I am a regular homeowner with kids in college. I don't really want/need lights that change colors radically for parties or music mixes (that said, I wouldn't mind something that helps out during long winters with Seasonal Affective Disorder, but I digress). What are some good, down to earth and relatively inexpensive things to start out with? I really shudder at paying hundreds of dollars, for example, to replace the 6 floodlamps in my family room?
What is the biggest bang for the buck?
Thanks!
The first thing to do is work out what you want to achieve.
I was an early adopter of smart home tech but made the mistake of jumping in feet first and ended up spending on certain items twice with more cost to come.
I started with a Philips Hue starter kit which is 3 bulbs and a hub. Ideal for the bedrooms and hallway as the kids always left them on.
I wanted to expand and ended up with the Samsung SmartThings setup which is a very comprehensive system and works with Hue, IFTTT and many, MANY other systems.
As my home setup grew it became difficult to manage from within one app.
I had SmartThings doing all the really technical stuff like switching lights off after 30mins of no motion from a SmartThings motion sensor and alerting me to any motion when no one was home and essentially being the 'security' hub.
I had Nest for my video which was crazy handy when I did have a notification to say there was motion when I wasn't home (a bird came in the window)
I then had things set with IFTTT to turn my hallway light blue if rain was due the following day for example.
Since then I have invested more into the Apple ecosystem with two Apple TVs and upgraded iPhone giving the kids my old ones. We now have a full Apple household and that meant installing all 4 apps on all 4 devices plus the ones we share such as iPads.
When HomeKit was announced I took interest devices were slow to market so I continued to grow my complex home.
With iOS 10 and the Home app everything about HomeKit made sense and I decided to bite the bullet and make the switch to HomeKit devices starting with my Hue system.
Unfortunately I can't achieve the same level of customisation as I did with SmartThings but Apple are always updating unlike SmartThings and I'm confident that iOS 11 will change how things work for me.
Long story over.... I'd always recommend starting with a thermostat for several reasons.
First and foremost is that they have potential to save you money on heating. In the U.K. Where it's always cold having the ability to switch heating off when no one is home is great.
Secondly most top brands are HomeKit compatible and easy to install.
The next thing to consider next to that is lights and you can get Hue Lux bulbs that are white only for £15 (about $20 I think) plus a hub at about $50.
I'm a bit of a self taught expert when it comes to Home automation so please feel free to ask questions or challenge what I've said.
Home automation for me has been a hobby but for some it's a home security system... something my work has exposed me to a lot of!