To design a home automation system, follow these eight steps:
- Choose the type of solution: A single-purpose solution is the most common choice.
- Decide on your development strategy: A development strategy can be based on your budget and space.
- Create user scenarios: Develop user scenarios to determine the objectives for your smart home.
- Describe the core features of your solution: List all devices your system should support.
- Set goals: Define your objectives for your smart home and adjust based on your budget and space.
- Establish control: Entrust control to a system, such as an application on your phone, capable of centralizing settings and controlling devices.
- Design the system: Determine the features of your system and determine the connection method.
- Model devices: Start with basic aspects like lighting and temperature control before moving on to more complex areas.
- Design smart home automation systems: Determine the features of your system and determine the connection method.
- Build your own home automation system: Take control of your environment using the latest in DIY technology.
In summary, designing a home automation system involves choosing the right solution, developing user scenarios, describing core features, and listing all devices your system should support. By following these steps, you can create a cost-effective and functional home automation system that minimizes power consumption and provides optimal performance and functionality.
📹 £80k Smart Home System Setup, Ideas and Complete Demonstration
Having recently designed and installed a fairly major Home Automation System at YouTuber @Y14nny’s new house, we use that …
Is home automation profitable?
The home automation industry is experiencing a surge in interest due to the integration of technology with everyday living, creating an interconnected environment that resonates with modern homeowners. The industry offers convenience, energy savings, and security features that can be monitored and adjusted in real time. The demand for intuitive, tech-driven smart home solutions is skyrocketing, creating a fertile ground for businesses in the home automation sector.
With growing concerns about energy conservation, safety, and convenience, a tech-savvy population is increasingly looking to transform their living spaces. This evolution offers a promising avenue for budding entrepreneurs, with opportunities across various niches, including entertainment systems and security solutions. The industry’s profit margins range from approximately 20 to 40, depending on factors like products offered, overhead costs, and pricing strategy adopted.
How to make a smart home automation system project?
This project focuses on designing a home automation system using Arduino, GUI, and MATLAB for controlling home appliances. Data is sent from MATLAB through a computer to the Arduino board, and buttons are created to control appliances. Communication between MATLAB and Arduino is done through MATLAB software and Arduino IO Package for Simulink Support.
Home automation is also controlled through IoT, Particle Cloud, and Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi is a powerful and low-cost computer, while Particle Cloud is a scalable, reliable, and secure IoT platform. Particle devices like Electron, Photon, and Xenon can be connected to the IoT cloud using platforms like ThingSpeak and Blynk.
A mobile-based control system is proposed for controlling home appliances using smartphones, eliminating the need for a microcontroller. This project aims to provide a secure and efficient way to manage home appliances.
How to start a smart home automation business?
The home automation industry is gaining popularity due to its integration of technology with everyday living, creating an interconnected environment that resonates with modern homeowners. Starting a home automation business involves formulating a clear business plan, securing capital, choosing the ideal business structure, naming your venture, and obtaining licensing, permits, and certifications. The convenience of remote control of home aspects, energy savings, and real-time monitoring of security features are all benefits of home automation.
As technology evolves, so does the demand for intuitive, tech-driven smart home solutions. With growing concerns about energy conservation, safety, and convenience, a tech-savvy population is increasingly looking to transform their living spaces. This evolution offers a promising avenue for budding entrepreneurs, with opportunities across various niches, including entertainment systems and security solutions. The demand for intuitive, tech-driven smart home solutions is skyrocketing, making it an attractive business opportunity for entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on this growing trend.
How AI is used in home automation?
AI-enabled smart home products, such as Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri, and Amazon’s Alexa, are revolutionizing home appliances and security systems by understanding voice commands and performing tasks. These assistants can automate operations by analyzing user preferences and thinking according to commands and situations. AI plays a crucial role in automating all home appliances and facilitating a smart home experience.
Can I make money with automation?
Automation is a crucial tool for businesses to generate passive income, as it saves time by handling mundane tasks and allowing focus on growth strategies. In the digital age, efficiency is vital for maintaining a competitive edge. Studies show that businesses employing automation can increase productivity rates by an average of 90%. To ensure consistent revenue, businesses should choose high-demand products or services, use effective marketing strategies, and maintain customer service. Automation also saves time by freeing up hours daily for tasks like customer service and inventory management. By focusing on these aspects, businesses can generate passive income while they sleep.
