How you can you benefit from smart electricity consumption at home

Smart electricity consumption is the key to a more intelligent home. It is a set of advanced technologies that help you manage your energy consumption and cost-effectively meet your needs. Smart electricity consumption refers to using smart meters, smart thermostats, and other smart devices, appliances, or software that allow you to monitor and control your electricity usage in real-time.

However, as the world is producing much of its electricity from renewable energy sources, this leads to constantly changing electricity prices. Renewable energy resources include wind, solar, and hydroelectric power (water). People can use many renewable energies to provide electricity for their homes or businesses. However, the nature of renewables is partly challenging as the production cannot be controlled like with fossil fuels.

Balancing the use of renewable energy sources

To manage supply and demand, it is necessary to understand the nature of renewable energy sources. Renewable energy sources are intermittent, meaning they do not produce power consistently over time. They have peaks and valleys in their output: during the day, solar power is highest, while at night, it is lowest; wind power can blow harder or lighter depending on weather conditions.

Many smart grid technologies have been developed to balance supply and demand and help us manage these natural fluctuations in renewable energy generation.

Load control means using smart meters and other technology to manage how much load (power usage) we use at different times of day or year. For example, demand is higher than usual on a hot summer afternoon when everyone simultaneously turns on their A/C units. In that case, your utility company can ask you to reduce your power usage by turning off some appliances for a few hours at certain times throughout that day so that enough electricity can be generated from other sources, such as coal plants instead (which produce more carbon emissions than solar panels).

The most common energy resources for smart electricity consumption

Now that you've understood why one should utilize smart electricity solutions, it's time to look at some of the available resources:

Smart electric vehicle charging

Whether you're using public or private EV chargers, the devices can be programmed to charge your electric car when rates are cheapest. This means that your car will never have to stop its journey short because your battery is low on power, nor will you have to charge when electricity is expensive.

Smart heating and cooling

Most homes have central heating systems that use radiators or boilers to heat the water before circulating it through pipes hidden in walls throughout the house. The hot water then heats rooms via radiators or flooring panels. With intelligent thermostats and controls, this process can be altered so that the system only heats rooms while electricity prices are low (e.g., during off-peak hours).

Smart meters

There are already some smart meters that you may already have in your home if you live somewhere with a high level of solar generation capacity installed nearby—but there's plenty more innovation to tap here as well.  For instance, some people might even want their appliances themselves to become "smarter" so they don't waste any energy at all; others might prefer having access remotely through their phone rather than having separate devices installed throughout their homes—it's really up to which option works best for each person.

Smart Solar Production

Suppose you have solar panels; great. If you want to optimize your solar panel production, even better! Solar panels and some smart software make it possible to decide whether it would be best to use the electricity in the house, sell it to the grid or charge your EV/home battery. You can minimize the pay-back time of your solar panels by consuming the electricity yourself when it's the cheapest and – vice versa – selling it to others when the electricity prices are peaking. Brilliant!

Smart electricity consumption allows you to take part in demand response

Demand response is a method of reducing electricity demand at times of peak usage. Utility companies or customers may implement demand response, using smart meters and automated load control devices to reduce energy consumption during high-demand periods. Demand response can be implemented in various ways, including smart thermostats (residential customers), remote meter reading systems (commercial customers), and automated load control devices that turn off certain appliances when power usage is high.

Conclusion

Smart electricity consumption is essential because it helps you save energy and money. By using smart electricity solutions, you can use less power and save money on your monthly electricity bills.