The Luxurious Guide To Home Automation

Home automation is becoming an increasingly bigger market. In 2015 the home automation market was valued at over $32 billion; the market is expected to exceed $70 billion by 2022. And it is no surprise why this is happening, home automation technology has improved massively since the first real home automation technology was introduced back in the 1970s. The increasing spread of laptops, tablets, and smartphones has made automating your home easier and more intuitive than ever. But of course, the increasing amount of home automation options does have a downside. Because there are so many options to choose from, and so many things that can be automated, it can be very confusing for someone to actually know where to start. So, to help manage your transition to home automation, we have put together the luxurious guide to home automation, that will answer all your questions about home automation and help you get started automating your home.

Where do I begin?

Alright, so you have decided that you want to jump into the world of home automation, but where do you start? Well, first thing’s first, most people are going to generally need to 3 things before they can really start choosing what in their house they wanted automated.

A controller

Generally speaking, many modern home automated systems can be managed straight from a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, but if you want to automate stuff like lighting, thermostats, door locks, alarm systems, air conditioning, etc., then you are going to need a “controller.” These are relatively small devices that allow you to remotely control parts of your home. You may even recognize some brand names, companies like Vera and Aeotec are big names in home automation and make high quality controllers.

Wi-Fi

This generally is not an issue for most people, but it is still worth noting. If you want to truly automate parts of your home, you are going to need either a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection (most automated devices use one of the two). So if you are interested in home automation, but you do not have Wi-Fi or you have weak Wi-Fi, then call your internet service provider and see what you can do about upgrading.

Devices and appliances that can actually be automated

This will not apply to everyone, but those interested in home automation should be aware that not everything in your house can be automated right away. Generally, newer models of things are set up to be able to be automated relatively easily. For example, smart televisions can connect to your home’s Wi-Fi network, meaning that it can be integrated into the home automation system very easily. In general, entertainment related devices (like stereos) are easily integrated into home automation systems. But, if you want to automate things like lighting, air conditioning, door locks, or even things like coffee makers, you are probably going to need to go out and buy newer models that can actually be automated. For example, if you wanted to automate your lighting, you would need to buy smart lights, which can be controlled remotely.

What to automate first

Once you have purchased all the requisite materials, home automation is relatively easily. In fact, the most difficult part is going to be picking what you want to automate first. It is generally recommended that people new to home automation should automate something relatively simple that is used often. Some good starting devices to automate are:

Lights

Lighting is probably one of the best areas to automate first for two reasons. First off, lights are used all the time and they are in every room of the house, so it makes sense to set up automated lights so that you can control every light in your house using your smartphone. Secondly, automating your lights makes it easier to know if you have accidently left the lights on. Have you ever left for work, only to realize you left a bunch of lights on at your house? This costs you both money and leads to your bulbs burning out faster. However, if you automate your lights, you never have to worry about this again, because you can simply turn off all your lights with your smartphone.

Temperature control

Automating things like air conditioning is another good first step for much the same reason that automating lighting is, it is something everyone uses, and automating air conditioning or heating has the ability to save you money. For example, you can automate your air conditioning to turn off when you leave the house, and turn back on when you leave work, this way you can come back to a cool home, without having to run the air conditioner all day.

Where to go next

Once you have got all the prerequisite materials, and have automated a few things in your house, then the sky is the limit. You can start looking into automating other things in your house. A lot of people like automating coffee makers, so that they can wake up to a fresh pot of coffee in the morning. Other people like automating mundane things like blinds or garage doors. Even things that you think would not be able to be automated can be; for example, pet owners might be happy to know that it is relatively easy to automate pet food dispensers, so you never have to manually feed your pets again. Home security is also a popular target for home automation, people enjoy being able to check up on their home while sitting at their desk at work.

Home automation can be daunting at first, but once you get the hang of it and learn to manage the technology involved in home automation, you will find that you can automate large parts of your home. Imagine how nice it would be to be able to turn off the lights, and change the temperature on the AC, all while sitting comfortably on your couch? So don’t wait, start automating your home today!