Novice to all home automation here. My wife and I just bought our first home (Arizona, USA) and are looking to get into simple but useful home automation. I’ve seen friends/family have smart light bulbs and other small things connected to Apple TV/Homepods, but that’s about it. IMO I see these as done after-the-fact or “retrofit” and I’m the type of person that would prefer replacing the fixture (light switch, outlet, fan), cut into drywall if needed, get in the attic, etc. My wife and I are slightly into the Apple ecosystem (iPhones, IPads, newest Apple TV) mainly because the ease and beauty of their interface, but I definitely prefer functionality and reliability over looks when it comes to things like this especially if there exists some platform that could combine HomeKit and google/amazon products.
Things I have in mind that I would like to be able to control/monitor via phone are the garage, air conditioning, lights and fans throughout the house, robot vacuum/mop, and outdoor lighting.
I understand some of this can get complicated I’m not expecting all the answers from one Reddit post, only looking for a good place to start and over time add more and more.
If there are any recommendations to products, forums, quality YouTube channels where I could learn more about this topic they are much appreciated. Thank you!!
I’ve been toying with smart home products for many years. I have friends who get deep into home automation - the problem is often that their spouse often can’t operate the system so is ‘stuck’ ( and frustrated) trying to get even the simplest things to work.
I would suggest dipping your toe in the water rather than trying to dive in all at once. The most useful smart home tool I have are smart plugs which I use for our regularly used lamps as well as a few other things like our printer, shredder and Christmas tree and topper.
The things I choose to automate are the ones we typically turn on and off daily or multiple times a day. Most can be usefully scheduled to go on and off automatically (i.e. on at sunset off late in the evening). In addition to scheduling I also connect these to smart speakers (we use Amazon Echo aka Alexa, but there are others) so we can also control them by voice at will (i.e. “Alexa, turn on the printer” which is at the other end of the house). I have also created a “Bedtime” routine so when we’re heading to bed we can just say “Alexa, turn on Bedtime” and all of these things will immediately turn off (you can also build in a delay).
Starting with smart plugs have a number of advantages. One is that they are cheap and easily moved around when my needs or desires change (no wiring, etc). Second, most just work off an app so there’s no added complication of integrating with a hub. Third, when I move I just take the plugs with me and use them in my next house - with no inconvenience for me or the next owner.
I’ve been doing this for years and have added a few other items here and there like smart bulbs where I need scheduling but can’t use a smart plug (i.e. porch lights) or dimming. In thise cases I use the same brand so I can control everything through a single app (I use tp-link). The new “Matter” protocol should hopefully make different brands more compatible, we’ll see.
At the beginning I was envisioning a total smart home but the smart plugs and bulbs have taken care of 80% or more of my needs with minimal investment and very little complication or frustration, so I now have no plans to go further. I like convenience and I like simple and I now have the best of both worlds.