These 3 Questions Will Help You Find the Best Solution

If you’re interested in a personalized smart home system, you’re faced with a decision: do you do the installation yourself or hire a professional?

That depends on what type of smart home experience you’re looking for. If you’re interested in only one or two smart features, you may be fine with a DIY setup. But for a fully automated household, a smart home professional can program and install a sophisticated system that seamlessly ties into your everyday routine.

As a smart home company that serves the Lebanon, TN, area, we at Symspire understand it can be hard for homeowners to determine the first steps toward home automation. Ask yourself the following questions to decide what kind of smart home project suits your needs.

SEE ALSO: Why Choose a Professional Home Theater Company? 4 Key Reasons

1. What Do Want in Your Smart Home?

If you imagine a smart home lifestyle of ultimate luxury, you’ll want to go with a professional installation. Your home will know when to set your thermostat to 64 degrees. It will know that at nighttime, you like the lights to dim and change to a golden hue. And it will know when you tap ‘Away’ on your smart home app, the shades should lower, doors should lock, and all electronics should turn off.

With a professional system, your installer will implement and sync the following technologies:

• Lighting and shading
• Surveillance cameras
• Smart locks and alarms
• HVAC control
• Home theater
• Air purification
• Energy management
• Whole-home audio
• Multi-room video
• Pool and spa
• And more!

But if you’re only interested in a few devices like smart LED bulbs or a video doorbell, you may be content settling for a DIY project. Keep in mind that your devices may not be compatible to merge in one system, which could require separate apps or remotes. 

• Can You Install the System Yourself?

If all you want is a simple, standalone device like a smart thermostat, you can likely set it up yourself. But for a more complex automation system, you’ll need to hire an electrician for wiring, as it’s not safe to attempt unless you’re qualified.

High-end home systems like Control4 require a certified installer to integrate the technology property-wide. But the results are outstanding. Control4 is highly sophisticated, letting you automate scenes in each room while creating When>>Then events.

For example, when your car pulls into the driveway, then landscape lights can turn on, the thermostat can adjust, and indoor lights will set to the perfect color temperature according to the time of day. It would be very challenging to configure such a system through DIY solutions. 

• What’s Your Budget?

In most cases, a professional installation will likely cost more than a do-it-yourself project. But Control4 smart home pricing depends entirely on how far you’d like to go. Your smart system installation could cost anywhere from under $1,000 to $250,000, depending on how much you’d like to control.

But remember, time is money, and you could spend weeks or months trying to configure your own smart home. You might end up with an incomplete system or wasting money on incompatible electronics. You could run into other problems, like needing to upgrade your home network, that can add up. DIY can be difficult and is often not worth the stress and lack of customer service.

If you’re still considering DIY, explore our blog here to learn more about smart home automation. And if you’re looking for a smart home company in Tennessee, contact Symspire today to discuss your new home project!