Smart home automation might be difficult and pricey when you’re just getting started. Get started with some low-cost home automation solutions that you can put into practice right now.
The following are the five most affordable home automation concepts for 2021:
- To illuminate a stairwell or room when motion is detected.
- The use of a door sensor to monitor the temperature of a room during winter
- Using voice commands to switch on and off your television
- It is possible to plan an action such as making coffee using smart plugs.
- This is a smart light that changes color for you in the morning, notifying you that it is likely to rain.
Continue reading to find out how I’ve put each of them into practice in my own household.
For good cause, motion-activated lights are making a comeback.
It may save you more than $300,000 by using door sensors for your room temperature readings.
3) Using your voice to turn the television on and off is a superpower.
4) Smart plugs may be used to automate even the most tedious of tasks.
When it rains, some individuals get drenched, while others just feel it.
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A scribbled note.
A smart hub is required for three of these five low-cost home automation ideas: particularly, the Samsung SmartThings Hub.
Just acquire the Samsung SmartThings Hub if you don’t know what smart hubs are or which one to buy.
SmartThings is a smartphone app that lets you to control all of your gadgets and automations from a single spot, all from the palm of your hand.
Samsung is incredibly user-friendly and works well with a wide range of other goods. SmartThings is the smart hub I’ve been using for more than a year now, and I have no regrets about the purchase.
When it comes down to it, having a hub is absolutely necessary if you plan on adding more and more smart devices to your house over time.
If you’re still undecided and want to learn more about smart hubs, read this article.
Let’s go ahead and do it.
Ideas for low-cost home automation
Motion actuated lights are making a comeback for a good reason, and the trend is expected to continue.
Tigger your samrt lights to turn on while motion is sensed and turn off when a certain length of “motionless-time” has gone. This is an apparent one.
They’ve been around for a quite long time and are not a new idea.
Then then, they’re still highly valuable and practical tools.
Setup of motion actuated lights may be accomplished by purchasing a motion sensor and an internet-enabled light bulb.
We’ve put a motion sensor at the top of our staircase and a smart bulb to illuminate the stairwell in our house.
When someone enters the stairs at any time of the day or night, the stairway light is automatically activated by the automation system.
The smart stair light automatically shuts off after 10 minutes of inactivity.
When I need to hurry downstairs and change the clothes at night, it’s very great not to have to fumble around for the light switch.
Because we don’t have to remember to turn off the light, it saves us money!
Products:
A motion sensor built into Samsung SmartThings.
Second, the Kasa Smart WiFi Light Bulb can be controlled through the Internet (TP-Link)
Steps/Assumptions:
- The Samsung SmartThings Hub is yours and you’ve already set it up.
- You’ll probably already have the SmartThings app installed on your phone if you want to set up the SmartThings Hub. If not, do so immediately.
- Using the SmartThings app, you can connect your motion sensor and light bulb (both products below are compatible with the SmartThings Hub).
- In order to create an automation that looks like this:
- Done!
To be honest, I wouldn’t bother with this concept unless you had a smart hub. A lot of people don’t like WiFi motion sensors that don’t need a smart hub. They don’t function at all.
The total cost of the project is:
~$35
It may save you more than $300,000 by using door sensors for room temperature readings.
Door sensors are quite adaptable and may be utilized in a variety of ways.
A temperature sensor, vibration sensor, and touch sensor are all common features of door sensors.
The possibilities are almost unlimited when smart items are utilized in conjunction with one another.
However, I built a smart door sensor in my basement for the express purpose of monitoring the temperature.
How come, you ask?
PIPES THAT HAVE BEEN SET IN ICE.
In New England, where I now reside, winters may be very harsh.
Colder than zero degrees isn’t uncommon.
Some others have lost their whole homes due to broken pipes in the winter.
I was able to set up an SMS message to alert my wife and me if the basement temperature dropped below 53 degrees Fahrenheit as a result of installing the basement door sensor.
The best case scenario is that if we’re close, we can go home and find out what’s going on.
It’s possible to phone my wife’s parents who reside in the next town over and ask them to assist us fix the problem if we’re away.
This low-cost home automation solution provides us peace of mind, and it’s one of the simplest systems out there to implement.
You may help safeguard a several hundred thousand dollar investment – your house – for as little as $20!
Additionally, you can set up notifications for when the basement door opens beyond a certain time in the evening (using a contact sensor) and send a message when someone knocks on the door as an additional bonus (vibration sensor).
Nevertheless, I digress…
Product:
1. SmartThings Door and Window Sensor Multipurpose
Steps/Assumptions:
- The Samsung SmartThings Hub is yours and you’ve already set it up.
