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Are you tired of manually tweaking your air conditioner settings all the time? Do you forget to turn off your unit when heading out, resulting in high energy bills?
Well, smart thermostats or smart AC controllers can help solve all your climate control problems. They allow you to remotely control your air conditioner using your phone and maintain your ideal home temperature.
Smart thermostats work with central air conditioning, while smart AC controllers, also known as mini-split thermostats, work with ductless units such as mini-split, window, or portable ACs.
They are quite possibly the most important addition when it comes to automating your home climate. Smart climate control devices make operating your AC unit more convenient, offering greater control and energy savings. With a few taps on your screen, you can control AC temperature from your phone, maintain ideal humidity levels, set daily or weekly schedules, keep track of your AC usage, and so much more.
How it Works?
Smart thermostats or smart AC controllers allow you to control the temperature in your home and other features via a mobile app installed on your phone. These smart devices use your home’s Wi-Fi network to link to your smartphone. Apps are available to download from the Android Play Store or the iOS App Store by the respective manufacturers.
After installing your smart device, download its app, sign up and register. That’s it! You can now control your AC temperature from your phone! Moreover you can also use advanced features for automation.
Global Control
You can not only turn your AC on/off but can even control the AC temperature using your phone from anywhere in the world.
Whether you have plants, pets, or kids at home, this smart control feature comes in real handy. Suppose you are at the office and it starts raining heavily, and the outside temperature takes a dip. Your sick pet is highly sensitive to sudden temperature changes, but with smart controls, you don’t have to worry; you can easily amp up the temperature using your phone in no time.
Moreover, when going back home after a long day at work, you can turn on your heating/cooling device and change your bedroom temperature based on your preference. You will arrive home to a perfectly chilled or heated room!
Schedule Your AC Settings
When controlling AC with your smartphone, you can set daily or weekly schedules. You don’t have to micromanage your home climate on a hourly or daily basis, just set the schedule once, and that’s it. You don’t even need to change it every week, just turn on the repeat mode, and the same schedule will continue next week. Stress-relieving, isn’t it?
If for instance the mornings are chilly, you can set a higher temperature around 75 F or switch on the heat mode from 5 am to 7 am. When it’s time to leave for work you can schedule your unit to switch off and set it to turn on at 6 pm when you arrive. At nighttime, you can set an entirely different range depending on your preferred temperature for sleeping.
Geofencing – Location-Based Controls
The geofencing mode can automatically turn on/off your AC when you enter or leave your set location.
This feature tracks your location via GPS (you have to give permission to the app to access the location) and adjusts the settings accordingly. For example, this mode will turn your AC off when you move a certain distance away from your house and turn it on when you are near the set parameters.
Geofencing ensures that your unit only works when it’s needed, thus reducing the power consumption. No more tension of high energy bills due to AC running all day unnecessarily when you forget to switch the unit off!
Safety Temperatures
In the harsh winter season, your home is susceptible to damage due to pipes freezing and bursting. Moreover, in summer, the danger of overheating is always lurking around. Smart climate controls ensure that your house stays protected regardless of the outside weather through their safety temperature feature.
Safety temperatures can protect your house against excessive heat during summer by turning on the cooling mode when your home temperature goes above or below your defined limit.
In chilly weather, your air conditioning unit can blow out hot air while consuming minimum power to prevent freezing. Some ductless air conditioners have a freeze protection mode that performs the same job, and you can control it remotely using your smart AC controller mobile app. This is especially useful when you are on winter vacation, as you can use your phone to operate the settings. Moreover, if you own a vacation home with ductless air conditioning, you can turn on the freeze protection using your phone to prevent freezing in the winter months.
Get Maintenance Reminders & Alerts
With smart home climate controls, keeping on top of your AC maintenance is a breeze. For example, the mobile app can keep track of air filter usage and send notifications on your phone when it needs to be cleaned. Moreover, if a problem is detected in your HVAC unit by your thermostat, you will get a notification on your smartphone, prompting you to take action. For example, if your AC took longer to cool your home, you will get an alert that your system may have low refrigerant levels, weak airflow issues, or frozen evaporator coils.
Keep Track of Your Usage Patterns
Keeping track of AC usage has never been this easier. You can see your daily, weekly, and monthly usage patterns in your mobile app. This can help you make any necessary changes to lower your electricity bill.
Control Humidity With Your Phone
In addition to temperature sensors, smart thermostats and smart AC controllers also have high-precision humidity sensors to provide you with a comfortable home environment. You just have to set your preferred humidity range, and the intelligent triggers in smart climate controls will automatically maintain your specified levels.
You can view your home’s humidity levels anytime you want and change the settings depending on the weather outside. If it is really humid, you can turn on your AC’s dry mode and set your preferred levels using the mobile app. Your smart climate control devices will maintain ideal humidity levels in your home, and you can go about your day as usual.
Smart Home Integration
A smart thermostat or smart AC controller can be integrated with your existing smart home system, such as Alexa, Google Home, and Smart Things using your phone. So, for example, you can tell Alexa to ‘lower the temperature of your living room,’ and it will be automatically done. Moreover, you can also set routines and such as a nighttime routine where you say “Alexa, goodnight,” and your AC automatically turns on at your set temperature of 70 F while your lights switch off.
Now that you know all about automated climate control, it’s time to invest in a smart device and manage your home temperature remotely from anywhere, anytime!
