Questions you should ask yourself before building a Smart Home.

Like, “Do I even need one?”

After posting Anatomy of a Smart Home, I got a lot of DMs from people asking the same general question.

At which point, I took my tech enthusiast hat off and fell into PM mode. I asked a series of questions — a lot of which they didn’t want to hear, let alone answer. Why? Because it forced them to think outside of the happy path, often pushing them to realize that they really didn’t need one.

I’ll do the same for you.

Technically, no one needs a Smart Home any more than anyone needs a Casper mattress. But enough of your inner circle has talked about it that you’ve developed an itch. That itch, my friend, is the want for something — not a need. If you’re okay with admitting this nuance, then follow along.

When I started thinking about what I wanted a Smart Home for, I had some very specific pain points:

There are many other things I wanted, but those are the top 4. Lights turning off automatically, speakers announcing that a door has opened — those were just niceties that came expanding the system.

I encourage you to ask yourself the same question.

If you don’t have disposable income, stay away, because you really don’t need a Smart Home.

But for this post, let’s pretend that you do, but you’re still budget conscientious.

Consider this…

If you wanted a basic system that would turn on lights based on motion, you’d need:

= That’s $70 (again, this assumes you can use WiFi and some service like IFTTT that can get the 2 products to communicate with each other)

But then you realize that your WiFi isn’t sufficient/reliable, so now you have to purchase a Hub.

= $120

And if that’s not enough, you just remember that there are 4 light bulbs in that room/hall that need to be Smart, not just 1. You’re clever though — you realize a switch is the cost effecting thing to do here.

Well, do you need an electrician or can you install it yourself? Are there multiple panels that turn the lights on and off? If so, you may need multiple smart switches. Oh, you want the bulbs to be able to change colors? Well, back to the drawing board!

You get the picture…

By the time you add all this up and throw in an Echo Dot to support voice, you’re almost at $250 and this is just for a basic setup! You’ve been warned…

The thing that helped me sleep at night was that I made choices that would hopefully increase the value of my home for when I sell it later.

Things to consider if you want Smart Home bullet points on your For Sale flyer.

Compatibility

You may not want a system that only “Works with Apple HomeKit”. If you land a buyer that is an Android user, the smart home becomes less…smart.

Switches over Bulbs

Bulbs will eventually burn out and the buyer may not want to be stuck purchasing these over and over again. A smart switch may be your best bet here. Just make sure that it’s using something that’s open like Z-Wave or Zigbee (Note: one technology is more open than the other…)

Smart Locks

When a person moves in, they’re likely going to want to change the lock. So, consider if you want a smart lock that actually supports keys (some don’t). And if you do, see how easy it is for the lock itself to invalidate your key and support new ones.

Risk

All the technologies above will eventually become outdated. Either because the technologies themselves have continued to improve (Z-Wave vs Z-Wave Plus vs Z-Wave v3), or in the worst case scenario, the technology itself has become obsolete.

I’m telling you now. Whether your roommate is a friend, a dog, or a spouse, you’re going to do something that’s going to annoy them. Whether it be the WiFi going down as you’re tuning frequencies, or the light is waking people up that just want to cross the hall to pee.

You laugh now…

So there you have it — 5 essential questions you should ask yourself before Adding to Cart. If you’re okay with all of the above, get ready, because things are going to get a whole lot more fun and [hopefully] convenient at home.

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