what is a smart home?

SMART HOMES, EXPLAINED

what is a smart home?

A smart home is not one product, and you do not have to do all of it. It ranges from one smart door lock at the small end to a house that runs itself at the other. Most homes sit somewhere in between, and that is fine. Tap through the stages below to see what each one is like to live with.

ONE DEVICETHE WHOLE HOUSE

wired or wireless

Every system you will be shown is one of these two. The choice decides your budget, your timeline, and whether your walls get opened up.

wired

Extra cables are run through the building to every light and appliance, back to one central controller. This is the older way, and for a long time it was the only way.

SUITS: New builds, before the walls close
BUDGET: High, and hard to change later
DISRUPTION: High. This is a wiring project

wireless

Devices sit inside your existing switchboards and use the wiring already in your walls. They talk to each other wirelessly. This is much newer, and it is the reason a smart home no longer needs a big renovation.

SUITS: Finished homes and new builds
BUDGET: Lower. You can start with one room
DISRUPTION: Low. No rewiring of the building

areo runs on Zigbee and Wi-Fi. These are open standards, not one company’s private system, so you are not locked in. That is why areo goes into a ten-year-old house as easily as a new one. Our Atlas switches fit the 6M and 8M boards already in your wall, so most homes need no civil work at all. One thing to check with any wireless system, ours included: your switchboards need a neutral wire.

BEFORE YOU BUY

read this before you buy

There is a lot of noise around smart homes. These are the few things that actually decide whether it works in your home, and what it will cost.

do i need a neutral wire?The one thing that decides whether smart switches will work in your house. With photos of what to look for inside your board. new construction vs a finished homeWhy it is best to decide before plastering, and what you can still do if you have already moved in. what it costs, room by roomReal price ranges for a 3BHK, a 4BHK and a villa, and where the money goes. wired, wireless or hybridWhat each one is good at, and which keeps working when the internet is down. why LED lights flickerWattage limits, driver quality, and why cheap dimmers buzz. Ten minutes well spent. six mistakes people make the first timeDoing too much in the bedroom, skimping on the lighting circuit, and four more we see every month.

not sure if your home is ready?

Three quick questions, and we will tell you honestly whether a smart home makes sense for you yet.

Book a consultation Check if my home is ready