Method and program for controlling portable information terminal

In the present invention, destination information for mail to be transmitted using a mail communication function is extracted from the mail to be transmitted, a transmission time for the mail to be transmitted is extracted from a portable information terminal, and whether or not the destination information matches prescribed destination information and whether or not the transmission time belongs to a prescribed time period are determined. If the destination information matches the prescribed destination information, and the transmission time belongs to the prescribed time period, an activation time at which a household appliance is to be activated is determined on the basis of the transmission time, and a control command for activating the household appliance at the activation time is transmitted to a network.