As Kim points out in her eBook, How to Make Your Home a Smart Home on a Budget, starting with just a few, inexpensive items can give you that Jetsons lifestyle you’re craving without breaking the bank. On top of that, starting small lets you see how much of your home you want to be “smart,” and how much you’re happy keeping as is.
Start small with a smart light
Getting one of the hub devices we listed above (something like an Echo device or Google Home,), is the true start to any smart home. But once the hub is set up, you need the actual technology that will make your home smart, and we recommend beginning with smart lights. Smart lights, which can come in the form of a smart light bulb, a smart switch, or a smart plug, allow you to turn lights on, off, or even dim them with voice commands. With certain bulbs, you can even have the lights change colors.
Smart light fixtures tend to be relatively inexpensive products on their own, made all the more inexpensive because they can be utilized with items you already have in your home. Adding smart bulbs to a chandelier, or plugging your favorite lamp into a smart plug, or putting your overhead lights all on a smart switch gives you the wireless capabilities you’re looking for with very minor additions to a room. Perhaps a smart switch is a bit more effort to install, but you can screw in a light bulb, or put a smart plug into your existing outlet with very little difficulty.
Smart lights are a good place to start a smart home because, in addition to being pretty cheap and easy to install, they’re easy and practical to use. You can come home at night and get the lights on without having to hunt around for the switch. You can dim or brighten lights while you’re cooking or crafting, set lights to turn on and off on a schedule to detract burglars and you can turn lights off from the comfort of your bed.
So to begin your smart home development, we recommend setting up some smart lights, in the form of smart light bulbs, smart switches, or smart plugs. Once you like these smart devices in some rooms, you can add them to others, or, in the case of the plugs, put other electronics on them, not just lights.
Move up to a smart garage door hub
If you have a garage, you know the inconvenience of having to get out of your car to open and close the door behind you. Wireless garage door openers have been around for a long time of course, but now they exist with smart capabilities, giving you a few more features and making a major entrance and exit to your home and/or vehicle that much more convenient. Smart garage door hubs don’t let you operate your garage doors with your voice, but they do let you open and close those doors with an opener remote, or with an app. And with the app, you can open or close the doors from anywhere in the world. With many smart garage door hubs, you can access the history of when the doors have been opened and closed. This lets you keep track of your household’s comings and goings and you’re able to establish if or when someone broke in. Most smart garage door hubs, thanks to wireless installation, can be operating within a few minutes. They’re a practical thing for your home because they make getting into your garage easier and can make it and your home, safer. They’re not as cheap as smart lights, but getting a smart garage door hub doesn’t have to cost too much. The convenience they bring is worth the expense.
Then try a smart door lock
Our final suggestion of a basic, foundational smart appliance is a smart door lock. Much like the smart garage door hub, a smart lock impacts the security and accessibility of your home, but this time, you have voice-activated features. In getting a smart door lock, you’re spending more than you did on smart lights and your smart garage hub; very advanced smart locks can go for $200 or $300. But in exchange, you’re getting a lock that is a built-in security system, giving you camera footage, tampering alerts, logs of when people enter your home and more. Smart door locks can be locked or unlocked with an app remotely and can be coded to unlock for certain users, like house cleaners. They can also be set on schedules, and some of them can be unlocked or locked with your voice. If you want a secure home, a smart door lock is a great device to own. If you want your whole house to be smart, it’s definitely a great foundational piece as it takes your home, and your home security, to a whole other level.
Smart home devices are fundamentally changing the way we live. That Jetsons lifestyle we’ve all been dreaming about is finally coming true. Prices of smart home gadgets you need are finally affordable. In Kim’s eBook, “How to Make Your Home a Smart Home on a Budget,” you’ll learn how to start your own smart home, from choosing a smart assistant to smart bulbs, thermostats, entertainment and much, much more. And the best part is: You won’t be breaking the bank.
Bonus: Secure your smart home
Why the Alexa compatibility? Founder and CEO of SimpliSafe Chad Laurans said, “For us, ease of use is a security feature. We aim to make our security systems a delight to use, and being able to arm it with a voice command is just another way that SimpliSafe makes being safe, simple.” Get the only home security system we trust and recommend. Visit SimplisafeKim.com right now and receive a 60-day money-back guarantee, free shipping and free returns.
