3 summertime smart home life hacks

Summer may be here, but we're offering some quick schooling for your smart home. Because with heat waves, sunny days, and vacations on the horizon, you want to be sure you're ready to make the most of it all—without racking up huge electricity bills.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the price of electricity will increase by an average of 3.9% for U.S. households this summer. Publishers also report that many are about to get some of the highest power bills they've ever seen. Especially with newly inflated gas prices, rising global temperatures, and increasingly unpredictable climates, homeowners have to be ready for any summer surprises. And they can do that by preparing their homes accordingly.

That's where our summertime smart home hacks come into play.

1. Conserve energy with adaptive WiFi

With the AC running to keep your home cool, you'll want to save energy any way you can. Sure, you can make simple adjustments like setting your thermostat to 78 degrees, keeping window blinds closed, and regularly changing your air filter.

But you can also conserve energy by using a smarter, adaptive WiFi system. Traditional WiFi systems, for example, use a wireless router to emanate a signal. So if you want strong WiFi, you have to be near the router. Going one step further, mesh WiFi systems take that router signal and distribute it throughout the house, giving you more widespread, equal coverage. The problem is that you might not really need WiFi to reach every corner of your home at all times, so you're actually wasting energy.

In that case, there's adaptive WiFi. Adaptive WiFi uses AI and machine learning to distribute the signal more efficiently throughout your home—reaching devices where and when needed. So during a workday, your home office can have a stronger signal than, say, your bathroom. But if, on the weekend, you decide to take a bath and stream a movie, the signal will shift accordingly, adapting to your behaviors. And you can have peace of mind knowing that this part of your household is running smoothly.

2. Freeze devices and enjoy the great outdoors

Screen time is tempting, especially with new summer movie releases and countless streaming networks to choose from. But when those warmer months come around, you'll want to make time to enjoy the great outdoors, too. And it's okay if you need a little help.

Just use an app or program to help you pause the internet for a certain amount of time. Your smart home WiFi service might also have a feature that lets you freeze internet access for your whole house or for specific devices or people. So you can go out and enjoy that run, take a dip in the pool, or start up the grill without checking your phone every few minutes—and, of course, save a little energy in the process.

3. Set up guest profiles for visitors and renters

Leaving for vacation and renting out your spot? Having a big BBQ or Fourth of July party? Keep your network safe and secure with custom guest profiles and permissions.

You might create a go-to guest network and password for renters, for instance, and even set expiration dates for added security. You might even designate which devices guests can access—like yes to the living room TV but no to the office desktop.

Make managing your smart home easy

Plume HomePass can help you do all of the above—and then some. Our suite of Smart Home Services adapts to meet your needs and puts the control center in the palm of your hand with our mobile app. So whether you're working remotely at home, gardening in your backyard, or away on your vacation, you'll have the tools to manage your smart home and save energy—in the summer months and year-round.