In the past few years, home automation has transitioned from a hobby for tinkerers and early adopters to increasingly mainstream technology. Now more than ever, there’s a wide range of automatable devices at various price points — and plenty of established companies and startups eager to meet the needs of novice smart home enthusiasts.
Can I do home automation myself? Well, yes, you can build your own smart home without hiring expensive technicians or shelling out thousands of dollars. Smart home automation DIY allows you to control the lighting, security, heating, cooling, and devices and appliances such as TV, radio, microwave, Juicer, etc., in your entire house from one central location on your computer, tablet, or smartphone. Every device or appliance that can connect to the internet can be a vital source for smart home automation.
This blog post is a complete guide on how to automate your home, what is required for home automation DIY, and how you can secure your smart home from malware and breaches. Keep reading and connect if you wish to make your first DIY smart home by yourself!
Table of Contents
How Do I Start Smart Home Automation?
1. Choose your Smart Device
Your first step is to decide what devices and appliances you want to use while automating your home. There are a variety of apps that claim to make pretty much any electronic device a part of the Internet of Things (IoT). Some of these apps can control multiple devices from one smartphone. You can also make your own app or use an existing one to control the equipment you decide to connect to the internet.
What is required for home automation? The most important considerations for your smart home device may include:
- Estimate Cost: Smart devices can be purchased at any price point. Determine your own upper and lower boundaries.
- Easy Setup: If you’re unsure about setting up the power devices (such as a smart thermostat or smart outlet), don’t use one that calls for a high degree of technical expertise.
- Choose your lifestyle: For example, the smart device your neighbor swears by may not work for you.
- Do Research: Consult independent and third-party reviews and buyer’s guides before making a purchase. You don’t have to do as much research as we did (that’s our job), but having a variety of viewpoints is always beneficial.
2. Choose Platform
The most difficult decision to make while automating your home is which platform to choose. Most appliances that are part of a smart home system have different gadgets that can be attached to control or monitor them. Some of these include thermostats that can be wirelessly adjusted, motion sensors, electronic locks, and more. Therefore, you must choose your smart home platform wisely, so every device connected to it is compatible and works properly under the system.
A smartphone app, a computer, or voice-activated digital assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri let you take control of your home automation DIY system from anywhere.
3. Connect Devices
Once you choose the platform of your home automation DIY system, the next step is to select the devices you want to automate. Consider these four areas as you go: control, entertainment, security, and utility.
- Automation and Control
Speakers, Display Systems, Lightings, Heating System, Door opening control system, Smart hub, etc.
- Security and Protection
Camera Security, Smart Lock, Sensors, Audio/Video System, Detectors, Alam, etc.
- Entertainment
TV, Speaker, Radio, etc.
- Utility
Thermostat, Lighting, Sensors, Smart Plug, etc.
As you add additional features to your smart home, you’ll be able to program more routines and automate more tasks using the equipment you already have.
4. Set Automations & Routines
The ultimate objective of a smart home is for gadgets to collaborate to make your life easier. It is possible to make your devices work for you in two ways: via routines and through automation.
Automations:
Automated systems employ a cause-and-effect framework to respond automatically to changes in your home’s environment. Although they take longer to set up and demand more critical thought than routines, they are the ultimate convenience of smart home technology.
Automation may be set up in two ways: selecting an activation trigger and then providing a response.
The following are some typical triggers and actions that may be used in most of smart home automation DIY systems:
Activation Trigger | Response |
Device or system status changes | Change system mode |
Voice or app command | Activate a routine |
Your location changes (geofencing) | Send a notification or message |
Schedule | Control a device |
Routines:
To avoid the time-consuming and cumbersome procedure of manually changing various settings on a smartphone app or smart speaker, this feature enables you to modify many settings at once.
Despite a few minor differences in the process of establishing routines, scenes, and shortcuts across different apps, the techniques are generally straightforward to follow:
- Learn how to set up routines in the app.
- Choose the device or devices you wish to manage.
- Make the necessary adjustments to the device’s settings.
- If you’re going to use a smart speaker to trigger the routine, give it a name that’s easy to remember.
- Try out your new routine to check whether it’s functioning as intended.
5. Ensure Home Automation Security
A smart home automation DIY system with smart appliances, smart locks, smart thermostats, and anything else can all be compromised by connecting to the same network. This is why smart homes and buildings need to be protected by a smart internet security system like VeePN.
Using an encrypted VPN like VeePN, smart homes and smart buildings can cut all connections with outside networks and ensure that everything connected to one smart home or building’s wireless communication stays within the building/home and is secure from smart home/building hackers. It is usually done by securing the IPv4 IP address of your smart devices. Looking for what is my IPv4 IP? Or don’t know what it is? Your IPv4 IP address is your device’s unique identifier at web channels. It can be used to track your browsing history and also geo-locate you. While some companies do that with good intentions, others use it for bad purposes. VeePN hides your IP address from hackers and third-party applications, creating a secure and safe channel for devices to operate in a smart home.
To conclude, the smart home automation DIY system has seen a lot of growth recently, with many companies investing in smart appliances. I hope this blog post will give you enough knowledge about automating your home. If you have any further queries, comment and let us know.
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