How to design home automation?
Plug-in automation control represents the most fundamental approach to home automation, entailing the installation of control hub boxes that are connected to wall sockets and capable of communicating with appliances and lighting in order to regulate their operation.
What are the 4 types of automation systems?
There are four types of automation systems: fixed automation, programmable automation, flexible automation, and integrated automation. Fixed automation systems are designed to complete a single set of tasks repeatedly, often used in discrete mass production or continuous flow systems. Examples include automated conveyor belts in the auto manufacturing industry. Programmable automation systems, on the other hand, are controlled by computer programs, allowing automated processes to vary based on the designer’s code.
These systems are commonly used in settings where similar items are produced using the same automated steps and tools, such as paper and steel rolling mills. Understanding these types of automation systems can help determine the best system for your needs.
How do I make my house automated?
Smart light bulbs are a cost-effective solution for home automation, allowing you to control lighting and schedules using voice commands or a smartphone. These bulbs can be grouped by room or zone, connected to motion sensors, and set up a schedule. They also use less energy than traditional bulbs. Some models require a dedicated hub, while others connect directly to your router via wireless network. Popular brands under $50 include Philips Hue™, Wyze™, and Sengled®.
Smart security cameras are another affordable option for home security. They can be placed in high-traffic areas like the front door, entryway, and kitchen, and vulnerable areas like back doors and windows. These cameras can also be used to monitor children while you’re on a work call.
What is the structure of home automation system?
A home automation system consists of three main components: sensors, actuators, and a central controller. Sensors detect environmental conditions and appliance status, actuators interact with appliances to change their state, and the central controller sends commands based on predefined rules or user requests. Users can interact with the system using various devices, such as switches, remote controls, smartphones, tablets, computers, and voice assistants, to monitor their home, program scenarios, adjust settings, and activate/deactivate functions based on their preferences. Home automation offers numerous benefits to its users, including improved safety, reduced energy consumption, and improved comfort.
What are the 5 basic components of an automated system?
Modern automated systems, including those in automobile factories, petrochemical plants, and supermarkets, are complex and require numerous feedback loops. These subsystems consist of five basic components: action element, sensing mechanism, control element, decision element, and program. Action elements provide energy to achieve desired tasks, which can be applied in various forms like heat or electricity.
Sensing mechanisms measure the performance of the system or a specific property of an object processed by the system, determining whether the operation is proceeding as desired. Sensors are often connected to indicators like dials and gauges, such as thermocouples, which measure the temperature of a liquid flowing through a pipe.
📹 How To Build a Smart Home – 101
It’s not easy to build and love a smart home. The list of products, technologies, services, and more that you can use and buy is …
Whilst a very informative article, “hackers” will always be able to get into the home network so don’t tell people they won’t. After all, no matter how good security software might get, there will always be flaws because it was designed by a human for use by another human. All it takes is your client to go to the wrong website and bam, full control is gained. The problem with security is the meatsack between the keyboard and mouse.
Absolutely amazing article, up to about a year ago I used to install smart homes and build the data racks for high end clients and I must say I do miss it but you guys certainly know how to show it all off. I remember a article about Wilson wanting to do C4 and all I can say is enjoy it, the things you can program with composer is absolutely unreal.
does anything of this vendor locked crap work when the company goes belly up or stops supporting their old crap and force you to buy the new kit in 10~15 years? or even more important: does it work without internet and keep working without dailing home to mommy every day and do you have to keep paying them to keep your lights on?
What I want is a smart home, what I don’t want is an internet connected home. Unless everything is local and not wireless it wouldn’t be for me. I love automation though. But this system is class, aside from the remote access of course. If the remote is an encrypted dongle that I’d have to physically plug in then okay. I know this is a display but the cable management is lovely.
This is why i dislike control 4, all this crap about having it “activated by a dealer” and making the dealer do all the programming, I’m an end user and i’d much rather buy the equpment, install it in my pre-existing server rack, and then do all the hard work myself. Home assistant for me it is, very easy to setup, self hosted and user friendly, if i was a installer i would use it for that aswell. Edit: not to mention how anti consumer the amount of E-Waste is produced by completly stopping support for legacy products and not allowing somone to purchase legacy used products and promgramme it themselvs.
