Setting your home up to be smart and energy efficient is not as difficult or expensive as you might think - in fact with just a few minor tweaks you can transform your home in an afternoon. From understanding like a nerd where you waste the most energy to the tech tools you can implement into your house and tutorials on guiding you through the whole process, here are 4 nerdy tech solutions to make your home more energy efficient. 

#1: Conduct A Home Energy Audit

Before you do anything too tech nerdy to increase your home’s energy efficiency, you should figure out where your biggest problem areas are located in your house so that you can prioritize your upgrades. To do the audit you can either hire a professional which will cost you somewhere in the range of $300 - $500 or you can do one yourself. Check out the Department of Energy’s checklist for conducting your own Home Energy Audit.

#2: Smart Thermostat

We’re all forgetful in the morning and sometimes remembering to set the thermostat to an energy efficient temperatue while you will be out of the house all day is not something you’re always prone to remember. Smart Thermostats make it extremely easy for you to run a highly efficient home even when you’re not physically inside of it.

Just imagine that you’re out of the house this Memorial Day Weekend and don’t need the air conditioning on while you’re gone but you don’t want to come home to a hot house, so you program your smart thermostat to turn the air conditioning on an hour before you get home from your trip.

Installing a smart thermostat is easier than you might think or getting one installed for you is no biggie. 

Check out this list of top smart thermostats. 

#3: Smart Light Bulbs

Like the Smart Thermostat, Smart Light Bulbs allow you to remotely control your lights from outside your home. The difference though is that you’ll need a hub like an Amazon Echo Plus, Google Home, or some other Smart Home hub that will control your LED light bulbs. Once you have the hub though, all you need to do is upgrade to smart lightbulbs - which are coming down in price as demand for them rises.

Here's a list of the best-LED lightbulbs for any budget. 

#4: Run Big Appliances On Solar Power

Investing in a solar energy system to power your home might be completely out of your reach, but building one to run the big appliances in your home like your refrigerator is not as daunting of a task as it may seem. With the price of solar reducing each year and many kits and resources available to get you set up with all the necessary components to connect your solar project to an appliance(s), you’re in the best position to make the most of solar power.

Here's a great tutorial on running your fridge on solar power.