Start Small, but start with a Plan!
Let’s face it, starting a Smart Home can get complex quick and I’m sure you have many questions about starting a Smart Home. Questions like: Is setting up a Smart Home safe and secure? Which Smart Home platform is best for me? Which Smart Devices should I add to my Smart Home? Do I have to add everything at once? How do I organize my Smart Home i.e. Rooms, Zones, Scenes, Automation and etc. How expensive will this endeavor be? These are all great questions. Let’s start at the beginning.
Start by selecting a Home Platform. The easiest way to do this is to start with the type of phone/tablet that you use. If you use an Apple iPhone/tablet, our recommendation is to start with the Apple Home or Apple HomeKit. If you primarily use Android aka Google phones, then start with a Google Home. If you already have a number of Alexa devices then our recommendation would be to start a Smart Home that is based off Alexa devices
You might ask why this matters this matters. This is important because the devices you select for your smart home should work together in a holistic manner. The most important reason to select a Smart Home platform is to make managing and viewing your Smart Devices convenient for you, not add complexity to your life. Another key aspect to selecting one Smart Home Platform is to ensure that you gain interoperability between your Smart Devices. For example, if all of your devices are on one Smart Home platform, you will be able to accomplish Smart Home Automation like turning off your HVAC if you leave a sliding door open for more than about five minutes or lock all of your doors at 10:00 PM everyday.
Smart Home and Smart Device Management I think this is one of the most commonly overlooked and or misunderstood concepts among Smart home owners. When you have a Smart Home, one of your biggest goals is to have visibility of all of the Smart Devices in your Smart Home whether you are near your home or whether you are travelling on vacation or your home is an investment property or a second home at the lake or at the beach. You want to have one single pane of glass to manage and monitor your Smart Home. Great News! This is not a sales pitch to buy a product from us or from anyone! This is very simple when all of your devices are on one Smart Home platform. That Smart Home platform can be Apple Home, Google Home or Alexa. And even better news! These companies provide a FREE Smart Home Monitoring & Management App.
Want to start with a Smart Home Plan? Contact us for help and guidance.