I understand this is like an Ad for their smart home business.. But honestly it’s really overpriced, system controller like control 4, savant etc..and most peeps who got it don’t really use it apart for basic.. The real useful stuff is blind, light control and for your security systems get a dedicated brand like annke etc.. Their mobile app is way better to access you live view.. And i wouldn’t classify wifi etc as smart home but “home networking” you better get Ubiquity or Omada
By far the clearest most direct no bs article on home automation today and great showcase for c4. I’d love to find a company that could would support all three big automation companies (savant c4 crestron) and make a article like this outlining the pros and cons of each vs the others. That way you could alienate everyone but the client all at the same time. Heh
Great article. Our company has a similar approach, except that we use KNX nearly exclusively, as the Multimedia aspect is often not the highest priority. (Office, Shop, Hotel). While I like Control4s usability, using a world standard like KNX with 8000 devices from 500 vendors has benefits when it comes to cost & flexibility. But still. Great production & explanation.
control 4 is great i been look to find a job installing it full time xD ive fit many system but shame im not at ashville xD Hardest part is writing drivers but its a lot easier now with SDK’s. thought it seems you fit GJD’s and Hikvision which sadly have a lot of flaws and backdoors. Hence Hikvision is banned in government buildings. Oh and its MAC address binding not DHCP Reserve. Technically different but only minorly. And yes you can re program the systems, you just have to know how and no you dont have to be a dealer. Though, im a 1 man band and im a dealer xD
Looks like a huge waste of resources. Besides setting you back 80k quid, this system also drains a lot of power, and generates fixed expenses. Plus you need a 3rd party support to manage it, what also generates fixed expenses. IMHO this is arrogant and brute-force attempt to solve the problem that becomes a problem itself. I’m sure it has its audience, but, I’d stay away from it. I’m sure it’s good enough for a random ‘youtube star’, who can’t tell left from right.
For anyone considering building a Smart home, for the love of god choose a system that doesn’t require cloud connectivity. Its all well and good now, but generally houses are designed to last 50+ years and being locked to a single provider is a receipt for disaster. If the company goes bankrupt or the technology becomes obsolete a faulty controller may require you entire house being upgraded at huge expense. Not to mention the security and privacy risks… Remember, ANY webcam on any device can be hacked and companies like this have a tendency to sell user data. Maybe I’m just old fashioned, but I’m happy with a dumb light switch.
We just recently fitted a C4 system in place of an outdated lutron system. We added the whole box n dice which C4 was uniquely suited for with its retrofit ability. Cams, gates, HVAC… The lot. Very few dramas and the system now suits the multimillion dollar build like it should. This is good stuff. 👍👍
A man has a boot cleaning station, and doesn’t use it. Man has a black office and a dirty floor. I think doing the simple things for some people is difficult, they need to call it a system and have fancier ways of doing same thing. Of course guys love the new toys and control of family. Lights out, doors locked, windows shut, could sound like a prison. Is wife or partner allowed access to the system? What about monitoring where your wife is? Legal issues about who has access or owns all recorded data. What if a crime was committed? It is too much of big brother perusal you. But if you are big brother then it is ok.
Great to see that you’ve got sound technical knowledge, as I was beginning to wounded when perusal AW episodes about your office. I’d like to know if you separate the different types of devices into VLAN’s as this would be an additional layer of security and means general network traffic (such as an online game) will be segregated from the home automation. Can Control 4 access the cameras and other aspects of the system? If so, what protections are in place to stop installers and the main vendor from remoting on without owner consent? – Oh and this is my first youtube comment 🙂
Closed system with only dedicated dealers and only control4 able to service or program….big no this means big money to pay. System super pricy and on top service cost, subscription cost and on top installation cost. Remote access from control4 on your system….if there is one thing smart home enthousiasts try to achieve is everything “local” every option of remote access is a potential failure for abuse. Plus if control4 decides to call it quits and close shop….well good luck with your mega pricy system because it becomes worth 50 cents
Very interesting explaination of the system. There are very few articles or very hard to find where they explain these high end systems. Its always low budget Home Assisant shit. I would like to point out that you should not say or guarantee that hackers never ever can access your system. If its connected to the internet. There is allways a way. Eventhou you would have the best firewalls and passwords. There is always a possibility for a hack. Eventhou very small.