- You’ll probably already have the SmartThings app installed on your phone if you want to set up the SmartThings Hub. If not, do so immediately.
- You may now use the SmartThings app to connect your smart door sensor.
- In order to create an automation that looks like this:
- Done!
The total cost of the project is:
~$20
3) Using your voice to turn on and off the TV is a superpower.
It is well-known that I am well-aware. You’re contemplating just how lazy you’ve become. I get what you mean, but I have to confess, this one is one of my favorites.
You don’t have to go through your bedside table or your wife’s when you don’t want to. This is a huge time saver for me and my wife when we’re in bed at night.
“OK Google, turn on my television.”
As if I were Superman, I command my television to come on.
Ask Google to show you a YouTube TV video of “Below Deck”.
In other words, we get off just where we left off last time.
This includes pauses, volume changes and fast forwards and rewinds. Ultimately, you can switch off the TV when you’re ready to go to sleep.
It may be my favorite smart home automation concept for a low price, however.
Products:
1. Chromecast from Google.
2.Miniature Google Home
Steps/Assumptions:
Using your voice to control your TV is now easier than ever.
The total cost of the project is:
~$60
4 ) Smart plugs may assist in automating even the most mundane everyday tasks.
I was able to save money by automating my morning cup of joe.
Getting out of bed in the morning is just a little bit easier when you can smell the aroma of freshly made coffee.
My coffee machine has a smart plug, so I can program it to start brewing at 6:30 every morning.
I have a coffee machine that has a physical on/off switch, which I like.
As long as I leave the coffee maker set to “on,” I can connect it into my smart plug and, presto, my coffee maker turns on as well.
It’s a little disheartening that you still have to load the coffee maker with water and coffee grounds the night before using this low-cost home automation concept.
Make sure your coffee maker is compatible with a smart plug before purchasing it.
It is possible that certain coffee makers cannot be left in the “on” state, so when the smart plug turns on, the coffee maker still won’t turn on unless it is physically turned on.
The humidifier in our bedroom may also be set to run on a schedule using smart plugs.
In the last two years, my wife and I have used no less than five different humidifiers, and the Ultrasonic Cool Humidifier (shown below) is the finest we’ve used. It’s quite quiet and can run for up to four days on a single charge! Leaving it on high the first night tripped our fire alarms due to its immense strength. Those aren’t pranks. I recommend turning it down to half power or less.)
Without a humidifier, our skin, throats, and eyes, to name a few organs, may get very parched.
Sorry if this is too personal, but it is a serious issue.
Using a smart plug, I can set a timer for our humidifier to turn on and off.
An hour before bedtime and 30 minutes before waking are the ideal times for us to use the alarm clock.
Like a coffee maker, you’ll want to make sure your humidifier can be turned on and off using a smart plug in the same manner that a coffee maker can be turned on.
See my Smart Christmas Tree Lights article for the third smart plug concept.
Steps/Assumptions:
- This does not need a hub!
- The Kasa Smart App may be installed on your phone.
- You may use the Kasa Smart App to connect your smart plug.
- In the SmartThings app, you can create an automation that looks like this. In Kasa, you may do this as well
- Done!
The total cost of the project is:
~$18.00
Product:
Smart Plug Lite by TP Link
When it rains, some individuals get drenched, while others don’t.
Rain stinks, so I’m sure I’ll be drenched.
Moreover, if you’re like me, you often forget to look out the weather before leaving to work.
In the meanwhile, there’s this affordable home automation concept to look forward to, however.
To get started, swap out a standard light bulb in one of your bedside lights with a multicolor smart multi-bulb lamp.
Using the free IFTTT app (If This, Then That), you can program the bulb to turn blue in the morning if it is raining that day.
If this seems difficult, I assure you that it isn’t. In order to make this automation as simple as pressing a button, IFTTT has integrated with your smart bulb app.
When it comes to figuring out what to wear in the morning and whether or not you will need an umbrella, this is a huge time saver.
Buying a seventh umbrella after leaving six at home is a thing of the past.
Steps/Assumptions:
- Is there a hub needed?
- Set up a Wi-Fi hotspot with the Magic Huge WiFi app
- The Magic Huge WiFi app may be used to connect your smart light.
- Get the IFTTT app on your phone.
- IFTTT’s “Change the color of your lights when it rains” applet may be found by searching for Magic Huge on the app.
- Select “Connect”
- Done!
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In the end, it will cost you:
~$13.00
Product:
1. MagicHue Smart LED Bulb with Dimmable Colors
Conclusion
A quick and inexpensive list of home automation options is here.
You’ll want to do more after implementing these affordable home automation ideas in your own house.
That ache is worth it. You won’t be able to resist.