A Smart Home Cost Overview

Smart Home Automation is a broad term which offers a variety of solutions and services, this makes it hard to put an exact price on. Pricing for Smart Home systems depends on the amount of solutions, devices and time required to install, for example a simple garage door or climate control automation will be significantly cheaper than automating your whole home with lighting, security and audio/video automation. An important cost to note is that the average hourly rate for Smart Home professionals is between $75 and $150 per hour. An additional cost to remember is that a Smart Home system requires a secure and strong internet connection. To give you a rough idea of the costs involved please read the table below.

Tips for Smart Home Automation

1. Some Smart Home automation devices work with over 240V. You should never install devices that require 240V or more. Installing 240V devices without correct knowledge poses severe safety risks, insurance problems and can ruin the warranty on these devices. We recommend only using qualified electricians when installing these devices.
2. Lighting Solutions such as dimmers or automation switches need a qualified, experienced electrician to set it up because they use device that require 240V of energy.
3. You can install low voltage devices in a DIY style although there is time and hassle involved with learning a new piece of technology. Depending on your situation it may be better to just hire a professional to install your system for you.
4. We recommend using an expert for Garage Door automation as well because these solutions tend to be quite difficult to install and require experience and knowledge to do right. If you attempt to do it yourself you may damage the devices, your garage door, or injure yourself.
5. We recommend using open standard Smart Home technology rather than proprietary. We say this because if you use a proprietary company you will have a limited amount of devices. Additionally, if the company shuts down then you will not be able add new devices or repair old ones. With an open standard system you can easily find and integrate devices from other brands because they all work with the same technology and are compatible.

Tips for Hiring a Professional

1. Doing a bigger project, e.g. multiple solutions or tasks, is more cost efficient than doing multiple small home improvements. It’s more affordable to do one big home improvement project with one professional rather than hiring different professional at different times. By bundling these solutions and tasks together you can receive bulk discounts on hardware and negotiate better installer costs.
2. We highly recommend spending time to plan a project well. If you carefully design the project you will not only have a clear plan for the installer but can also save money through an efficient installation or by fixing potential problems that may cost money to fix in the future.
3. Budget for a little bit extra. While you may get a rough guide to the costs involved online or from the quote, we recommend that you always budget for around 30% more than you expect any project to cost you. While this may not be necessary in the unfortunate situation of problems occurring or upgrades being required you may need this extra 30%.
4. We recommend you always ask potential installers and professionals to provide you with references of their previous work. Experienced professionals should always have a website or portfolio of previous work to show you. This will give you a better understanding of the quality of work that you can expect.
5. Remember to discuss with the installer or professional about who will pay for the hardware costs. If you decided that you’d like the installers to source the hardware then expect that most installers will charge you the recommended retail price for this hardware. Alternatively, if you’d like to save money you could try to find a retail store what will give you a bulk order discount for bigger projects, this way you could save some money by getting the hardware yourself.
6. If you’re unsure about how to do a Home Improvement project we recommend you hire a professional. While you could attempt to do it DIY style this takes time, energy and often frustration. Additionally, if you try to do it yourself and end up damaging something you may create a second problem that requires a professional to fix.