Hey ,
Drop some nuggets I’ve picked up over the past few months playing around with Aqara gear in the name of cutting down my energy bills. Full disclaimer: I’m just a smart home hobbyist, not an automation wizard—but some of these tweaks really surprised me.
Biggest win? Setting up time-based automations with the Aqara motion sensors. I have one in the hallway that only turns on lights after 6PM and only if it’s dark outside. No unnecessary lights during the day = real savings.
Also, I linked my heater fan to an Aqara smart plug paired with a temp sensor. If the room hits 22°C, it powers off automatically. I had no clue how much energy was leaking out before I added this automation.
Oh and that sneaky power drain from devices in standby? I’m using automations to cut power to stuff like the TV and game console overnight. Way easier than remembering to do it manually—just let Aqara handle it.
Would love to hear how you guys are using automations to save energy (and maybe money too). Any unexpected tricks? I’m always down to tweak things more.
Cheers!
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@LightingLlama Hey there!
Thanks for sharing your experiences with Aqara automation for energy saving—it’s always great to hear how fellow smart home enthusiasts are making the most out of their setups. Your approach to using motion sensors for time-based lighting and smart plugs with temperature sensors is spot on for optimizing energy use.
Incorporating automations like turning off devices in standby mode overnight is a clever way to minimize energy waste. According to information on automations, using conditions such as time of day or specific environmental triggers (like temperature) is a fantastic way to ensure devices only operate when necessary. This aligns perfectly with your strategy of cutting power to devices like the TV and game console when they’re not actively in use.
I encourage others in the community to jump in and share their own tips or unexpected tricks for saving energy. It’s amazing how a few thoughtful automations can lead to significant savings and efficiency. Keep experimenting and sharing your insights—it’s truly inspiring!
Cheers!
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I use aqara temperature and Humidity sensors along with smart plugs to turn on and off dehumidifiers automatically as Humidity changes.
Instead of running continuously they are on less than 50 percent of the time with the corresponding savings in power bills.
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This is a bit of a mad one, but I’ve been playing creating light intention STATES separate to actual light values.
Basically what I mean is: imagine you have friends round and you want the hallway light to be on so that anyone needing the bathroom has light to get there. But you’re all at dinner right now so the hallway doesn’t need to be on.
So: when I turn the light on by the switch I store the fact it was turned on as an INTENT. If the hallway FP2 hasnt detected anyone there, it can safely turn off the light, but not the INTENT. Then if any of my doorway motion sensors sense someone coming when the INTENT is on, they turn the hallway light back on. From your guests’ point of view, the light is always on, because it’s always on when they get there. But from an energy perspective it saves having it on all the time. Extra I know but it was fun to set up.
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I use the temp/humidity sensor to control the bathroom fan so it runs only when required!
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This is great! I never thought to use smart switches to fight “vampire” energy usage. Thanks for sharing!
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Turn off my AC (via IR blaster) or radiator valves when:
- No motion detected for a while
- Windows/ doors left opened
- Target temperature reached
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A good friend of mine monitors an API that tells him when electricity is cheapest, and uses a smart plug to turn on a charger to charge all his gadgets during the cheapest times. Also does similar for appliances like washer/dryer, as the price fluctuates throughout the day. Pretty clever.
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Yes! I have this with Octopus energy in the UK. Someone wrote an amazing API for HASSOS and it hooks right into automations. So good.
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Ah maybe it’s that, actually! We’re in the UK and I believe he’s with Octopus too.
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Loved the info! Which temp sensor are you using?
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Well I use Lux in my automations. IF the natural light is above 400 lux the light won’t come on use I manually switch it on.
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Great thinking! I’m going to do the same with the kitchen extractor
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