How to Monitor Energy Consumption at Home to Avoid Waste
Why is it more essential than ever to monitor energy consumption at home today? To avoid waste, of course, but what does that really mean?
First of all, being aware of your home energy consumption helps identify areas where you can reduce costs (economic waste!), such as discovering that an appliance uses more energy than expected and thus should be replaced. Similarly, tracking energy usage helps better plan the household budget: knowing consumption patterns allows you to predict and manage energy expenses more effectively.
Then there's the factor of energy efficiency: regular monitoring of consumption can reveal any appliances or even habits that cause waste (energy waste!), allowing you to take steps to optimize energy use. Moreover, regular monitoring can help detect technical issues or malfunctions in your devices. If an appliance consumes more energy than usual, it might be a sign of an imminent fault... or, unfortunately, one that's already occurred, like when the freezer in a refrigerator combo isn't freezing. In such cases, diagnosing the problem and taking prompt action is crucial to avoid inconvenience and unexpected expenses.
Not enough? Let's talk about resource waste. Reducing energy consumption helps decrease your carbon footprint and environmental impact: using less energy means reducing greenhouse gas emissions and being less reliant on non-renewable energy sources. It also means managing the planet's energy resources better, as they are limited and therefore precious.
Finally, it's an important choice because it encourages more conscious and responsible behavior regarding energy use, such as turning off lights when not needed and optimizing the use of appliances.
Today, keeping an eye on your energy consumption is possible, both at home and on the go (with remote monitoring systems that allow you to check and analyze energy usage via the internet, using sensors and smart devices), thanks to a variety of tools and platforms that make the process simple, fast, and intuitive.
One of these is the Freedompro Home app, which – as we mentioned in this article published a few weeks ago – has recently been enhanced with the new "Consumption" feature.
Get to Know the New "Consumption" Feature of the Freedompro Home App
The new "Consumption" section of the Freedompro Home app allows you to track the energy consumption of all accessories connected to the Freedompro Smart Modules, whether it's instantaneous or, so to speak, historical.
We provided a more comprehensive overview of its main features in a previous article, which you can read at this link, and today we want to analyze this section in a more agile and practical way.
When exploring the app interface, you'll find " Consumption" at the bottom of the screen, next to the Home and Habits tabs. The icon is easily recognizable: a small lightning bolt!
By clicking on it, you can instantly view the instantaneous consumption of accessories connected to the Freedompro Smart Modules installed in your smart home, giving you an overview of what is consuming how much at that exact moment.
Scrolling down, you'll also find a button that will take you to our website, where you can explore the other Smart Modules available in our catalog, in addition to the ones you already have (and some selected insights for you). Just below, under the "Today You Consumed" section, you can see the kWh consumed throughout the day.
And there's more: by clicking on "Today You Consumed," you'll enter the highly useful "My Consumption" subsection, where a handy drop-down menu lets you view energy consumption for specific time spans:
- Day
- Week
- Month
- Year
- All-time
You can assess the total consumption, i.e., related to all connected devices, by module type (e.g., lights, shades, etc.), or even, by clicking on it, for a specific accessory.
Want to know your average energy consumption over the last thirty days? That's also possible, presented simply, with a handy graph: an instantly usable visualization that helps you make more informed decisions on how to optimize the use of connected accessories and better control your energy consumption.
Now that's a complete, intelligent, and easily understandable monitoring! With the various information and options available in the "Consumption" section of the Freedompro Home app, you can now make instant assessments and useful comparisons between your smart objects, optimizing or reducing your energy consumption and making more informed decisions about your daily habits or the items you've purchased—and will purchase.
Happy exploring!