Thank you so much for the article. This explained to someone who is not nerdy the basics of automation. What is interesting is I got my wires crossed (no pun intended) thinking that the lights could also be connected with the same network cable but seeing your article they are on a different line/channel lol. This has given me a few more ideas now. What I need to do is a bit more thinking what I want to do and how to program it. Haven’t decided what system to use – Control4 or something else – but I’m on my journey on learning home automation.
Will it cook my dinner when I am coming home & will it make my bed in the morning. It’s good but my god is it for lazy person. So basically if it goes wrong you house is dead in the water. Still I suppose it could and is the future but I get the impression the more money you have the more lazy are you are what’s wrong with getting up and switching the light switch off with a simple switch.
Single room 5k you crazy all you need is harmony elite remote and a echo some alexa compatible led strips maybe smart plugs to control nanoleaf or neon sign a av reciever and speakers dosen’t cost 5k unless your including the non smart home products like tv, ps5, speakers but controlling them a few hundred pounds
I was fully sold on this idea until you said the network kit cannot be used without having an account with control 4. When you buy a solution like this do you pay for all the kit or do you just rent it? If I was paying for it, I’d want to be able to use it after closing an account with them and removing their remote access. Is there an ongoing monthly/annual cost for the continued support and if that was stopped, would your home automation which you paid thousands for then also stop?
This article has been put together well. Guessing a direct business line is run to the house for the ISP with so much devices you need a high bandwith internet to distribute across the house. Wifi lights is a no no for me. If your intenet goes down for some reason or you decide to change your home WiFi password you will need to re-sync all wireless devices which can be a pain.
What a fantastic presentation with a perfect amount of visual detail coupled with technical information. I am increasingly involved with smart buildings both retrofit and new build. Id be keen to understand if you have put any thought into this market and wither there maybe avenues to work together! Top article.
I’m a systems designer for a high end residential automation company, often working on multi-million £ installations across the world. I just came across your article as a random recommendation. Absolutely beautifully explained throughout, enjoyed the details and graphics. We don’t personally use control4 but it’s definitely a viable option for many users. Well done.
i did my dissertation on ‘remotely control & home automation using IoT’ 4 years ago at university, its good to see its finally becoming more popular, so far in my house we have the lights, water, heating automated both via an app can be controlled from anywhere, voice controlled or manually from inside the house. Its funny you mention zigbee’s they were what i used within my dissertation also for the communication, the home automated system relied on complete renewable energies and i created a weather prediction system that compared the current atmosphere against other online vendors like BBC to predict whether the home owner would be able to use the Iron, washing machine etc tomorrow (heavy appliances) effectively telling used in advance will there be enough power produced tomorrow for the home owner to do what he wants. also in addition to this the system had machine learning capabilities similar to what you mentioned and it had analysis and predictions on what the costs would be at the end of the month. the project took me 9 months to build, program and test and i documented everything with a 50 page pdf. when i saw this article i had to click, i knew this would be the future we will be heading in, its good to see it in real.
