Buying Guide: What To Look For When Purchasing Home Automation Products
Home automation takes us a little closer to the future many of us imagined while watching Star Trek and Star Wars as kids. As a whole, home automation products improve your home by making it smarter on many different levels. These products are able to communicate with each other to adapt to your lifestyle, and allow you to control them with an app on your phone or tablet. They can help you reduce your electricity usage, automate home lighting, manage your garden, and even feed your pets while you’re out.
Motorized Blinds and Shades
However, if you are new to all of this, it stands to reason that you are feeling a little overwhelmed. There are so many products and systems out there for home automation, and that probably leaves you with a lot of questions swirling around in your head. Do you need certain products? Do you need to have an expensive system in place? What products are for you?
Home Automation: Where to Begin?
Home automation is changing the relationship we have to our homes. It is a relatively new concept, but one that can completely transform your home. If you are new to the world of home automation products, you’ll find some essential tips to keep in mind below.
Do you need a hub?
A hub is going to be the central location from which all of your smart products are controlled and managed. It also allows these products to connect with each other, which will help you streamline your home. For example, with a hub, you can program certain lights in your home to automatically turn on when you unlock your front door. Pretty cool huh?
Google Home and the VTouch Pro are just a couple examples, but there are plent of options out there. A hub is a great way to simplify things, so shop carefully for the different hubs that are out there, and make sure to do plenty of research on all the hubs that pique your interest.
Start small
You don’t have to completely automate all aspects of your home overnight. This isn’t a realistic plan, and it can prove to be a stressful one, as well. Start simply by automating one or two aspects of your home. If you don’t know where to start, make up a list of the different ways in which you would love to be able to automate and improve your home.
Maybe you want to be able to turn on your sprinkler system while you’re out for dinner; or maybe you want to adjust your thermostat from the office because you forgot to manually do it while you were heading out. These are two simple options for easing yourself into smart home products.
Security
While you should make up a list of your most critical areas for home automation, you’re going to find that most experts suggest starting with home security. This is not only an essential, but it can be a good way to become acquainted with the world of home automation; and having another layer of security in your home is never a bad idea.
Join an online community
There are a lot of people out there who are just like you. They are also a little overwhelmed by all of these products and possibilities. An online community can give you a great venue in which to ask questions and start discussions with people about smart home devices. It’s also a great place to go to gauge how smart home devices have changed other people’s lives for the better.
From a simple home security system, you can move forward into more complicated setups. Remember that home automation can cover a wide range of rooms and products. Once you have a good idea of what home automation entails, you can make the leap into building a system that is right for you. When it comes to shopping for multiple home automation products, you want to make sure you are focusing on things that are going to work in sync. Getting something that is just going to exist as its own ecosystem is going to create a messy home automation system.
The potential of smart home products is truly amazing. All of the spectacular technologies we have seen over the years in our favourite science fiction show and movies are finally becoming a reality. So remember to enjoy the process of transforming your home into what could truly be called the home of the future.
Participating Vendors:
- AV Guys
