How to design a smart home to increase energy savings?

Focus automation on heating, ventilation, blinds, and presence-based control, not on switching off ordinary sockets, because disconnecting electronics usually brings tiny savings and creates unnecessary complexity [#11993388][#12007423] The clearest gains come from lowering the temperature when the house is empty or at night, switching off radiators when windows are open, and closing roller blinds at night; one 140 m² house study reported heating costs dropping from 3860 zł in manual mode to 3300 zł with automation [#12022258] In that example, the automation hardware cost 2305 zł and the estimated electricity use of the system itself was only 21 zł/year, giving an annual profit of 560 zł and a payback time of about four years [#12022258] Other worthwhile areas mentioned were outdoor/garden lighting and smarter control of recuperation or collectors, while the controller’s own power draw was considered small compared with heating savings [#11994495][#12019210] Several replies also warned that in a detached house the benefit is often more about comfort and better management than guaranteed large bill reductions, and actual savings depend heavily on the building and how it is used [#11996858][#12019210]