5 Strategies for a More Sustainable and Secure Abode

Security is an age-old concern that every homeowner has, and will have to inevitably address. It doesn’t matter if you live in a quiet, suburban village or an apartment building in the middle of a bustling city. Ensuring the safety of your living space is an important matter in every zip code. In fact, if you’ve been paying attention to the news at all in the last fifteen years, you’ll know that home security has become one of the most urgent domestic matters of the 21st century. In a post-9/11 world, with the anxieties of the average citizen at an all-time high, home security trends have evolved in sophisticated and efficient manners to fulfill the changing needs of today’s homeowners. But in an age that is also necessarily concerned with environmental conservation, mindful practices, and overall green living, modern home security systems are conquering another vital challenge: how to achieve a sustainable home without sacrificing optimal safety. Merging security and sustainability is not an entirely new topic when it comes to building design and maintenance. In fact, reputable bodies such as the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS, a Congress-recognized non-profit) have dedicated a lot of time and research into designing strategies that can “minimize environmental impacts as well as ensure the health, safety, security, and comfort of building occupants.” But the question is this: how can you as a homeowner integrate such technologies into your own domestic space so that you too can take part in the movement towards a safe and sustainable world? Thankfully, Alarm System Store is here to make such advances available to every average homeowner looking to safeguard both their homes, and the environment. Read on for five convenient strategies towards a safer, and greener household. 1: ASSESS THE STATE OF YOUR CONSUMPTION

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Based on recently gathered statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average American household consumes 900 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity on a monthly basis. That’s nearly three times the global average, making the U.S., along with Canada, the number one energy consuming country in the world. These numbers only prove that shrinking your household’s carbon footprint is going to take so much more than changing one or two traditional light bulbs into more eco-friendly units. To run a truly safe and sustainable home, you must first be aware of your overall consumption and of which domestic appliances contribute most to the expenditure of energy. That way, you can figure out which domestic equipment are the ones you should start using with more mindfulness.   2: EMBRACE AUTOMATION

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Consistently alleviating energy usage can often get tedious and is always subject to human error. In today’s busy world, who has the time to check and turn off switches day in and day out? Fortunately, home automation systems like the Honeywell Security Alarm have developed technologies to aid in the standardization of appliance-use. Whether they be busy moms, or on-the-go professionals, security systems like Honeywell allow homeowners to streamline the way that they control their entire household. By using this system, you can easily turn appliances off remotely, and with a simple click of a button. Honeywell security alarm and automation equips you with a smart home which can help guarantee that you never expend unnecessary electricity again. Ensuring efficient power usage has honestly never been easier or more convenient, so explore and take advantage of these technologies. Invest on a security system that best suits your lifestyle. 3: TRACK TEMPERATURES Did you know that the most used home appliances are always connected to maintaining temperatures in a given home? Using centralized air-conditioning alone can use up anywhere between 400 to 800 kWh a month. Since energy consumption eventually translates to the emission of pollutants and greenhouse gases, these numbers prove that whether or not you’re aware of it, your cooling and heating appliances make up a HUGE part of domestically based environmental hazards. This is why many home automation systems dedicate a lot of attention to HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) monitoring. Automation helps you lead a greener lifestyle by making sure that your heating and AC are well-adjusted according to whether or not you’re inside your home, and according to your activities. Optimizing the usage of HVAC appliances ultimately means lessening pollution, so make sure to track your temperatures efficiently. Get creative with it, too! Consider using electric fans on manageable days and exhaust fans to share the air conditioning between two rooms. Utilize natural lighting to heat your home up on colder days and open your windows to let the breeze in during the summer. Every little bit helps! 4: MAKE YOUR HOME KEEP UP WITH YOU

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Aside from maintaining an environmentally- and economically- (less energy means lower bills!) friendly power consumption, home automation systems have also become sophisticated enough to make your house follow schedules. A smart home can do so much more than ensuring the safety you and your family need and deserve. A well-designed home security system can also keep up with the rest of your household needs. Create an efficient system so that your major appliances remember when precisely to turn themselves on and off, even after you leave the house or fall comfortably asleep. If you have the discipline to budget your time and energy efficiently, there’s no reason that your appliances can’t. Welcome to the future!   5: DON’T FORGET THE LITTLE ONES

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Of course, your manual efforts also have to collaborate with modern technology to warranty the best quality energy consumption. Keep in mind that even if the switch is off, all appliances still consume minimal amounts of energy as long as they are plugged into a power socket. As much as you can, unplug smaller, more minor appliances (think food processors, battery chargers, curling irons, and the like) whenever they are not in use. Doing this will not only lessen your consumption and costs even further, but will also extend the shelf life of said appliances. These may seem like small, tedious steps towards a greener world, but if every household took advantage of automation in order to consume energy in a conscious and efficient manner, statistics on electricity usage will slowly but surely start inching downwards. In so doing, we will effectively join forces with modern technology to provide a healthier, more sustainable environment for the ones that matter most — the younger generation. Remember: a smart home also makes of a safe and sustainable future.