Valentine’s Day “Green Hearts” from Sense

This Valentine’s Day, we’re giving Green Hearts 💚 to smart home products that do the most good for the planet.

There are 125 million homes in America, and each one uses energy and water on a daily basis. You don’t have to be a mathematician to understand that changes we make individually in our homes will add up to a very big impact on the planet.

At Sense, we’re passionate about shrinking the energy waste in homes, so we notice other products that show love for the planet by helping us all use the Earth’s precious resources frugally. This Valentine’s Day we decided to recognize new, insightful smart-home products that we admire for how they help people take action in their homes.

Smart Home Thermostats
Air-conditioning equipment is used in 87% of homes in the United States and home air-conditioning costs averaged $265 in 2015, or 12% of total home energy expenditures. Upgrading to a smart thermostat is one of the most impactful ways homeowners can reduce their carbon footprint by reducing your HVAC’s impact on the planet. Both Nest and Ecobee offer smart features that help you lower your energy bills as much as 20%.

Phyn Smart Water Management
The average home leaks 10,000 gallons of water a year with U.S. households wasting over 1 trillion gallons of water every year. Phyn is a way to counteract our growing water waste with a small, self-installed water monitor that fits under a single sink and immediately notifies you if a leak is detected anywhere in your home. Phyn provides insights into how each fixture in your home uses water and automatically detects and notifies you before your pipes freeze while letting you detect a range of hidden flaws like poor seals and microscopic leaks in your water system. The Moen Flo system also detects home water waste.

Philips Hue Starter Kit
Did you know that incandescent bulbs can cost you 500% more in energy than LED bulbs? With the Philips Hue Starter Kit, anyone can easily set-up four smart and energy-efficient LED bulbs available in different color ranges. Connect with the Hue Bridge to control your lights while you’re away and provide notifications to help reduce your home energy usage.

Kasa Smart Energy Strips
Almost a quarter (about 23%) of all home energy is consumed by vampire devices that stay on continuously. These Always On Devices are often found somewhere like an entertainment center or alongside other popular consumer electronics that continuously use power. With the Kasa Smart Energy Strip, you get independent control of six Smart Outlets (not including three additional USB ports) to help bring down the total amount of Always On Devices around your home. You can even use simple voice commands to control your Kasa Smart devices with any Amazon Alexa or Google Home.

Rachio Smart Sprinkler
Have you ever had a broken sprinkler head? In just six months, one broken sprinkler can waste up to 25,000 gallons of water and cost more than $90. Rachio users can identify these types of issues before they become catastrophic. With the Wireless Flow Meter, you can detect leaks before they reach a crisis and maximize your sprinkler precision from the comfort of your smartphone. Did we mention you can also create custom schedules that automatically adjust for changing local weather?

Wemo Insight Smart Plug
With the Wemo Insight WiFi Smart Plug, you can monitor energy consumption right from your phone or tablet by turning any device into a smart device. This allows users to set-up automatic schedules for any device and works with IFTTT for automated “recipes” for making Wemo Insight Smart Plug lights turn on and off based on real-world event

We want to hear about green products that have earned your admiration. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and share your Green Heart choices this Valentine’s Day.