Can I stop you there. ‘Changing lights from 100% to 80% can save you thousands of pounds a year in energy bills’ can I see some proof of that statement please? How much current the lighting circuit is pulling, the lights KW output, then over a year, then cost over that year. Sweeping statements that suggest 20% difference is light output can save you thousands of pounds need to be backed up by data. Otherwise that is a extremely misleading statement
Our guide of definitions is here: automateyourlife.net/products/smart-home-definitions-defined Links For Other Tutorials related to today’s article Zigbee vs Z-Wave vs Thread vs Bluetooth vs Matter – youtu.be/3zaTIRiFemQ 5 Tips For Easy and Amazing WiFi – youtu.be/avwtJYBiiUM The Way Everything You Need To Prepare For Matter – youtu.be/HTOYHn5NUn0 The Best Smart Gadgets With Alexa – youtu.be/k2N9LfqSXdQ Our Full Playlist of the Best Smart Home 2022 Advice – youtube.com/watch?v=tWp5AFSiDJ4&list=PLFPS7-631cZEZ38AUb4jpzHZj-rYnY-jl
My thoughts on this article. I wish I would have seen something like this a few years ago. I made so many expensive mistakes because of my lack of knowledge in home automation. The onset of YouTube streamers in the past few years, like yourself, has been a great help in reducing my expense and improving my home automation. With the constant development I suspect in a couple of years time this article will probably be a bit dated. But for now thank you. 👍🏻
Just found your article. and it is very informative, As a long time Google user I can tell that despite my hatred for Amazon and their business model Now (Jul 2023) Amazon’s Alexa is (for me) by far the most useful, accurate and almost instantaneous . Yes I would have never thought I would say this about an Amazon product. Google has taken a dive lately. Simple commands take forever to complete or I get nothing. I use a combination of Amazon and Homekit and seems to be ok.Again this is my own personal experience
Only thing to add here is 1st thing of all for someone building a new home is to focus on as much cabling as possible and infrastructure for cabling. Then go on a huge PoE switch connected to a router and spread as many modern Access Points possible/needed to have good 5/5.8Ghz data coverage in your mobiles and good connection range for other infrastructure devices… today I’d simply go back this route and use cheap Tuya devices…
Great article Brian! I’m new to smart home devices and am trying to get my head around a setup for lights. I have an echo dot (4th gen) which came with Philips Hue bulbs, so I’m wondering should I buy more Philips Hue bulbs even though they cost more or can I just buy any smart bulbs once they work with my echo dot. I would like to be able to create voice command automations for the lights.
One of the big things to think of if you are looking at a lot of IP connected devices, this includes WiFi and Ethernet cable connections, is the number of IP Addresses available. Moajority of devices aimed for a home network allow Class C subnets, which only gives you a maximum of 254 IP Addresses, with 1 of them used by your router, which gives you 253 for all your other wired and wifi devices. This may be worth taking into account when you are looking at WiFi devices, especially if you have a few laptops or mobile phones in the house too. It could be worth looking at a router that can do Class B subnetting to give that flexibility.
Great article. The only things I don’t quite agree with you on is, what folks will start with first. For example, I simply bought a Ring doorbell and Amazon Echo Dot, since they were on sale. I then added some basic smart plugs and a smart bulb or two. Once I started liking how things worked together, I jumped into the ancillary (Tier 2/Tier 3) devices. People’s experience may vary, but IMHO, it’s been my personal experience that devices like Dots and Ring Doorbells are way more likely to be the “gateway devices” that most folks use to begin building a smarthome.
I’m 1/5th through the article and you explaining how this would improve people their troubleshooting. That was the best way to explain something so easily overlooked. You have my respect and I have no clue what your profession is; but you should teach! This is not just a 101 in a terms of guides. Great article!!!
Thank you for the information and your service to us through teaching, Brian. I am a grandmother in my 70’s and some of this information is hard for me to grasp. I have a daughter that lives in a not very good rural area and has had her 3-bedroom home broken into 3 times by people looking for drugs. She has two teenage kids. I bought her (with the limited funds I have) an “Amazon Echo Show 10” in January 2024, and some light bulbs. two Sengled soft white, one colored (Sengled – Smart A19 LED 60W Bulb Bluetooth Mesh Works with Amazon Alexa – Multicolor). Then kids wanted their own colored bulbs, so I bought two Wyze Bulbs Colored, 1100 Lumen WiFi RGB and Tunable White A19 Smart Bulb, and they all say they work with Alexa, so I am assuming they work with the Amazon Echo Show 10. My question is: What would you recommend I buy next that is not over $200 to make them safer, and that will pair with the Echo Show I bought her. She is not tech-savvy and is a bit intimidated in setting anything up yet, but plans to this week. Any advice would be helpful.
