Gadgets that Zap Energy Wasters in Your Home

Common problems like leaky windows, drafty doors and power-hogging appliances can waste energy in your home and lead to unnecessarily-high utility bills. Thankfully, there are a slew of gadgets on the market that can identify energy drainers and lead to significant savings when it comes to heating and cooling your home.

The amount of energy products promise to save varies, but every little bit adds up to protect your wallet and keep your home cool this summer.

Programmable Thermostats

Experts say having thermostats that cant be programmed is a surefire way to waste money as forgetting to lower the heat or air conditioning while not home quickly runs up your bill.

According to Energy Star, the process of heating and cooling accounts for nearly 50% of energy use in a home. The program also estimates homeowners can save around $180 a year by properly programming their thermostats and maintaining those settings.

Prices of programmable thermostats run the gambit: they can be as little as $25 to more than $400 for high-tech models. Thermostats are available in seven day models that allow you to set air times each day, 5-2 models that use the same schedule every weekday and another for weekends, and the 5-1-1 models that keep the same schedule during the week and different schedules on each day of the weekend.

Ecobees smart thermostat is garnering a lot of interest because it has built in Wi-Fi that enables you to monitor and manage your thermostat online or from your iPhone, iPad or Android-based smartphone.

Ecobee claims customers save 26% on their energy consumption or about $500 a year using its programmable thermostat. Prothermostats.com sells the smart thermostat for $369.

Energy Monitors

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Gadgets that Zap Energy Wasters in Your Home