Whether it is a new home or just a renovation process, everyone is looking to make their home smart and efficient. The growing rate of smart home Installation clearly states its popularity. The market of smart home products and solutions is worth $35.5 billion this year, and everyone is tapping into this demand to reap benefits.

Smart home solutions simply make things more comfortable and efficient for you. There are plenty of installations that are included in the smart home, like smart alarm, thermostat music system, security camera, and much more. For instance, a smart home lighting system can be managed with your smartphones, enabling you to handle your home lightning from any corner.

You need to find a reliable service Provider and get your smart system installed. When it comes to taking up the services, your first thought would be to determine its cost. While you cannot mainly find the exact price by reading blogs as you would need to connect with a service provider to know it all, there are variables that will help you determine the expenses involved in it.

Difference Between Home Automation System And Smart DIY Options

When you are finding the cost to turn your home into a smart home, it is crucial to understand the fundamental difference between a home automation system and DIY options. The latter is a range of products and solutions that will help you control different functions of your home that eventually make it smart.

For instance, you are installing smart lights, smart thermostats, or a home security system to get a sophisticated efficiency and energy saving. If you are not looking for a fully integrated smart home system, going for the peripheral products and system would be an intelligent option.

If we look into the cost of these specific systems, they can cost you around $200 to $500 individually. Like, a Nest Thermostat will somewhere fall around $250-$300, and Philips Hue Lighting is $150-$170 for a single room setting. So, if you are low on budget and only looking to smarten a specific aspect of your home, you can always choose this route. You can easily monitor all these products using your smartphones and quickly move them when you are relocating.

When you are thinking of integrating smart home solutions or home automation fully, it is quite evident that the cost will increase. There will be no wireless management through the smartphone; everything will be hardwired and controlled through a central hub. Also, it will become quite challenging to take everything with you while relocating. On the plus side, home automation is much more reliable and efficient than the DIY options of smart appliances and systems.

The smart home solution’s cost can be broken down into a few crucial areas: Equipment, engineering, installation, and maintenance. These four are the deciding factors for determining the overall cost of your smart home.

Let’s learn how these factors affect the cost.

What Do You Need To Need To Make Your House a Smart House?

1. Equipment

Even a fully integrated home automation or smart home will indeed require equipment. Generally, a smart home comprises of lighting, safety, comfort, entertainment, and networking. Each of these elements has separate equipment. The count of per room service is not applicable here as some equipment are only required in a single room, like a music system. But, there are many types of equipment which you need to install in almost every room, like a thermostat.

To determine the cost of the equipment, you need to start estimating how much you will need to cover your entire home. Let’s take an example of the thermostat; you need to do a bit of research regarding the difference between the cost of the basic thermostat and smart thermostat. For a good quality thermostat, you would need to pay somewhere around $1800-$2000.

Ascertain the expected starting price of the thermostat and prepare a budget before reaching out to a service provider. You can also take advice from your near and dear ones who have earlier installed smart thermostats. They can give you a better idea regarding the proper cost of the entire service.

2. Engineering

Some of the smart home systems are engineered according to your preferences. The smart home system engineering is similar to customizing your car; you need to make a few integrations to make it personalized. Often the smart home service providers offer the customization services and design each equipment according to your specification. The quality of your smart home system depends upon the way it is engineered. So, make sure you choose a reliable service provider for this work.

There are two ways of getting your smart home systems engineered: get it done by your service provider or hire specialized engineers to do the job. Either way, you need to spend extra on the cost. If you are getting it done from your service provider, you would need first to choose the system of your choice and ask the dealer to customize it according to your specifications. In this case, you need to pay a little extra to the service provider.

When hiring specific engineers for the work, you have to first buy the product and then get it customized. Generally, the cost of getting customized after purchase depends upon the area and the price per hour of the engineer.

3. Installation

You cannot simply install the smart home system by yourself; it requires special training and expertise to get things done properly. You need to hire trained and certified technicians to install the systems. Generally, the service providers are the ones who facilitate the installation process and charge for their services. You can expect an hourly rate of installation services that generally range from $60 to $100 per hour.

It totally depends on the size and area of the project that will determine the cost of installation. First, you need to get it cleared with your service provider whether they will be providing the installation services. Else, you need to look for independent technicians who can complete the work on an hourly basis. They are easily available but might charge you hefty compared to the service providers.

Sometimes it may take weeks to complete the installation process, so you need to decide the cost of the entire service before starting up. It is always better to get your systems installed with your service provider’s help as they are better aware of the right way to install a particular system optimally.

4. Maintenance

Maintenance covers all the services that you take up after installing the smart home systems. To keep your system in sound condition, you need to maintain its durability and functionality. There are different maintenance services for different systems. For instance, you need to keep your thermostat clean in order for it to function correctly. It is similar to maintaining an automobile; your cooling and heating systems require regular maintenance.

While there are both DIY methods and professional assistance for maintaining the thermostats and other smart systems, the cost for both the ways is quite similar. If you have decided to do it on your own, you will need to buy all the equipment that will help you clean up, which can be hefty in your pocket. Plus, you will need to learn the right way to follow the maintenance practice.

Approaching a professional servicing and maintenance assistance might be a costly affair, but you can ensure thorough and error-free maintenance services. You would not have to worry whether it is the right way or not. Trained and certified professionals are easily available in the market who can do the job just fine. Do not look to save some bucks when it comes to the quality and durability of your smart home systems.

Bottom Line

A smart home or home automation system is favored by all for its increased efficiency and energy saving. Those who are planning to buy a new home or thinking renovate their existing house are shifting towards the idea of home automation and smart home system. The cost of smart home systems simply depends on the type of equipment, engineering, installation, and maintenance of the system. With the proper breaking down of each process, you can determine how much it will cost you to turn your home into a smart home.

To get a clear picture regarding the cost, it will be best to reach out to a service provider who can explain it in detail. If you only want to change certain aspects of your home and install separate smart home systems, you can opt for different packages available at the service providers. For a fully integrated system, which is much costlier than the individual systems, you would need to bear the entire cost.

The above-mentioned differentiation and breakdown of the cost according to the process will help you determine what goes into the expenses of smart home and how you need to be prepared for it. Make sure to look into every aspect to make a well-informed decision regarding your smart home.