What are smart home scenes and routines? A beginner’s guide to cutting energy costs

A smart way to automate your smart home

Smart home automation is designed to improve energy usage habits, making home life more efficient. "Scenes and routines" are two useful ways to organize it.

Set up with smart technology, your home can automatically make adjustments based on your schedule, behavior or even the weather, even if you might forget on a given day. We’ll break down everything you need to know – the smart home energy scenes and routines – even if you’re just starting out.

You’ll learn how smart home automation works, which smart devices to use and how a few simple changes can lead to significant cost savings.

Scenes and routines: What’s the difference?

Scenes and routines are the secret weapons that make smart home automation work. They just go about it in slightly different ways.

What is a smart scene?

A smart scene is a pre-programmed setting that adjusts multiple devices at once, but scenes are usually activated manually by voice, app or button on an as-needed basis. You can think of this as “setting the scene” – and you’re the director providing the command.

Here are some smart scene examples:

"Movie Night” Scene

• Dim the lights in the living room
• Lower the blinds or shades
• Set the thermostat to a cozy temperature
• Turn on the TV and sound system

“Dinner Party” Scene

• Set indoor lights to a warm, inviting glow
• Play background music on a smart speaker
• Adjust room temperature for guest comfort

“Relax” Scene

• Turn off main room lights and turn on an ambient floor lamp
• Start a calming playlist or your favorite podcast
• Activate an essential oil diffuser connected to a smart plug

Smart scenes and routines work best when used together, giving you full control of your home’s comfort and energy use without having to worry about constant manual adjustments.

What is a smart routine?

A smart routine is a preset or automated energy setting that is triggered by specific events, such as time, day, location or other predefined condition. It runs automatically in the background to help manage devices throughout your day.

Smart routine examples include:

Winter morning routine (weekdays at 7:00 a.m.)

• Gradually raise the thermostat to a comfortable temperature
• Open motorized blinds to let in natural light
• Turn on kitchen lights and start the coffee maker

Commuting routine (when you and your phone leave the driveway)

• Turn off all lights and smart plugs
• Set thermostat to an energy-saving mode
• Smart lock your doors, arm the home security system

Bedtime routine (10:00 p.m. or by voice command)

• Dim or turn off lights around the house
• Lower thermostat slightly for better sleep
• Power down entertainment systems and gaming consoles

How automation reduces energy waste

It can be easy to overlook the energy our homes waste. It still shows up on electricity bills, though.

Savings potential from smart tech

How much can smart home automation really save you? According to national studies and reports, including data from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), smart devices can deliver substantial energy savings:

• Smart thermostats alone can reduce HVAC energy use by 10–15%, which can lead to an average savings of $145 per year.
• Smart plugs and power strips can reduce plug load waste by up to 50%, which is particularly helpful for TVs, computers and kitchen appliances that continue to draw power in standby mode.
• Smart lighting systems (when combined with motion sensors, dimmers and scheduling) can reduce lighting energy use by up to 27%.

In Texas, where high summer temperatures can lead to elevated energy bills, automating your home’s energy use can offer real, measurable returns. For larger households or high-consumption homes, this can equate to $200–$500+ per year in energy savings.

If your home is equipped with a smart meter (as most Texas homes are), you have an added advantage: You can track your electricity use by the hour and pinpoint high-usage periods. This allows you to fine-tune your automation to avoid peak pricing hours and reduce waste during times of low occupancy or low visibility.

Remember: Pairing energy-efficient automation with a well-matched electricity plan, such as one that rewards off-peak usage or supports demand response, can help boost your savings even further.

The best smart devices for scenes and routines

You don’t need to have a house full of high-tech gadgets to start saving money. In fact, many start with just one or two smart devices and build from there, so let’s discuss them in order of importance.

Here are some of the most popular smart devices for building scenes and routines, plus examples of how you can work them into your daily smart home experience:

1. Smart thermostats and HVAC controls

In most homes, heating and cooling take up the largest chunk of energy use, so smart thermostats and HVAC controls are a great way to start lowering your bills based on your savings goals. The best part is that the more you use a smart thermometer, the smarter it becomes. It can get to know your patterns over time and automatically adjust the temperature based on your habits, preferences or when you’re most likely to be home. Some even use weather forecasts to fine-tune settings live, minute by minute.

