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For starters, you can turn your old geyser into a smart geyser or water heater just by adding a smart plug which can be purchased for less than Rs 1000. The benefits are immense. You won’t need to get out of bed early in the morning just to turn on the geyser. You can simply open the smart plug app on your smartphone and turn it on or off whenever you want. The same smart plug will allow you to remotely turn on your home air conditioner while on your way home from the office.
Get a fast Wi-Fi internet connection
Before starting, you would need a fast and reliable Wi-Fi connection. All smart home devices connect to your phone over the same Wi-Fi network. Invest in a good router to sufficiently extend the range and capacity of your Internet connection. For a smart home setup, electricity sources and Wi-Fi internet connection are equally important.
Initially, you don’t need to buy a smart speaker
There is a misconception that you would need to buy a Amazon Echo Dot or the Google Nest smart speaker as the first thing to turn your home into a smart home. A smart speaker only adds voice support to the smart plugs or lights you buy. Don’t misunderstand that a smart speaker is all you need to make your home smart. In fact, you can initially start without a smart speaker as well.
Start with the lights
Make a list of devices or things that you want to automate in your home. The easiest path to home automation is to start with the lights. Replace tube lights and bulbs with smart LED lights. You can buy any smart LED light online from brands like Wipro, Syska, Xiaomi, Philips and others. These bulbs start at around 600 rupees. Consider the wattage of the bulb to make sure there is enough light in your room. What these bulbs do is allow you to operate them remotely via smartphone apps or voice (Alexa or Google Assistant). You can also change the colors or even dim the brightness of these LED lights. All smart LED bulbs come with their own companion app that lets you change colors, brightness, and turn them off remotely and you can even set a timer.
A smart light will allow you to enter the house with all the lights on. You can simply turn them all off when you go to bed from your smartphone.
Motion sensing lights or switches
There are several lights that turn on or off the moment it detects movement. You can place them inside the bathroom, kitchen or even use them as bedside lamps. Alternatively, you can also buy motion detection switches that can be plugged into whatever light you want. These ensure that you never walk in the dark inside your home and are important if you have someone older or children at home. Motion sensing lights or switches have a starting price of Rs 500.
Smart plugs for old appliances
You can turn your old geyser or AC into a smart AC by simply using a smart plug. Smart plugs are easy to install and you simply need a fast Wi-Fi internet connection. These plugs are available for plugs of different power ratings. There are different plugs for AC, geysers, and other high-power appliances. So you don’t have to worry about safety and compatibility. You just need to insert the smart plug into a wall socket, set it through the APP or Amazon Alexa and then connect the device to the smart socket. It simply acts as a bridge between the wall socket and your appliance. Interestingly, most smart plugs also offer a programmer option. This means that you can program your geyser or air conditioner to automatically turn on at a certain time every day. Also, if you’re stuck in the office, you can turn on the air conditioner or geyser from there and get hot water or a cool room when you arrive.
The low budget smart home with an Amazon Alexa speaker and universal WiFi remote control without smart plugs
While smart plugs and lights can add much-needed convenience to your home, you’ll soon find that managing different apps on your phone is a difficult task. Additionally, most controls will be tied to your own phone leaving your family members behind. This is where a smart speaker and universal remote come into the picture. This will allow all members of your family to control the devices by voice.
To get started, buy an Amazon Echo Dot with Alexa at Rs 3,499 along with Universal WiFi Oakremote remote control at Rs 1,490. These are the basics for creating an inexpensive smart home. You can match the Oakremote Universal WiFi remote control for your AC, cooler, speaker, TV and set-top box. Once the pairing with Oakremote and Amazon Echo Dot is complete, you can add your air conditioner, TV, cooler, etc. to Oakremote. What this will allow you to do is that you will be able to control all your old devices: air conditioner, cooler, TV, etc. with voice. And you don’t need a smart plug. For example, with this setting you can say, “Hi Alexa, turn on the air conditioner and set the temperature to 23” on your old air conditioner and it will obey you. Also, you can say, “Hi Alexa, change the channel to Times Now on Tata Sky” and the TV channel will be changed. You can turn on your speaker, set volume levels, and even change the fan speed setting for your cooler.
Having a universal Wi-Fi remote along with the Echo Dot is a very basic setup at around Rs 5,000 that can add voice support to five old devices like AC, cooler, speaker, TV, and set-top box. You can add a smart plug to your old geyser at Rs 1,000 to make it smart. Invest in motion sensing lights for your bathroom, balcony, and smart light bulbs for your bedroom. With this kind of basic setup, you can get a smart home for less than Rs 15,000. And this is a good starting point.
