Known for its extremely hot summer months, many days are expected to enter the mid to late thirties this summer in Australia. As a result, households are starting to rack up larger electricity bills. In fact, according to a recent study, approximately one-quarter of Australian households will waste an average of 4.1 hours in energy per day this summer on cooling an empty home.

This is a massive $578 each and a costly $1.3 billion national mistake that could be easily avoided. But how? Luckily, there’s smart home technology out there that helps cut costs on your electricity bill like MyAir. Here’s our pick for the top 5 MyAir features that will save you money both this summer and after the warm weather cools down.

1. Zoning

Did you know that the standard air conditioning system only has 4 to 5 zones but the average home has 10 rooms? It doesn’t take a math whizz to figure out that this means you end up with multiple rooms in each zone and therefore all rooms in one zone must be air-conditioned, even when some are not in use.

For example, if four people are home and everyone is using a different zone, you have to run the air con to the whole house, even though only a few rooms are being used, which adds up to wasted energy and more money going to your electricity bill.

Now thanks to our premium smart air conditioning management system, you don’t have to worry about wasting energy and ultimately money. MyAir looks out for both your comfort and your electricity bill by dividing your home in up to 10 different zones – one for every room – which allows you to cool only the rooms you’re using.

This is especially important considering Australia is currently experiencing a record energy price high, with heating and cooling now responsible for about 40% of household energy use. In fact, energy prices have shot up 80-90% in the last decade and as a result, every little bit of energy saved counts.

2. Control of multiple air conditioners

There are many reasons for having multiple air conditioning units in your home. Perhaps you live in a double story house? Or perhaps you’re on a smaller block and want to avoid noise pollution? Or perhaps you have a granny flat or separate studio attached to the main home? Whatever the reason, there’s an easy solution thanks to Advantage Air.

With MyAir, you can control up to 4 air conditioning units from your MyPlace touchscreen. The units can also be different makes as MyAir is compatible with all major brands of air-conditioning units. The benefit of splitting the home into more than one AC unit is that you may wish to run only one section of the house – for example, upstairs. This means you can have a smaller capacity AC unit for the upstairs area, and aren’t wasting electricity by firing up a much larger capacity unit that is capable of conditioning the whole home.

Every unit is displayed on the home screen, so you can see the status of each unit at a glance. You can even turn each one on and off directly from the home screen for tighter control over your air con and energy usage. To unlock the full functionality of each system, simply tap the unit name to display all your options.

3. Scheduling and timers

Not only can MyAir control up to 4 units from the one touchscreen, the units on the MyAir system can also be scheduled to start and stop by entering a “Plan” on the Plans screen.

The scheduling feature allows for any Plan to apply to all units on the MyAir system and can turn them off and on at the designated time. There are 10 Plans available to set and each plan can be run once per day, on any day of the week.

Then for situations where you only want one or some of the units to turn on or off, you can use the timer function for each unit. Keep in mind that setting a time is a once-off event and doesn’t automatically repeat.

4. The MyAir smartphone app

But what happens if you find yourself not at home and are worried that you forgot to turn the air con off before you left? Thanks to the MyAir smartphone app, you don’t have to second guess yourself and stress.

MyAir comes with its own app that turns most smartphones or tablets into wireless remote controls, allowing you to control the air conditioning system from anywhere with an internet connection. So whether you’re spending the day at the beach to beat the heat or on a family getaway somewhere a bit colder, you’ll never have to fear you’ve left the air con on and wait in limbo as the dollars add up.

5. Optional energy-saving features

Individual Temperature Control (ITC)

With states across the country reporting hours and hours of wasted energy each and every day, there’s a need to watch our electricity consumption and the strain it’s putting on our wallets. MyAir’s optional Individual Temperature Control can ensure you won’t be over air conditioning any of your rooms.

At Advantage Air, we understand that not every room in your home is created equal and as a result, there can be huge temperature discrepancies between rooms. Depending on their orientation to the sun and whether they’re upstairs or downstairs are among some of the factors that can affect room temperature.

Our ITC sensors give you individual room temperature control by instructing the system to continually adjust the airflow to maintain your selected temperature. This means no rooms are over-conditioned, and excess air is directed to where it is needed. Sensors can be installed in as many rooms as you’d like, either at the time of installation or later on.

Motion Sensors

Motion sensors in the rooms of your choice is a great way to help you save extra energy without even trying. Over the course of the day you’ll probably rotate between a few rooms and naturally, you’ll want the cool running in all of them.

MyAir’s motion sensors will signal when a room has no motion for 10 minutes, then automatically adjust the room’s target temperature by 1 degree. If the room still has no motion detected for another 10 minutes, the room’s target temperature is adjusted by a further 1 degree. This small change is enough the reduce the room’s energy usage by up to a hefty 20%.

Do you want to gain a tighter grasp on your energy usage? Have a chat to Advantage Air today about installing MyAir in your home to help save on your electricity bill.