There is no escaping the soaring prices we face today. Almost everything from utility bills to a starter home costs more today than it did a year ago. To survive this era of inflation, you just have to save where you can, and upgrading some outdated, time- and energy-consuming home gadgets is a big step in the right direction.
It’s probably no surprise that the best air fryers dominate a lot of our energy saving conversations. Even local barbers and bakers praised these time-saving kitchen beasts. We’re also keeping an eye out for deals on other appliances like dehumidifiers and heated clothes dryers that could save your wallet in the long run.
When it comes to building a smart home, there are many ways to make your home more efficient. The best smart locks can notify you if a door has been left ajar, allowing heat to escape; and the best smart thermostats will start central heating when and where you want.
Earlier this month, money-saving expert Martin Lewis revealed a simple equation that could help lower Britain’s winter energy bills, something the rest of the world could benefit from as well. The math is to find the wattage of an element, then calculate how many kilowatts or fraction of a kilowatt it uses, then multiply that by the cost per kilowatt per hour. But since we can’t all do those calculations when the need arises, it may be easier to choose a smart home device or gadget that you know will save you money in the long run.
We’ve already done the Lewis calculations, so you don’t have to. Below, we’ve rounded up some of the key smart home devices and gadgets that will help you save money on your utility bills.
Must-have smart home devices and gadgets for 2023
There’s plenty of choice, but if you’re careful where you invest your money, you’ll start seeing your utility bills dwindle.
Air fryers
Air fryers come in all sizes and shapes these days, but the Instant Vortex Plus 6-in-1 Air Fryer with ClearCook and OdourErase is the best you can buy. We especially like the window that allows us to watch the food cook, and the filter that reduces odors – although the smell of food in the air is not always bad.
Air fryers can save you money by cooking food much faster than in a conventional oven. You save time on food preparation, but you also save time on the energy you use. We calculated the energy consumption of the fryer in our article “Do deep fryers use a lot of electricity?” In the UK, a 1700W basket fryer used on average for around 30 minutes a day will cost around £0.56p a day, £3.98 a week or £17.08 a month which is a fraction of what it would cost to run a cooker for the same period time.
Air fryers also provide a healthier method of cooking food as they require less oil/fat. No one is going to throw their conventional oven over a deep fryer, but technically the latter doesn’t take up that much space.
Smart thermostats
We bring you tado° in this little roundup because we’ve heard a lot of good things about it and it’s relatively inexpensive to start with.
Studies have shown that tado° smart thermostats save users an average of 22% on heating bills per year.
These thermostats are easy to use and feature an elegant and simple design. They can be used alone or with additional radiator valves for zone control. Tado° also works with Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit, meaning you’re not limited to one smart system. There are of course other smart thermostats that will save you money on your heating bills, albeit in slightly different ways. Our handy widget (below) displays some of the best deals currently available.
Dehumidifiers
Air dehumidifiers have been around for some time, but we probably think of them most often as a tool for drying damp plaster after DIY. Most homes will have one of these devices, whether it’s in the home, utility room, or garage, but chances are they’re not being used to their full potential. After all, these gadgets have so many other amazing uses around the house.
Money-saving expert Lewis recently said that drying clothes with a 200W dehumidifier instead of a large standing dryer can cost as little as 7p an hour (UK); 200W is one-fifth of a kW (1000W) and one-fifth of 34p is about 7p. It’s true that dehumidifiers aren’t cheap, with some costing as much as £400, but if you have many days of laundry a week and rely on a dryer to dry your bedding and clothes, a dehumidifier can be a smart investment to make. The Insignia dehumidifier can wick moisture from a 2,000 square foot room, so you won’t be limited by which room it’s in – you’ll need standard clothes dryer (opens in a new tab) at least hang up the laundry.
It’s worth noting that in addition to removing moisture from the air, dehumidifiers emit some heat while purifying the air, so you’ll be effectively dehumidifying by heating a room in your home and breathing in the purified air. You simply cannot beat the versatility of a good dehumidifier!
Smart locks
You may wonder how smart locks can save you money, but we think outside the box. By being able to essentially control your front door with an app, you’ll have one less thing to remember (keys) while saving some money.
One of the things you can do with the August Smart Lock Pro is set “smart alerts” that let you know when a door is locked or unlocked, when a door is ajar, when a door is automatically locked or unlocked, etc. on. In other words, it will always monitor the status of your lock, which is especially helpful for many of us who can’t quite remember if we locked the door or not. Now you don’t have to waste your worries on this question or your time and fuel going home to check it out. You also won’t let heat or air conditioning escape if you leave the door wide open.
August Smart Lock Pro is not the only lock that can do this. In the UK, we also have Yale Conexis L2 (opens in a new tab)as an alternative. Upgrading to a smart lock is expensive, but it can be a smart – and safe – investment.
Heated clothes dryer
Heated aerators were all the rage in 2022 and we expect the trend to continue into 2023 as well. In the UK, we saw the Dry:Soon Deluxe 3 Tier Heated Aerator (opens in a new tab) they sell out at the start of the fall season and only become available again around Black Friday.
Due to its popularity, there have been no discounts on this airer, but energy saving matters: this airer claims to cost just 10p per hour to run (based on a unit electricity cost of 34p per kW/h). It’s capable of holding up to 15kg of laundry in 21m of drying space, and all your laundry will dry in a matter of hours, so you’ll have to spend maybe 40p instead of £2-3 with a tumble dryer.
Why are they so good? They dry laundry much faster than non-electrified dryers and are much less expensive than tumble dryers. If you’re not in the UK, our handy widget (below) will show you some of the best deals and availability.
You can save a lot of money by making a few simple improvements to your home. In addition to boiling the required amount of water in the kettle (top tip), you can also save money by investing in products that use less time and energy. I think most of us will welcome a more approachable 2023 with open arms.