Home Decor

5 Tips for Home Automation on A Budget

2 Mins read

Many people might remember when the prospect of being able to walk into a room and see its lights, TV, and other tech fixtures switch on looked like something out of The Jetsons. These days, though, automating a home in this way isn’t just possible; it’s also financially affordable.

You don’t even need to be a tech expert to make your home a ‘smart home’, as many of the products you will need are designed to be user-friendly.

Know what you want to get out of your smart home 

“It is very difficult to provide a guide to exact costs, as it will depend on a wide range of factors, such as the size and layout of the property and the quality and quantity of the equipment installed,” Matt Nimmons, managing director of CEDIA EMEA, tells Build It.

Hence, you should have a solid idea of your home automation goals so that you can prioritize buying what you will genuinely need in order to meet them.

Sort possible devices by order of preference 

There’s nothing wrong with starting small, such as by picking up just a few smart home gadgets and only adding more later down the line. Not all such devices that scream ‘buy me’ on retail store shelves would necessarily be all that helpful for you in practice.

As you plan your smart home, one good idea would be to separate potential purchases into various categories — such as lighting, heating, and security — and then rank these in importance to you.

Consider what would best fit your specific lifestyle 

If you love watching movies or sports but don’t get a chance to go out to the cinema or to live sporting events, a home entertainment setup is a great investment and will give you a huge amount of pleasure over a number of years,” Nimmons of CEDIA EMEA, the trade body for home automation, says.

“If you travel a lot for work or relaxation, then having the ability to manage the house remotely and access its security features may be more important to you.” 

Buy a smart speaker — or even make your own 

Your smart home network needs a dedicated control panel from which you would be able to make all of the magic happen. Thankfully, these days, it’s delightfully inexpensive to purchase a smart speaker — like Google Home or Apple’s HomePod mini — that could serve as this central hub.

MUO even has advice for how you could make your own, such as with a Raspberry Pi and other components you could source from a specialist store like The Pi Hut.

Make your home automation system easily upgradeable 

According to an article published by SOCIAL, making a home ‘smart’ would increase the property’s value. You can expect an especially good boost in value if you set up your smart home system in such a way that any future owners of your residence would easily be able to replace or add to what is already in place when they move in. 

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