The holidays are a beautiful time, but powering those pretty Christmas lights can end up costing you an arm and a leg. The good news is, the technology now exists to make saving energy during the holidays a breeze rather than a chore. If you've looked into "smart house" technology, you probably know that controlling everything in your home from your smartphone is a good way of saving energy throughout the year, but here are some specific ways to use it during the holiday season:

• Turn off the Christmas lights. If you find yourself tucked in on Christmas Eve in sub-freezing weather and realize you left the entire yard ablaze like a 3-alarm fire with Christmas lights, smart house technology can be a lifesaver. Install power control devices that connect to smartphone apps so that you can turn off your lights (and save energy) from anywhere.
• Automate the thermostat: Smart thermostats are more popular and widely available than ever, and they are one of the best bets there is for winter energy savings. Since many people travel during the holidays, smart thermostats are especially practical during this season, allowing users to turn off the heat while they're away from home, then turn it back on just before they return.
• Use a smart security camera: For increased security during travel, set up a camera to keep watch over your home and send streaming video to your phone. This will help save a different kind of energy — the kind you would otherwise expend on worrying about break-ins.

To prepare your home for the holidays, contact Alban for a home inspection. We are an experienced and trusted home inspection company serving D.C. and parts of Maryland and West Virginia.