What to domotize first in a home
In a house you will practically be able to automate everything. For example, opening blinds and awnings, turning on or off household appliances of all kinds, controlling lights, installing sensors… We are going to focus on what you may find it more useful in the short term and also easier to use.
sockets
The first thing is to domotize the plugs. You don’t need to buy a Wi-Fi smart plug for each room, but at least in areas where you are going to use them and they can be useful. For example, in the living room, in your bedroom, in the kitchen… Basically that, in the rooms of the house where you can take advantage of them.
You can connect other devices to these smart plugs, even if they don’t have Wi-Fi. The idea is that you can remotely control when something turns on or off, schedule it, see what you are consuming at any given time, etc. There are different options available and they really are cheap gadgets.
Lights
It is also a good start to start automate the lights of your home. They are simple to use, inexpensive devices and there are many models available. There are more and less sophisticated ones, but something basic can be more than enough to get you started and gradually test how a smart home works.
For example, you can control light bulbs with your voice, from your mobile, schedule the on and off, etc. There are many utilities. An example is being able to turn on a light at home at certain times while you are away and thus give the impression that there are people at home and scare away potential thieves.
High consumption appliances
If what you want is to save energy, our advice is to start automating those devices that consume the most. They tend to be the kitchen appliances. For example, an oven, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a dishwasher… You can take advantage of home automation to pay less on your electricity bill.
How can you do it? For example, program the washing machine so that it starts working at the hours when electricity is cheaper, as long as you have a rate with hourly discrimination. You can also analyze the consumption at all times and see if it is convenient for you to use a different program in the dishwasher, save with the oven, etc.
Heating and air conditioning
Of course, something that can consume quite a bit of energy in a home is heating and air conditioning. You can automate these devices to save energy. You can decide when to turn them on or off remotely, without having to be at home at the time. For example, turn on the heating for a while before you get home.
You don’t need to buy a smart device, because even a old air conditioner You can automate it by connecting it to a smart plug. With this you could already control it, at least for the basics, from your mobile.
In short, as you can see, these are some of the first steps you can take to automate a home. You will find many options, but you really do not need to make a large initial investment if you want to go little by little. Making your home smart is a process that can be long, but you can start with something basic.
