What it costs
What a smart home actually costs depends on a handful of things. Here they are, so you can work out roughly where your home sits before anyone quotes you.
The five things that move the number
In rough order of how much difference each one makes:
| What | Why it matters | Effect on cost |
|---|---|---|
| How many points | Every light, fan, curtain and AC you want controlled is a point. This is the main driver, far more than floor area. | Direct — roughly linear |
| The wiring you already have | A neutral wire at the switch box means a straightforward retrofit. No neutral means either different devices or electrical work. | Large, and only a survey settles it |
| Which products | The gap between a budget module and a well-made one is wide, and it shows up in how often you think about the system. | Two to three times, across the range |
| Locks and cameras | These are the expensive individual items. A smart lock often costs more than all the switches in a bedroom. | Chunky, per device |
| Stage of the home | Under construction is cheapest to do properly. Occupied is more work but still mostly non-destructive. | Moderate |
What is not extra
- The site survey — it is free, and you are not committed to anything after it.
- The written proposal, which you are free to take elsewhere for comparison.
- Setting the system up on the household's phones, and showing people how it works.
- The logins and the documentation. They are yours. You are not locked to us for changes.
Where we will tell you not to spend
There are a few things people ask for that we usually talk them out of, because the money is better spent elsewhere in the same house:
- Automating a room nobody uses. The guest bedroom can wait.
- Colour-changing lights everywhere. Lovely in one room, a gimmick in six.
- A camera for every corner. The entrance and the main approach do most of the work.
- Voice assistants as the main interface. They are a nice extra. A system that only works when you talk to it gets abandoned.
What would your home need?
This gives you the device count, which is the part you can sanity-check any quote against — ours or anyone else's.
Questions about cost
Because the number depends on the wiring far more than on the floor area, and a starting price that the survey then contradicts is worse than no number at all. What this page does instead is tell you which five things move the cost, so you can place your own home roughly and judge any quote you receive — ours or anyone else.
Yes, and it is usually the sensible way. Start with the rooms you use most, make sure the hub and the network can carry the full eventual load, and add the rest later. The only thing worth getting right at the start is that foundation, because redoing it is the expensive mistake.
The survey and the written proposal cost you nothing and commit you to nothing. You are free to take the proposal to another installer for comparison, and we would rather you did that than felt cornered.