How much does home automation cost?
Posted on September 20, 2017 • 5 min read • 940 words
It is difficult to give an answer to what home automation actually costs. The best answer in this case is: It depends. Home automation can cost a lot if you go for a top brand and if you also want to fully automate your home.
To determine exactly what home automation will cost you, I have prepared some questions:
- What type of home is this? New construction or existing, own home or rental home? Are you going to renovate?
- And how thoroughly?
- Do you want a wired or wireless home automation system?
- What do you want to do with your home automation system?
- Are you someone who goes for the top brands? Or are you not sensitive to that?
- Are you going for ready-made? Or do you want to build it yourself?
What type of home
The type of home ultimately determines which system you can use. Are you going to build a new home, or are you going to thoroughly renovate? Then you can work well with home automation solutions that require cables. On the other hand, are you stuck with an existing home that you don’t want to do too much to, or a rental home? Then a wireless solution might be a better fit.
Wired or wireless
I paid the necessary attention to this in an earlier article. Choosing wired or wireless not only depends on whether you have to chop, break and mill, but also whether you suffer a lot from interference in your home. If you have to send the signal from your home automation system through the field of your microwave, the control of lighting and other things may not work as accurately as in an open space.
wired
If you are going to build a new-build home and you want a wired home automation system, you must take into account 5 percent of the cost of the home. If you are going to build a house costing 200,000 euros, this would amount to 10,000 euros. A standard electrical installation amounts to approximately 3 percent of the construction costs, so 6,000 euros.
You can have your installation built based on KNX, one of the most widespread standards when it comes to wired home automation systems in Europe. These types of systems can generally only be installed by an (experienced) installer. If you are handy and want to do it yourself, you can also get started with PLCs.
A list of wired solutions:
- KNX -Crestron
- Niko Home Control -PLC
wireless
If you have no problems with wireless, or if you want to achieve some extra comfort in a rental home, you can use various techniques and solutions.
Some examples of this are:
- Fibaro (Z-Wave)
- Nest (Thread/ZigBee)
- Zipato (Z-Wave)
- Somfy
- KNX RF
- KlikAanKlikUit
- HomeEasy
- WiFi
In general, wireless systems are quite easy to install and expand. Configuration is also generally relatively simple. Wireless systems are available from a few tens of euros, such as the KlikAanKlikUit and Home Easy.
What do you want to do with it?
Do you just want to be able to turn your light on and off remotely from a remote control or your smartphone? Or does it go further and do you want your home to respond completely automatically to your presence? It’s all possible, but it does have some consequences. A simple KlikAanKlikUit remote control (the sensor) and the plug that switches your lamp (the actor) ensure that you can control your light remotely.
If it all has to be fully automatic, you need some extra things. First, you will often use a motion sensor to detect presence in your home. You will also use a light sensor to know whether it is light or whether it is dark. In this case too, you need an actor that actually turns your lighting on or off. Naturally, this costs more than just switching the lighting.
If you want to operate and use all your audio and video from one central location, you can safely add a few thousand euros to your budget. An audio/video switch is not very cheap. In addition, this generally requires wiring, so you have to run cables.
Ready-made or DIY
Most of the systems I mentioned above are plug-n-play to a greater or lesser extent. You don’t have to do too much yourself for this. If you are a real electronics adept, you could also choose to build your home automation system yourself, for example based on Arduino and relays. The hobby level is very high, but when it finally succeeds, it is all the more fun.
On the other hand: When you have your installation installed by an expert, you can be sure that everything works as it should. If something does not work, you can at least ask for support. You will have to take care of this yourself with a self-build system.
Conclusion
With home automation you can make it as crazy as you want. If you opt for a wired installation in a new-build home, you have to take into account about 5 percent of the construction costs. When you use a self-build system, the price starts at a few euros. For ZigBee or Z-Wave you have to take into account 25 to 50 euros per sensor or actor. In addition, there are the costs for a remote control (75 euros) or a home automation computer (35 euros for a Raspberry Pi to approximately 400-500 euros for a Fibaro Home Center).
In other words: Plenty to choose from. Do you already know what you are going to do? Or do you have any questions? Let us know below.
