A fully automated home only used to be a dream in the 70s. Today, it is a reality that a lot of homeowners have come to love and enjoy. But is home automation really worth the investment?
The benefits of home automation
More than its perceived luxury, home automation has some very practical benefits for homeowners:
- Convenience. In a time when we’ve never been busier, making mundane, repetitive tasks easier can already do so much to free up some time to spend on family rather than doing chores. Automation means you can turn off the lights and operate devices and appliances with just a few clicks of a button.
- Security. Studies have shown that homes with visible advanced security systems are less likely to be targeted by burglars. Something as simple as having control over the lights in your home or having fingerprint or password-operated door locks can already make your home a lot safer.
- Savings. Smart lights and thermostats are energy efficient, which means that if you switch to them, you’ll most likely to cut your utility costs in the long run. You can also take advantage of certain home automation technologies such as monitoring water usage or drafts in your home, which helps you save money by being more aware of the things that are contributing to your high utility bills.
- Comfort. With a fully automated home, you can create the mood that you want for your home through lighting, sound and temperature. You just need to set them to your preferences to create a more relaxing environment for you to go home to.
The options for home automation
If you decide to automate your home, you have two options: go for a DIY home automation or hire the professionals:
DIY home automation
A lot of people, especially the tech savvy ones love to automate their homes by themselves. If you’re well versed with technology or you have a knack for it, this could be a great project to work on.
You just have to learn about the different gadgets that you’ll be using and how they will connect to one another to fully automate your home. You can already find several devices that help with automation these days, so the task won’t be as challenging.
The only downside to this is that you also need to learn how to troubleshoot if there are problems. But you also have the benefit of knowing everything that’s going on in your system and you can tweak it according to your needs.
Professional home automation
If you don’t have the time to do the hard work yourself, you can always hire professionals to install your home automation system.
Since these people know exactly what they’re doing, setting up the devices is fast and easy, and you don’t have to worry about troubleshooting because they also got that part covered. The only downside to this is that it’s costly, but it’s definitely worth the price.
Is home automation for you?
Homeowners invest in home automation mainly because it makes their lives easier while reducing their energy wastage at the same time. So, if you want to experience the same conveniences, home automation is definitely a worthwhile investment.