Upgrading the home with the latest tech feels great, but it’s even more rewarding when you know you’re doing your little part to help the planet. Smart home tech has a role to play in minimizing our energy consumption and generally leading more eco-friendly lives. We look at the biggest players in the smart home space every day, and these are some that are making the biggest impact on fighting climate change and minimizing plastic waste.
Contents Ecobee Ecobee was the first company to ever make an internet-connected smart thermostat. By being able to factor in local weather forecasts, leverage presence detection, and monitor humidity, Ecobee claims the increased efficiency of its thermostats has kept the equivalent of 17.7 million tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere. This energy efficiency has not only earned them Energy Star certification but also won them Partner of the Year status for 2021 and 2022.
Rachio Rachio is among one of the biggest leaders in smart lawn irrigation. We’ve checked out Rachio’s stuff in the past and come away impressed, but it brings more to the table than just convenience, even lawn watering. As a certified B Corporation, it meets a wealth of sustainability criteria and has won awards placing them among the top B Corps out there.
Aquanta About 15% of a home’s emissions come from water heating. There are a handful of companies trying to optimize that usage with Wi-Fi-enabled controllers. Aquanta is among the more successful players in this field. The device can be retrofit onto existing heaters, and once set up, users can use their phones to keep tabs on everything.
Span While many of these products zero in on energy savings within individual categories, a relatively new manufacturer is trying to do the reporting at the source. Span is offering a smart electrical panel that ties in seamlessly with solar panel and storage setups. Owners get full remote control of their entire breaker system. The Span solution is also designed with EVs in mind, so it can deliver level 2 charging speeds to the car in your garage.