Planning a modern smart home involves more than selecting devices. Lighting control, automation systems, networking infrastructure, entertainment systems, security, and energy technologies must be carefully designed to work together.This guide helps homeowners understand the core systems that make up a modern smart home and how to begin planning the scope and budget of a technology project.Use the planning sections below to explore common smart home systems, then try our Smart Home Budget Planner to estimate the level of investment required for your project.
Step 1 - Define the Scope of Your Smart HomeThe first step in planning a smart home project is identifying the technologies you want to integrate. Modern homes often combine multiple systems that work together through a central automation platform.Common smart home systems include:• smart home automation platforms
• lighting control and motorized shades
• whole-home audio video systems
• home theater environments
• security and surveillance systems
• networking and WiFi infrastructure
• energy management and backup powerDefining the systems you want to incorporate will help determine the complexity and scale of the project.
Step 2 - Choose an Automation PlatformProfessional smart homes typically rely on a central automation platform that coordinates multiple technologies.Popular automation platforms include:• Savant home automation• Control4 home automation• Lutron lighting control systemsThese platforms allow homeowners to manage lighting, entertainment, climate control, security, and energy systems from a unified interface.
Step 3 - Plan Lighting, Entertainment, and SecurityThe technologies connected to an automation platform often define the experience of the home.Lighting ControlLighting control systems allow homeowners to create lighting scenes, automate daylight management, and coordinate lighting with automated shades.Audio Video and Home TheaterWhole-home audio systems, media rooms, and dedicated home theaters provide immersive entertainment environments.Security and SurveillanceModern homes often include intelligent surveillance systems, smart entry systems, and integrated alarm platforms.
Step 4 - Plan Technology Infrastructure EarlyTechnology systems work best when they are designed early in the planning process. Electrical infrastructure, network cabling, equipment locations, and lighting control wiring should be coordinated during the design and construction phases.Planning infrastructure early ensures that systems remain reliable, scalable, and visually integrated into the architecture of the home.
Step 5 - Estimate the Budget for Your Smart HomeEvery smart home project is different. The overall investment depends on the size of the home, the number of systems being integrated, and the level of customization desired.To help homeowners better understand potential costs, Regent5 created a Smart Home Budget Planning Tool that provides a starting point for estimating technology investments.
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With smart home technology, it's possible to automate nearly anything. All you need are a few devices to power your home, and an app on your smart home, or some keypads on your wall. Whether you'd like to automate a few voice commands to raise your shades, or turn on and off a few smart lightbulbs, there's plenty of simple ideas that can be automated to the sound of your voice. We've written quite a few ideas for automating your smart home with products you can purchase to get started, and some smart home ideas to start off the new year.
When it comes to automating your entire home, it's best to get started when you're in the planning stages for a new construction or remodel. However, it's always possible to add home automation systems later. Systems such as Control4 offer a lot in terms of automating your lights, shades, remotes, and more. Savant on the other hand works with many other brands and styles of home automation such as Lutron shades, Sonos music surround sound systems, and many more. When you're trying to get your smart home automation ideas started, we recommend visiting our blog and some of our completed projects.
Surround sound systems come in all shapes in sizes, with many different feature sets. Thankfully, this allows your new smart home the best in sound utilization. Some people would like to do something simple that is plug-and-play such as a Sonos music system, which can be controlled on an app independent of your other smart home technology. If you have a Savant smart home system, your Sonos will work on there as well. Other people love to use more traditional speaker systems for that whole home Dolby 5.1, 7.2.1, or 9.2.1 surround sound, which is entirely possible to automate and install in your new smart home.
If your home has smart home lighting and shade technology, you're in luck. It's easy to use a smart home system to control your shades with the flick of an app, or the press of a Lutron keypad. If your home has a Savant system powering home automation, you can tie everything together, creating special scene modes that make it possible to turn your lights and shades on and off at a certain time of day, and even more. There's limitless possibilities with your smart home technology solutions, which we've discussed before in this article about smart shades. Submit your information to get more ideas about smart shade solutions.
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