How Smart Appliances Can Help Save Energy and the Planet

(BPT) - Since the first Earth Day was observed 50 years ago, the day’s message has only grown in importance. For anyone wondering how they can contribute to a better tomorrow, a good place to get started is right in your home with smart, energy-saving home appliances and tools. Even small changes can ultimately make a big difference.

1. Get Your Home Connected

Many of us are guilty of forgetting to turn off the lights, air conditioning or heating before leaving the house — wasting resources and money. Thankfully, there are easy-to-use smart tools that can easily be controlled and monitored from anywhere with your smartphone.

Smart thermostats such as Nest and smart lighting like Philips Hue enable you to control the indoor temperature and lighting using only a smartphone from anywhere or set up automated schedules.

Smart appliances — from room air conditioners to laundry — can also be monitored and controlled more efficiently than ever through a simple, central app — like the ThinQ app from LG. The app makes it easy to check if the TV has been left on or to adjust settings on the air conditioner to avoid wasting power, or download specialized cycles for the washer to minimize water usage.

2. Keep Your Appliances in Tip-top Shape

The environment wins when large home appliances like washers, dryers, refrigerators and more are kept in tip-top shape for optimal performance. Features like “Proactive Customer Care” can help do just that, improving performance efficiency and durability of the products by reminding LG appliance users when to perform regular maintenance tasks, and offering tips on preventative care.

For example, if Proactive Customer Care detects that your LG dryer is experiencing reduced air flow in the vent, it alerts the user with the steps to take to fix the problem and restore optimum drying capability while saving energy. If you used too much detergent, it will send you an alert and instructions to avoid overworking your washer, which often runs an extra rinse cycle when there’s too much soap.

3. Switch to Energy Efficient Appliances

Buying energy saving appliances is one of the best ways to make your home greener. The growing availability of products earning the Energy Star label makes it easier than ever to help save the planet — and save on monthly energy and water bills at the same time.

For clean, bright lighting in the home, LIFX’s smart LED bulbs are an excellent choice, lasting an incredibly long time and using less energy than conventional bulbs. Then there’s smart plugs and smart power outlets like those from ZigBee Plug-In, which can make all manner of devices ‘smart,’ meaning less energy consumption and convenient energy tracking.

Smart washing machines like the TurboWash 360 can help to lower household water consumption. Equipped with LG’s AI Direct Drive™, this advanced Energy Star washer gets clothes cleaner while intelligently reducing fabric damages.

Energy is also saved in smart air conditioners. For example, the LG Dual Inverter Compressor™ Air Conditioners deliver impressively fast cooling without sacrificing an ounce of efficiency.

Switching to smart appliances not only makes your life easier, it also goes some way toward protecting the planet and conserving our natural resources.

4. Join the Club

Now in its 50th year, Earth Day has evolved with the times and commemorates convenient ways to connect with current environmental initiatives online.

You can join the Earth Day Network’s Earth Challenge 2020 through the mobile app, which lets you learn about environmental issues impacting your area, record your own thoughts and observations to share with others, and take advantage of environment-focused lesson plans and guided activities.

As part of Digital Earth Day, online toolkits are available to find out more about important environmental issues facing the world today. Individual cleanups are also an option for anyone wanting to take action now (while complying with local safety and social distancing measures).

Although it is indeed a special day, and certainly one worth celebrating, Earth Day is ultimately a call to action; our annual reminder that we all need to do our part every day to make the world a better place. Consider taking the Energy Star Pledge at www.energystar.gov. Starting with small changes at home, we can help to shift the balance and preserve the splendor of our planet for future generations.

It was once said that, “The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved.” Learn how smart home appliances can contribute to this effort at https://www.lg.com/us/lg-thinq.