In today’s always on, always connected digital world there are many just as many useful devices as there are useless ones out there. This is especially true when it comes to smart home technologies. Turning your house into a smart home is daunting enough without the ridiculous amount of devices on the market as it is. There are simply tons of products out there from smart lights to alarm systems to choose from. The key is to first decide what it is you want to accomplish. For me the answer was that I wanted to lower my bills. This was mostly due to my high electric and gas bills. Mostly due to the kids leaving the lights on when they left the house. Now don’t just run out and start buying things just because you determined what you want to accomplish.

Control

The first thing you need to do is determine how you want to control your smart home. If you have no issue using multiple apps to control your smart devices then you can quit reading and go shopping. For those of you that would like to use one app to control everything you will need to decide on a platform, and then research what products will work with that platform. Some devices will work with Apple HomeKit and Siri, but not Google or Alexa and vice versa. Trust me on this point. You really need to do the research!

Heating/Cooling

When I began turning my house into a smart home I wanted to lower my electric bill since summer was approaching. The first thing I looked at was a smart thermostat. I had an older furnace with an older thermostat. I looked into NEST at first and then Ecobee. At the time I had a couple of Apple TVs, Macs, iPhone, and an iPad so the choice of using HomeKit was the best option for me. The NEST is perhaps the best smart thermostat but does not work with home kit. The Ecobee3 works with Google, Alexa and HomeKit so I got an Ecobee3. Installing the Ecobee3 was fairly simple, however you should verify if your furnace and Air conditioner will support a smart thermostat. Adding the Ecobee 3 lowered my electric bill by almost $100 a month. It even reduced my gas bill by about $60 a month the following winter. Now keep in mind that if your house is poorly insulated you won’t see much if any reduction in those bills.

Lighting

The reduction in my electric bill was only partly due to the Ecobee 3. I had three teenage kids that had a habit of leaving the lights in every room the enter. I wanted to have the lights turn off automatically when no one was home and at specific times at night. I looked at several smart lights and settled on the Phillips Hue lights. You do need to be careful because not all Hue lights work with Apple HomeKit. They are not that expensive and work with Apple Home kit. I went ahead and got the lights. The setup was simple using first the Phillips Hue app and then I connected them to Home Kit. I setup scenes on Home kit to turn the lights out when I left and at 10 pm weekdays. I also have a seen that will turn certain lights on when I come home. This has lowered my electric bill to about $40 a month in the cooler months and helps keep it below $100 even in the summer with my AC running(Though the Ecobee helps with this too).

Security

Alarm

This is where I went wrong. I suddenly had a need for a security system. Instead of paying attention to what other Smart Home devices worked with the alarms I was looking at, I only paid attention to price. I ended up going with the Ring home alarm system and some Ring DoorBells. While the Ring system works well it does not work with Apple HomeKit or Siri natively. You can get Ring to work with HomeKit through the use of a third party hub called Hoobs.

Cameras

I mentioned above the Ring doorbells. These worked fairly well however you will need to have a paid subscription to ring in order to use more than one. As with the lights there are many camera’s both doorbells and regular cameras on the market. Like the lights some work with HomeKit and some only work with Google or Alexa. I ended up using the Logitech Circle Doorbell. You can only use one of these doorbells unless you run additional wires and install a second transformer. I am only using one on the front door but I find the integration into HomeKit works well. The Logitech Circle doorbell also supports Apples secure video recording feature which stores recordings using iCloud. I also use EufyCam 2C paired with Eufy’s HomeBase 2. These cameras natively integrate with HomeKit and also use Apple’s secure video. You will need to have one of the paid storage plans from Apple to use secure video. I personally use the 200Gb plan and it works with the four cameras I have.

Locks

I am currently using the Yale Security YRL256-CBA-619 Assure Connected by August WiFi + Bluetooth Smart Touchscreen Lever Lock. This lock works with Apple HomeKit and Alexa. With HomeKit integration the lock will unlock when my phone comes in range as well as through Siri commands. I have plans to add Yale’s deadbolt lock in the future. This is very useful when I come home from grocery shopping. Ever try digging out your keys to unlock the door with your arms full of grocery bags? It’s a pain! I cannot count the number of times I have broken eggs trying to dig out my keys.

Smart Speakers

I started looking into smart speakers for controlling the lights by voice and for listening to music. I have had both Amazon Echo and Apple HomePods. Both work rather well in general, but Apple’s HomePods sound better when playing music and are the only smart speakers that integrate with HomeKit. Oner of the features for me is the ability to do a stereo pair with the HomePods. I have often found the speakers built in to tv’s lacking. I am using a pair of HomePod mini’s with an Apple TV in the living room. The surround sound provided by this setup is great when watching movies or listening to music.

Use different products? Have a good story about turning your house into a smart home? Leave a comment in the comments section below.