Smart home is a broad topic. And an expensive one, if you don’t build it yourself. I have done a lot of it myself and would like to share my results with you, so that you don’t have to start from scratch with research and decisions. In most places, I have explained my choices for and against systems, protocols, devices, and software.
Nevertheless, there are countless possibilities for smart home technologies and strategies, and I don’t presume to call my strategy “the right one.” I outline my approach based on the following aspects:
- How customizable are technologies? Do I have the option to easily make changes?
- What is the price-performance ratio? Can I use technologies at a reasonable cost compared to the benefits?
- Some technologies save real money through automation. Are purchase and maintenance economically reasonable for me?
- How easy is it to replace or modify components?
- How easily can I add components to my existing system?
- Can I reuse existing hardware components for new purposes?
- Technologies in this field are constantly evolving. To assume that a final state will be reached soon that will last for the rest of my life seems unrealistic to me.
Especially because the topic is so broad, I want to arrange subtopics in an understandable way. The following mind map shows the subjects I am dealing with and links to individual articles below.