Smart homes are the need of this modern era. Smart homes give us complete remote access to our homes. We can automate almost every appliance of our home. We just replace our traditional home equipment with modern robotic. These smart robotic devices convert our regular home into a modern home and let us control it remotely.
There are a vast number of activities where robotics are taking part. Why not? They make our lives much easier. We need to do minimal work just because of robots; they are much more effective than humans, and most importantly, we can access them remotely. Robotic appliances using in our houses make our daily life so delightful.
Before discussing how to make a smart home, how to build a smart home system, or any beginner’s guide to smart home let’s discuss what a smart home looks like?
What a Smart Home Look Alike?
Just imagine, you are coming home from the office, the door recognizes your face and opens automatically, the room is already cool for you, the vacuum cleaner has done its work, coffee is ready in the kitchen, and the TV gets on when you enter the room. It is just like blessings.
You can command your home by using any voice assistant. You can ask any voice assistant to turn on the TV, make a cup of coffee, display the front door view, and much more. You can access your home devices anywhere with a few touches on your cellphone.
If you installed the right security equipment, then you can always see what is going on there; even if you are not at home. You can also unlock the door for your guests if you are not at home.
Most importantly, when you are not at home, these robotic devices will take care of your home. The robot vacuum will clean the place, your smart thermostat will dial down the heat to keep costs down, and you will get a push notification whenever the security camera or smart doorbell detects any motion.
You can also share your smart devices with your family members or loved ones. Which means with whom you shared your device can access the device through their mobile phone. They can control the device, see the working, or can schedule the tasks remotely.
Find out: What is a Smart Home?
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How to build a smart home system – Building foundation
You may think building a smart home is a hard task or you need some professionals to do it for you. It is not true, converting your home to a smart home is much easier. Most of the modern and smart home devices are wireless or come with easy installation so you can install them yourself. Don’t panic, after all, it is a one-time installation.
Almost every company which makes smart home products has its mobile apps, so you can control the functions and features of that particular smart device. Connecting the product with the mobile app is very easy, you just need to connect it with your home WiFi, and all set. Now you can control the device remotely.
Most products use a WiFi connection to communicate with the device and you; while some smart home products use Bluetooth technology. WiFi or Bluetooth, are two wireless protocols for smart home devices to communicate with a hub/mobile app and with you. You can control these devices by using the mobile app.
So now you understand, for building an intelligent home, you need a working WiFi connection and a decent amount of money to buy smart home tech. If you do have not a big budget, then you can always start from small automation into your home.
Step by step gradual automation, one day, your home can be smart. Or you can try some affordable smart home devices; you may not get all premium features but the basic ones.
Again, it is recommended to start with a couple of devices, and you will learn which kinds of integrations are most useful to you. You can think about the pain points in your day and try to solve it by finding out a smart device. For a basic, you can start with smart WiFi switches.
A smart home is nothing without smart devices. So, you need to choose these devices carefully. Now let’s see which type of devices you need to convert your regular home into an intelligent home.
A smart home is often called Google home or Alexa smart home as it works with both Google Assistant and Amazon voice assistants.
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Smart Home Products
It is important to consider smart home products while discussing how to build a smart home system.
One thing we always recommend choosing smart devices according to your preferences. You may get impressed by some fancy features, but that can be useless for you. So, search out the market to choose the perfect device for your home.
All the smart home products will connect to the home WiFi that will give you the ability to control these products from anywhere, anytime. Mostly, people convert their homes with smart security devices. After connecting your security equipment to the internet, you can monitor your home remotely by using a mobile app.
Most of the smart security cameras and doorbells are motion sensor-enabled, which means you will get a push notification when it detects any motion out there. Here are a few examples of smart home devices:
- Security Cameras: Smart security cameras are the initial step towards a secure home and in-home automation. Home security cameras record everything happening in front of them, and you can always playback and see what happened at a particular time. Smart cameras can also work at night time, have a wider view angle, and because of the motion sensor, it can send a notification to your mobile whenever it detects any motion.
- Doorbells: smart doorbells also contain a camera in it, which means it can also be use for the security of the main entrance. Smart doorbells are also motion enabled, which means you can get a notification whenever it detects any motion out there. The best feature of smart doorbells is: you can make a conversation with the person in front of your home with the help of two-way audio technology by using your smartphone application.
- Door Locks: Smart door locks are also necessary for modern homes. The doors of your home can easily be locked or even unlock from the mobile phone. Just imagine any guest is at the door front of your home and you are away from your home, in such cases, you can unlock the door for your guests by sitting away from the house. These locks come with different security levels like you can set a pin password, fingerprint, or unlock using your phone.
- Smart Lights: Smart bulbs such as the Philips Hue come with modern technology, which lets you control individual lights or groups of lights from your phone. You can also set up different exhibitions by tweaking the brightness levels and even the color temperatures. These lights can also be automatically on and off based on several triggers. To make your current light bulbs the smart bulbs, you can install smart switches to command the lights already built into your house.
- Smart Thermostats: You can automate the A/C or heating levels and it’s on and off based on when you reach home or any time of day by using the smart thermostats. You can also adjust multiple sensors across multiple rooms; by doing this, you can access the temperature details from over one room.
- TVs and Speakers: Smart home needs a smart entertainment system. You can create a theater into your smart home and can control it by using Alexa for easy and hands-free control. These smart TVs and Speakers are made for the modern generation, hence, comes with modern technology.
- And other Appliances: there are many more devices for smart homes like automatic robotic vacuums, robotic pool cleaners, smart garden mowers, etc.
By using these smart devices for home, any home can be converted into a smart home. So you can access, schedule tasks, and monitor your home devices anytime, anywhere by using a mobile phone.
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How to Control Your Smart Home?
As you develop your brand new intelligent home, you will probably want to have a smart hub so you can unite your devices. If you install a smart home hub, then you can connect the smart devices to it and can control by using a single mobile app or with a voice assistant.
A smart hub or smart home control panel also helps the devices to communicate with each other so that these can perform better.
If you have not installed any smart hub yet, then the easiest way to control your smart devices is the mobile app that comes with it. For illustration, you can control and live stream EUFY Wireless Doorbell by using its mobile app.
The other smart way to control smart devices is by using a voice assistant. You can ask Amazon Alexa or Google voice assistant for operating your smart devices. For example, you can say “Ok Google, turn off the bedroom lights”.
How Does Home Automation Work?
Home automation is a network of communication between the device and user through any management software by using the internet.
Each smart device comprises multiple sensors that help it perform various tasks and connect with WiFi. This allows the user to access the device remotely.
You can change all the available settings of the device with a few touches over a smartphone. This is also helpful for scheduling the tasks. For illustration, you can schedule a robot vacuum cleaner to clean the floor at 2 AM. So, when you wake up, you get only a neat floor.
Here is a complete guide regarding WHAT IS HOME AUTOMATION.
How much does it cost to build a smart home?
Usually, it depends on how much automation you want into your house. Smart devices are 30 to 50 percent more expensive than normal ones.
The average cost to install a home automation system is a little over $1,000 and not more than $3,500.