BRAIN, i’m in deep, i have an ATT Fiber, with 2.4 & 5 Gh with same name and password, and a guest website 2.4 separate name and password. i have a camera, some outlets, lamps, L;ED strips, Air fryer, rokus, TVs, fire TV, chrome cast, plus phones, and computers and ALEXA. I have six or seven brands each has created home, with rooms, and devices. I HAVE Skills for alexa but not everything shows up and devices are evil, turn on/off/ change colors all by them selves. help. do they all need to be under one home name and rooms
I am using a TP-link Motion activated dimmer switch KS220M, ES20M in my bathroom. I would like to set up a routine using my Alexa Voice activation to communicate through the switch using the word “shower”. What I would like the routine to do is when I am ready to take a shower, I would like for the light to stay on for at least 15 minutes or longer. When I’m in the shower the light keeps going out after one minute, and I must constantly wave my hands to trigger the motion detector to get the light to turn back on while I am in the shower. Is there a way that I can create a routine to trigger the light for the light to stay on while I am in the shower for at least 15 minutes or longer. I am also using a Smart Things controller as well as Alexa.
I realize this article is over a year old. That being said I have watched many articles and your content seems to be the most informative. My question is I have a home built in the 60s and I am an older person. I dont plan on using alot of the automations you talk about but I would like to set my home up so it can be compatible with smart systems. What plugs, switches etcetera should I have installed so my home’s resale value goes up.
Good Day, I currently have three systems used to automate my home: Nest: Front Door Camera, Two Outside Cameras, Three Smoke Detectors, 2 Nest Displays, 5 Nest Mini, Thermostat. Wyze: 7 Cameras (Pool Shed, 2 baby room, upstairs hallway, Garage, Living Room, My antique car remotely) Wemo: 11 Devices, (Controlling 8 lights, 2 Air purifiers, Garage Door Opener) My Wifi system is a UniFi Network, with four access points throughout my home. I’m looking to add a water sensor to my system. My question is what’s the best water sensor device that would work with my current Nest system (Google Home)? I want to be notify through Google, we have a elderly mother in law living with us. P.S. Keep the articles coming. Thanks…
So looking for some advice in my attempt to set up a smart home from scratch. I am looking at acquiring an Apple Homepod Mini and the new 2022 4K Apple TV with ethernet. We love in a bungalow with a finished basement. We have our TV in the basement which is where I plan to install the Apple TV. The Homepod Mini will go on our main level. So the very first obstacle I will run into is our main modem/router is located in the basement and because we had poor wireless coverage on the main floor, I hardwired another router using Cat 5 cable on the main level which gives us great wifi coverage! However, I have given that wifi network (main floor) a different name to differentiate the two. Both networks are running on the 2.4 Ghz signal. Going forward, will that break in wifi networks cause problems when setting up my smart home? Currently, we have an Echo Dot on the main level and 4 wifi smart plug receptacles (not Home Kit compatible). I just ordered a switchbot switch for my coffee machine but that is the extent of progress thus far. I am hoping to make an Apple based smart home and get in on some Black Friday deals so any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.
Great article! So I’ve always struggled having multiple platforms like Google assistant, Alexa, Smartthings, and ITTT and where to “house” everything. I know some products like Wyze don’t work with ST, so that makes it even more confusing. Any suggestions or tips on where/what to house both automation and the products themselves?
Before building my house, it took me time to figure out, what “smart home” infrastructure to choose. My advantage was that I could do the necessary electric wiring to avoid the “various smart wifi device Zoo”. At the end I have 4 Siemens LOGO 230RCE main modules coupled with 8 extension modules (total of 96 inputs and 80 output websites). LOGO runs it’s own software and controls house’s “electro mechanical part”, means, all the switches, sensors (input side), lights, motors and power outlets (output side) are physically wired (230V) to LOGO and can function even without wifi or Internet connection. Additionally I have Home Assistant running on Mac mini M1 (16Gb/512Gb) Debian VM that communicates with Siemens LOGO and sends commands to it to switch on or off different light groups or power outlets according to various automatisations.Home Assistant can also read (via LOGO M blocks) status of more than dozen presence sensors wired to LOGO. At the moment I have only 2 devices primary controlled by Home Assistant over Wifi (Shelly 1 rely connected to garage motor and wifi card of Brink Flair climate control system). Still have to connect 6 PoE surveillance cameras, necessary cat6 wiring is already in place.
