My family is always on the go.
I swear we spend more time in the car than at home.
My husband and I both work full-time and demanding jobs. Our three boys are between the ages of seven and twelve and are obsessed with ice hockey. They each play on a separate team and all have games, skill camps, practices and tournaments. Because of the demands of our schedule, there’s no extra time available. We can barely keep up with grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning and lawn care. I make the effort to prevent problems by scheduling oil and filter changes for the car and professional maintenance for the plumbing, heating and cooling system. By having essential equipment inspected, cleaned and adjusted, I avoid energy waste, safety risks and malfunctions. I recently invested into a smart thermostat, and that has provided a huge time- and cost-savings. I no longer need to remember to adjust the temperature every time we leave the house. My family doesn’t come home to an overheated or freezing cold house. The thermostat features geofencing and tracks the location of our smartphones. It automatically raises or lowers the temperature setting to conserve energy when the house is empty and welcomes us back to ideal comfort. We not only save a great deal of money on heating and cooling bills but there’s less wear and tear on the furnace and air conditioner. The thermostat also sends me reminders to replace air filters and schedule maintenance. It alerts me to concerns such as temperature fluctuations and also notifies my HVAC contractor. Most often, the problems can be solved remotely, avoiding the cost and disruption of a service call.