10 Essential Tips Starting a Smart Home

I have gathered some of the frequently asked questions and turn them into tips for you when you are planning to setup a smart home. Comment and share any other tips you have!
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Timestamps
(0:02) - Tip #1 Smart wall switch vs smart lights
(1:38​) - Tip #2 Wire smart lights to L
(2:29) - Tip #3 Use more sensors and buttons
(3:50) - Tip #4 Easy neutral wire
(4:43​) - Tip #5 Smart appliances are preferred
(5:48​) - Tip #6 Choose the smart appliances wisely
(6:44​) - Tip #7 Factor in robot vacuum water piping
(8:01​) - Tip #8 Go for motorized curtains/blinds
(8:49​) - Tip #9 Wife/family approved
(9:34) - Tip #10 pleaseee pick a smart home system first

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Disclaimers:
Some of the product links are affiliate links.
All opinions expressed are my own and do not represent any other parties.
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[guoyao]

Just sharing on my experience as I am starting on my smart home renovation journey. I have been following your videos throughout my journey and it has been helpful to me.
I found the most important is to decide on what is your comfortable budget first before deciding on what extend of automation is needed. Any appliances with the word smart comes with an additional cost (~20% to 30% extra). i do agree that it is important to plan before hand and the most fundamental step is to determine on what is the platform that the entire eco system will need to house as most appliances have their own apps and if integration is need, additional steps are required.
one suggestion is by building the automation by milestones instead of a big bang upgrade. Prioritize the wants and need

[kotekmon]

Your videos have been so much help. Thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom!

[AKC-]

Your points are all valid. I couldn't stress these points out any further..

[CasperOng]

Thanks so much Alex I'm buying my first home next year and I really want it to be smart. This is so helpful.

[peterallely]

Smart relays and smart dimmer relays the the Shelly models, wired into your existing switches and dumb lights are the way to go imo, you can use the normal switch as you normally would but you can also automate, you just have to get used to the switch being ‘up for on’ sometimes.

[galbrie]

Wow thanks for the tips! At least now i know where to tell the electricians to pull the neutral wires from and if i needed to move my smart switches nearer to those points to save me a buck on renovation! Im going to become a new homeowner soon and building a smart home feels so complex to me now... So im going to start simple with smart switches on dumb lights and ceiling fans first.

[JasonOJX]

Good pointers! Planning is super important c especially for swtiches and powerpoint

[AlvinLi-je]

Thanks for sharing Alex. Just to check if I am intending smartify a home with non smart aircon, do you recommend to integrate it into the smart home automation system or to leave it "dumb"?

[alvinwong]

Hi Alex, how do you on your aircon by just using the sensor? Do you use sensibo to link to the automation?

[DeejaySequel]

Hi Alex, can you recommend the best smart garage door opener that works with Home Kit?

[yellowcolourr]

3:24 Alex how did you manage to control your IR devices(TV and ceiling fan) by using the Aqara Wireless switch as the trigger? Did you have to use the Aqara M3 hub for this, or will it be able to work with the Switchbot Hub?

Thank you in advance🙏

[PressPlay]

Usually those salesperson have 0 clue what I'm asking them lol, things like controls/entities that can be exposed etc, just wanted to integrate them into HA via z2m (not a fan of a single manufacturer's ecosystem), it's better to just google and hopefully someone is kind enough to share the information on the same devices.

Btw, great tips for people who are planning a smart home system!

[amzharpyro]

Hello Alex, do you have any thoughts on smart relays? I do want a smart home but the switches are unfortunately boring looking so I read about making any wall switch smart by adding a smart relay inside it. What do you think and do you have any recommendations?

[chinweiyeoh]

Good tips that are coming from someone who's experienced with how a smart home should function. How does connecting a smart light to L work though? Will the switch be powered by L1 and if someone presses the L1 switch will it cut power to the whole switch? Thanks!

[marres-pojkvan]

i think putting a power meter on the ”dumb” device is a good way to detect if its on or off i have that on my ac so i can do better automations

[xylesx]

Thanks for sharing! Any motorized smart blinds with HomeKit support recommendations for SG?

[kean]

What smart fan would you recommend for integration with Home Assistant? Or should I just consider getting a dumb one with RF/IR blaster?

[wonderbuffon]

Hi Alex, do you recommend Aqara's dimmer switches? They have the H1 Wireless Knob and Z1 Pro now. Also for home reno, do you recommend to do smart switches and a tri-tone dumb light? Cos seems overkill to have both smart switch and smart bulbs. Thanks

[Marcus-mgzw]

Thank you so much Alex! If I’m understanding correctly, there’s no need to buy a smart aqara switch (Z1 pro) with my smart Yeelights in living room for ambient light? Thank you so much!

[eightfoldsg]

Hi Alex! Do you know if there is a compatible switchbot blind for making the blinds smart? I'm referring to the blinds where you pull one side to go up, and the other side to go down.