I have a question about Smart Devices. I am a beginner in Smart Home and need some help. I am thinking about using Alexa as my Smart Platform. Can I plug an old pellet stove into a smart outlet? The pellet stove did not come with its own thermostat. Therefore, all I want to do is to turn the pellet stove off remotely (by cell phone) if my Ecobee thermostat reads it is 80 degrees or above in the house. Also, would you tell me if it is possible to create the following program in Home Assistant or another Smart Device Program. “If the Ecobee thermostat reads 80 degrees or above in the house it would turn off automatically the pellet stove smart outlet. When the temperature drops below 70 degrees, turn the Pellet Stove smart outlet back on and turn on the furnace (the Ecobee thermostat is connected to an oil furnace)”. Thanks for your help.
Hey thanks for the detailed article, I have been looking into smart home (automation) for the last month or so and your has been the best, explaining everything from the ground up. I have one question though – I am more tech savvy as well as a programmer, do you have articles/playlists that can go well with that background? Thanks a lot again, this has been very helpful to understand the basic terms and requirements 🙂
I think one of the most confusing things when it comes to smart devices is, what do we need and not need. For example, I have 30-ish smart lights (almost all Phillips Hue), motions sensors to trigger these lights on/off, contact sensors, & I have RING for security / camera functionality. I also have Phillips Huge hub, Samsung S.T. hub, Ring hub, & several Alexa & Google devices across the house. I primarily use Alexa for my routines. All in all, I have routines set up in Alexa, smart lighting automations for lighting / motion sensors in S.S.T. & I have a wake up and goodnight routing set up in Phillips Hue. Do I really need a Hue hub & S.S.T. hub? Do I need either? Can I simply use Alexa for everything or Google Home? I’ve also been considering purchasing a display (Show or Google Nest), but then I’m just adding another device…I’ve added these over the course of the last 5-10 years & I honestly don’t know why I’m using all of them anymore & I would love to downsize……. …..HELP??
4G routers are another option for isolated smart homes, vehicles (caravans) or people on a budget like myself. For about $10 Australian a month you can have reasonable internet and a smart home to-boot. I have been in the Smart Home wilderness for the last 12 months due to financial hardship and not having internet access. But now I’m back after buying a TP-LINK X20-4G router with good data limit and Mesh capability. I’m loving the 4G flexibility as it can be placed in any room with a reasonable 4G signal and then connecting via Ethernet to devices.
Hi, great article, very helpful as I begin to get into home automation. maybe you can help me with a couple of things. I live in Costa Rica where homes do not have a neutral wire. What is the best solution you have found for 2-way switches, ideally 2 pole as well with no neutral and also I cannot find any no neutral wire switches for a light/ceiling fan combination. Do you have any advice on how to address that?
Hi Brian, you don’t mention Homey at all. This is a really good system and can be hub or cloud based. It allows for automations called flows that can be quite simple but also range to very complex. For the record I spread my home across two products Homey and Smartthings so that I have resilience should either fail. In a friend’s house I split between Homey and Hubitat for the same reasons. You didn’t seem to touch on backing up at all in your article. My thoughts is that this is really important after all you put a lot of effort into setting up your automated home and start to depend on it. It’s a nightmare when you have to redo everything. Homey and Hubitat have backup available albeit for a subscription; as far as I can discover Smartthings does not. Of course it goes without saying that Home Assistant has local backup facilities.
Thanks for this article! Great first steps for everyone! I am wondering about a few things however…. If you point out Home Assistant, why not mention Domoticz as well? And even better: why does everyone seems to be forgetting about Homey and Homey Pro? I switched from Domoticz to Homey Pro about a year ago and it is really a great system! It connects everything. All brands, all protocols….out of the box!
Well if you’re fortunate enough, to have a place to call home, where it,s warm,safe, and dry, and you’re not cold,hungry,or thirsty, and if anybody’s got the time, somebody to talk to. I know that,s pushing the boat out a bit,but,. Anyway, big TVs fancy phones all the fancy bling bling, forget all those kind of things, then you can say you’ve got a smart home, basically just be basic. Keep it simple, and life will be a lot sweeter. 😉
I got started with Logitech Harmony Hub and the Zigbee extender. What-a mistake-a to make-a! (youtube.com/watch?v=fAnGGPdF9Ew) Since realising my mistake there, I have switched to SmartThings and am really enjoying their setup, but I really can’t understand why Samsung don’t do more with it and encourage more innovation. They seem to be taking an ice age to roll out the new drivers, and I’m still not convinced what advantage they will bring me.