been debating whether to add smart plugs and motion sensors to cut down on wasted electricity. Do home automation setups like that actually pay for themselves over time?

It depends on what you are switching. LED lights? A typical LED light that is similar on brightness to a 60 watt incandescent bulb will use about 7 watts. Smart switches and sensors will use about 1 watt. The savings would be about 6 watts. A smart switch costs around $15. Assuming you are paying 20 cents a Kwh (kilowatt-hour) it would take you more than 12,500 hours of not having the light turned on in order to pay for the switch. The switch would have to turn off the light for 4 hours more in a day, as compared to what you would normally do manually, just to break even on the energy cost. You are not going to save much money by installing smart switches or home automation.

I have replaced all my old switches with smart switches. I did this for convenience. I can now control my lights and fans in any room of the house with my voice or from my phone. I can turn my printer on when I need to print or scan something and then turn it off just by my voice. I have smart plugs that I use for my Christmas decorations. I even replace the old switch in my pantry with a motion sensor switch.

I replaced my old thermostat with a smart one that allows me to not only preset heating and cooling cycles but also control that from anywhere I have an internet connection.

I have installed a smart doorbell and a smart doorbell chime. I can see who is at the door and talk to them, which is handy when I am in my study or the basement or my shop.

All of this automation consumes electrical power. For those that think that they will see huge savings by installing smart switches, you need to factor in the power used by the switches which run 24 hours a day.

For those that think they will reap huge savings by eliminating vampire power, home automation and smart switches are the biggest vampire you have.

 

[DaveBTTF]

It depends on what you are switching. LED lights? A typical LED light that is similar on brightness to a 60 watt incandescent bulb will use about 7 watts. Smart switches and sensors will use about 1 watt. The savings would be about 6 watts. A smart switch costs around $15. Assuming you are paying 20 cents a Kwh (kilowatt-hour) it would take you more than 12,500 hours of not having the light turned on in order to pay for the switch. The switch would have to turn off the light for 4 hours more in a day, as compared to what you would normally do manually, just to break even on the energy cost. You are not going to save much money by installing smart switches or home automation.

I have replaced all my old switches with smart switches. I did this for convenience. I can now control my lights and fans in any room of the house with my voice or from my phone. I can turn my printer on when I need to print or scan something and then turn it off just by my voice. I have smart plugs that I use for my Christmas decorations. I even replace the old switch in my pantry with a motion sensor switch.

I replaced my old thermostat with a smart one that allows me to not only preset heating and cooling cycles but also control that from anywhere I have an internet connection.

I have installed a smart doorbell and a smart doorbell chime. I can see who is at the door and talk to them, which is handy when I am in my study or the basement or my shop.

All of this automation consumes electrical power. For those that think that they will see huge savings by installing smart switches, you need to factor in the power used by the switches which run 24 hours a day.

For those that think they will reap huge savings by eliminating vampire power, home automation and smart switches are the biggest vampire you have.

The math example really puts it in perspective. It confirms what @Gadragora_Malroth was getting at. The real target for savings isn't the low wattage lights but the bigger vampire loads from an entertainment center.

 

[TJTex331]

The math example really puts it in perspective. It confirms what @Gadragora_Malroth was getting at. The real target for savings isn't the low wattage lights but the bigger vampire loads from an entertainment center.

Right Dave, but I just don't get why people insist that there are savings in shutting off (disconnecting those other devices like your entertainment center from the mains).

Modern TVs use .5 to 5 watts in standby mode with an average of 1.3 watts. I measured mine and I am running about 1.5 watts. Modern audio receivers run abut the same as modern TVs. So zero savings in using a smart switch on those devices.

Older DVRs will use up to 35 watts continuously because they are on 100% of the time. They are on 100% of the time because you set them up to record. Shut them off and they won't record.

Newer set-top boxes with recording capabilities consume less than 5 watts in active standby mode. But again, shut them off and you are not recording.

An Amazon Firestick's standby power averages 1 watt. The newest model uses less than .5 watts in standby (sleep mode).

Newer game consoles like the new PS5 uses about 1 watt in standby mode (off mode).

Remember that a smart switch will consume ~1 watt and runs continuously 24 hours a day.

An Echo Dot consumes 1.4 to 3 watts. Shut it off and you don't have smart home voice controls.

An Echo Show consumes up to 5 watts. Shut it off and you don't have smart home voice controls.

There are no savings in using smart switches to control any of these items.

 

[BigMama]

It probably depends how disciplined you already are. I’m lazy with lights, so motion sensors actually save me a bit. But for people who already turn stuff off, maybe not much change.

 

[Alan]

They can pay off, but not always in the dramatic way the marketing suggests. Most people see savings from automating the things they forget about like fans, lights in hallways, gaming PCs on idle.