Best for: High-impact energy savings from day one

Smart routine examples:

• "Away mode" – Auto-adjust temperature when everyone leaves
• "Wake-Up Routine" – Start warming/cooling before your alarm goes off
• "Energy saver mode" – Use energy-efficient settings during peak hours

Smart scene examples:

• "Sleep scene" – Set thermostat to night mode and dim the lights

2. Smart water heaters

Water heating is one of the biggest energy costs in most homes, second only to heating and cooling. Smart water heaters help you reduce waste by only heating water when it’s needed, and some models can even track usage, alert you to leaks or pause during peak hours for extra savings. They’re a great next step once your thermostat is under control. They're also especially useful with energy plans that feature different rates at different times of day (time-of-use plans).

Best for: Reducing standby heating costs and timing hot water use for efficiency

Smart routine examples:

• "Morning heat-up" – Start heating water about 30 minutes before your usual wake-up time
• "Workday off mode" – Disable water heating during the day when no one’s home
• "Peak hour skip" – Pause water heating during costly afternoon hours

Smart scene examples:

"Evening reset" – Resume water heating in the evening for dinner and bedtime needs

"Vacation mode" – Set the water heater to low or off while you’re away

3. Smart lights and switches

Got a habit of leaving lights on in the guest room… or every room? You’re not alone. Whether it’s turning off lights after everyone’s gone to bed or dimming the living room for movie night, smart switches and LED bulbs are a great cost-saving option that can use up to 75% less energy. Many also work with motion sensors that only turn lights on when someone’s actually in the space, which means no more lighting empty rooms for no reason. You can even adjust colors and brightness levels to match your mood or routine.

Best for: Simple automation and mood-setting, with noticeable energy savings

Smart routine examples:

• "Morning Wake-Up" – Slowly brighten bedroom lights to ease into the day
• "Bedtime Lights" – Turn off all lights at 10:00 p.m. automatically

Smart scene examples:

• "Movie Night" – Dim living room lights and turn on warm hues for cozy vibes
• "Leaving Home" – Turn off all house lights with one tap or command

The best smart routines: Let automation do the work

Smart routines automate your home’s daily tasks based on your schedule, habits or even the weather. Once they’re set up, they run a series of actions automatically, so you don’t have to think about them. Here are some of the most useful routines to help you save energy and make life easier.

Morning routine

Nobody wants harsh lights or an uncomfortable temperature in the house to start the day. A morning routine gets your home gently up and running, just the way you like it, without running things longer than needed.

What this routine can do:

• Gradually turn on bedroom or bathroom lights as you're waking up
• Open your blinds to let in natural sunlight instead of using overhead lights
• Warm or cool the house shortly before your alarm goes off
• Turn off anything that ran overnight, like fans or air purifiers

Sleep mode routine

Once you're in bed, there’s no need to keep the whole house running like it’s still daytime. A sleep mode routine powers things down so you can rest easy and save money while you do.

What this routine can do:

• Turn off TVs, speakers and other appliances via smart plugs
• Adjust the thermostat to your ideal sleeping temperature
• Shut off all lights or dim just the ones you like as night lights
• Lock smart doors and activate nighttime security

Advanced energy-saving routines

Once your home is saving energy, you can level up with advanced routines that respond to when energy is most expensive or when the weather outside just isn’t cooperating. These take a little more setup, but the long-term savings are worth it.

Some great options include:

• Pre-cooling your home before 1:00 – 7:00 p.m. to avoid high-rate hours
• Delaying laundry, charging or other heavy-duty devices until later at night
• Adjusting heating, cooling and lighting based on seasonal daylight changes

The best smart scenes: Start saving on command

Scenes let you control multiple devices at once with a voice command, app tap or button. Unlike routines, scenes don’t happen automatically — you activate them when you need them. Here are some of the most useful smart scenes for comfort, convenience and energy savings:

Movie night scene

Perfect for transforming your living room into your own personal movie theater. Just sit back and let this one do the setup.

