What You Need to Know About Budgeting Your Smart Home Project
Design Your Dream Home in the Most Efficient Way Possible
The rising popularity of IoT devices has made it easier than ever to embrace the power of smart home control. Once considered a niche industry, smart homes have gone mainstream. With so many options available now, it can be tough for people to navigate this terrain without a little bit of help. Having a smart home professional on hand will make a huge difference.
To get the most out of this emerging technology in your Baton Rouge, LA home, you want to have a professional installation. Integrated homes get all your devices working together and let you manage them all from one central interface—like the brand new Control4 OS 3. The next step after choosing to upgrade to a custom smart home is figuring out the best way to budget for success.
SEE MORE: 17 Questions to Determine if You’re Ready for a Smart Home
Network Infrastructure
A smart home functions in part by getting all your devices to communicate with each other through your network. So, a big bulk of your budget needs to go to bolstering both your hardwired and wireless connections. There also need to be security measures included like firewalls and encryption to keep anyone from hacking your devices.
% of Budget = 5-10%
Wiring Foundation
Every smart home installation begins with a low-voltage wiring foundation for all your technology. These costs will vary depending on how many features you want to include. Lighting, security, shading, climate control, and AV for your smart home all require robust wiring to function efficiently today and in the future.
% of Budget = 5-10%
Multi-Room Audio
Multi-room audio is one of the most popular smart home features and has a few variables that will affect costs. Not only do you need to figure out how many rooms you want to include when designing your budget, but how you’d like to listen to music in them. Do you want to listen to background music or high-performance audio? Consider the kind of speakers you want as well, whether its standard bookshelf ones or custom architectural ones.
% of Budget = 20-25%
Multi-Room Video
How about all the televisions in your home? Here you’ll have to consider not only the cost of your displays but also design, labor and cabling costs for getting your video sources—like Apple TVs, Blu-ray players, or media sources—to those screens. Surround sound systems for any media rooms will also be part of these costs. Exclude any dedicated home theaters that you have in mind as those usually have their own independent budgets.
% of Budget = 10-15%
Security & Surveillance
Home security needs to be center of mind in your budget. Research the number of cameras you may need to cover your main entry points, perimeter, and outdoor spaces. Part of the costs here include integrating these cameras with your overall control system and installing surveillance recording features.
% of Budget = 5-10%
Lighting & Shading
Enjoy greater convenience, reduced clutter and energy savings by integrating lighting and motorized shades as part of your smart home control. Not only should you replace wall switches with convenient keypads, but it may be worthwhile to upgrade your lighting fixtures as well. There will be costs associated with the new keypads, wiring, and lighting load design.
% of Budget = 25-30%
Smart Home Control
Simplifying your smart home control under one platform comes with its own set of costs. A lot of programming goes into getting all of these devices to communicate efficiently with each other. You'll also have to add the costs for control devices like touchpads, keypads, or voice assistants and the wiring to and from them.
% of Budget = 10-15%
Naturally, your system will differ based on the size of your home and the technology you include, but it’s good to have a general idea of what to expect. The first step is reaching out to one of our experts to help you come up with the ideal solution for you.
Set up a consultation by calling us at 225.650.7851, filling out our contact form or chatting with us below.
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