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Smart thermostats are connected to the internet, adjust themselves automatically and can be programmed and adjusted through smartphones.

Ballard said he has had one for years and it comes in handy — especially for parents.

“My kids would come home on a hot, sweaty spring day — and you’ll note there are more and more hot, sweaty spring days — and I’d be at work and they’d immediately crank up the air conditioning and I would get a notification on my smartphone about some activity going on, and I would quietly dial back down the air conditioning,” he said.

Owners and renters of detached and semi-detached homes, townhouses and row houses can qualify for the free smart thermostats, though renters must have their landlords’ permission. Registration opened Wednesday, with installations starting in the fall.

Representatives from a number of smart thermostat companies were on hand for Wednesday’s announcement. Parminder Sandhu, the chair of the Green Ontario Fund board of directors, said the procurement process is still ongoing, but the intention is to allow consumers to choose which smart thermostat they would like to have installed.

Environmental Defence applauded the announcement, calling the smart thermostat offer a “goody” to entice Ontarians into a deeper conversation about energy use.

“They can have a big impact,” the organization said in a statement. “Just changing out an old thermostat for a smart one can reduce energy use — and energy bills, and carbon emissions — by over 10 per cent.”