What this scene can do:

• Dim or turn off overhead and side lights
• Close the blinds to block out glare or street lights
• Turn on the TV and home speaker system

What this scene can do:

• Turn on porch and hallway lights
• Heat or cool the house to a comfortable temp
• Activate your doorbell camera so you can greet guests or deliveries

Guest welcome scene

Make your home feel warm and inviting before visitors even knock on the door. Perfect for dinner parties, weekend guests or sitters. Light up the living room, kitchen and guest area for an inviting space

What this scene can do:

• Turn on porch and hallway lights
• Heat or cool the house to a comfortable temp
• Activate your doorbell camera so you can greet guests or deliveries

Eco mode scene

Whenever you want to cut your energy usage on demand, this scene gives you a quick way to activate “low power mode” for your whole house.

What this scene can do:

• Turn off lights in rooms no one’s using
• Pause non-essential appliances or plugs
• Bump the thermostat up (or down) by a few degrees

How to get the most energy savings from your smart home

After setting up smart home routines and scenes, try to ensure those automations are effectively saving energy and easing your daily life. You may even enjoy refining settings through tweaks that better match up to your lifestyle.

Check in on your energy use

Once your automations are up and running, it’s a good idea to check in now and then to see what’s working and what might need adjustment. Many smart home systems offer built-in energy tracking or device usage stats that can help.

Look for:

• Energy reports from your smart thermostat, plugs or hubs
• High-usage devices that could use automation tweaks
• Patterns that point to when you use the most energy

If you’re a Reliant customer, your online account shows detailed usage reports by hour, day or month, so you can see how your smart habits are paying off.

Keep your automations up to date

Life changes and your automations should change with it. Whether your work schedule shifts, your kids head back to school or you just add a new smart plug, it’s a great idea to revisit your routines regularly.

Here are a few times to check in:

• You’ve added or removed a smart home device
• A routine is triggering at the wrong time (for example, during daylight savings)
• You’ve switched to a new energy plan and want to match your routines to off-peak hours

You can do a little dreaming here, too. Would your home benefit from motion-triggered outdoor lights? Maybe a smart irrigation system that turns off when it rains? And if you invest in an electric vehicle, smart home technology pairs with it easily to automate recharging.

Best of all, most updates and tweaks take just a moment. It’s usually a few taps in your app, and your smart home is back on track.

Pair smart home automation with the right energy plan

While smart automation helps you use less energy, the right electricity plan can help you pay less for the energy you do use. When you match your automations with a program that rewards smart usage, your savings start to multiply.

Vivint and Reliant are partnering to deliver an exclusive smart home experience, seamlessly integrating electricity with home security. Now you can effortlessly manage your energy and smart home features all in one place. 

Flexible rate plans

If you're on a plan that charges different rates throughout the day (like higher prices in the afternoon and lower prices at night), smart routines can be a game-changer.

You can program your home to:

• Use less energy during peak hours
• Run appliances like dishwashers or washing machines overnight
• Pre-cool your home in the morning, so your AC can coast during the afternoon

It’s a smart way to avoid high-cost windows of time without changing your habits.

Other savvy electricity plan ideas

Certain electricity programs and plans pair well with smart home technology. Watch for plans that:

• Offer free nights or weekends (great for running high-usage routines during off-hours)
• Come with demand response incentives (where you’re rewarded for using less during high-demand times)

Great options from Reliant

At Reliant, we offer plans built for the tech-savvy and energy-conscious, with great options to power a smart home:

• Time-based usage plans, including Truly Free Nights and Truly Free Weekends
• Renewable energy options to match your eco-goals
• Plans that easily integrate with common energy-saving products 

Smart home living can be high-value – and fun

Whether it’s saving money during off-peak hours, reducing your environmental impact, protecting your home or simply automating your everyday life to gain more peace of mind, the smartest home is one that saves while it runs. 

Not sure where to start? Browse plans to find one that fits your home’s setup and your goals.