Introduction

If you’re just getting started in Home Automation, I recommend starting basic and easing your way into things. You can start for as little as $10 for a wifi lightbulb or $16 for a wifi light switch. You can also spend thousands to hundreds of thousands if you want to go all out. The largest system I’ve worked on in a house was $100,000+ in hardware alone. Programming costs for their system bumped that up considerably.

I’ve done my best to organize this section of the site in order of covering concepts and general considerations, the hardware I would recommend to start off small with, and building to where you can go all out on expensive things.

When choosing hardware, there are a few universal considerations

• Does my controller support control of the hardware out of the box?
• If not, does the hardware have an API that I can easily work with?
• Does it work without an internet connection?
• If not, am I ok with that?
• How well does it fit with my existing ecosystem? ex: I have all z-wave and insteon devices. I don’t want to add zigbee into the mix.

If you’re looking for more information, the home automation subreddit is a great place to ask questions.

Disclaimer: I make a lot of recommendations on this blog based on personal use, research, some industry knowledge, and personal preferences. I have bought every piece of equipment here and have never talked to any of the companies about sponsorships or free merchandise. I’m not making a dime off this blog.