Make your home smart on a budget – introduction

Posted on by
Smart home
Smart home

How to make you home smart on a budget

On the Internet you can find many resource about smart homes.
In this guide I will focus on smart home for beginners.
There for I will only mention led lights and smart outlets.

You can make your home smart on a budget by buying

  • products that don’t require a hub (only a an app)
  • standalone products
  • products that can be voice operated

For voice operation you’ll need a voice assistant like Alexa of Google home.

If you have a mobile phone with a recent version of android you can use Google Assistant.

When buying electrical appliances online allways check the voltage and plug size: Us plug, Uk plug Eu plug, or Au plug. With lamps you need to check the fitting type

Most of the devices require a Wi-Fi network that works on 2,4 GHz. For voice operation an internet connection is required.

In general there are 2 ways to make your home smart

  • replace the dumb device for a smart device

    Kitchen table lamp
    Kitchen table lamp
  • add a smart device
Smart device, smart light
Smart device, smart light

If you take kitchen table lamp for example
You can replace the blub with a smart device

Or  you can remove the blub and place the smart device and then place the bulb in the smart device.

Smart device
Smart device
Smart outlet
Smart outlet

If you have a lamp that is connected to a wall outlet, you can use a smart outlet.
Just unplug your lamp from the outlet. Plugin the smart outlet  into the wall outlet. Then plug the lamp into the smart outlet.
You now have a smart lamp.

Beside smart lamps and smart outlets, you can also buy led strips. Led strips you can use behind your tv, pc monitor or under or above  kitchen cabinets.

Led strips
Led strips

 

 

 

 

 

Motion-Sensor-Wall-light
Motion-Sensor-light

 

Devices don’t have to smart to be used in a smart home. Garden lights rarely come smart.  But you can combine them with a smart outlet. You can even buy water proof smart outlets. Most smart devices come with an app. But that’s not necessary, In closets or staircases you can use lights that have a motion and light sensor. So when you open a closet or enter the staircase they turn on.

In the following posts I will cover

  • smart lights
  • smart outlets
  • diy