(StatePoint) Staying cool in summer is easier than ever thanks to technological innovations that are making homes smarter and their inhabitants more comfortable.

A Bright Idea

LED bulbs are more efficient than their incandescent counterparts for a reason — less energy is expended in the form of heat. Keep your home illuminated without the side effect of adding warmth to rooms by swapping out traditional bulbs for LEDs. You’ll be happy to discover it will be a long time before they need to be changed again.

Smarter Climate Control

A smarter climate control system can keep you more comfortable for less money. In the case of Midea’s SmartCool series of window air conditioners, you can control your air conditioning unit remotely, which can be helpful in more ways than one. When away from home, users can use the MideaAir app to control their AC from afar. When at home, they can simply use voice commands with Google Home and Amazon Alexa to set the temperature to their liking. Boasting Energy Star ratings while giving users greater flexibility, you’ll know you’re cooling your home’s spaces efficiently and affordably.

Here are a few ways to get the most out of a Wi-Fi connected unit:

• There’s no reason why your home should not be cool and comfortable as you walk through the door, even if you’ve been away for an entire week on vacation. On your way home, use your app to set your AC unit to your preferred temperature so that it is cooled by the time you get home.

• If you forget to turn your AC down or off when you leave for the day, don’t waste energy or face unnecessarily high energy bills from chilling an empty home. Use your app to set your unit to the desired temperature, let it go into sleep mode or simply turn it off completely.

• Feeling lazy? Still half asleep? Tell your voice assistant to turn the AC on from bed, the couch, or wherever you happen to be.

Smart Shades

A room with large windows can quickly feel like a greenhouse. The latest window shades can sense the amount of sun coming in through the window and close themselves automatically in order to keep out heat. Whether you opt to control the shades via an app or let them do their own thing, smart technology around window treatments just makes good sense.

This summer, stay cool. Give your home a few smart updates that will transform the way you control your climate.