Smart Home – A Comprehensive Home Automation Guide

Interested in home automation and smart homes, but the topic seems so complex and multifaceted that you can't make sense of it? Home automation can make daily life easier and more comfortable, improve home security, and save energy, so a little learning can be well worth the effort. Our experts Juha Harju, Katja Roiha, and Aki Ahonen will guide you through getting started with home automation in this article.

Home automation and smart homes – what do they mean?

Simply put, home automation refers to household devices that can be automated and remotely controlled, and a smart home is a home equipped with home automation and remote control devices. How many home automation devices does it take to make a smart home? That's for each person to decide.

In a smart home, only your imagination is the limit, but remote control is enough to get started

While Aki Ahonen thinks smart home is a term that's used too broadly, the fact is that smart homes and home automation are often talked about as if they mean the same thing. Katja Roiha believes that different home automations at least create a smart home vibe. Ahonen also points out that many customers don't buy smart home devices to automate something – remote control is enough for them.

According to Juha Harju, home automation works best when, after installation, you don't have to adjust anything yourself – everything runs in the background and learns on its own. And that's when it's truly smart, even by Ahonen's standards. In this article, however, we won't go that deep. Instead, we'll focus on easy solutions you can implement without professional installation to help you get started.

Warning! If you keep reading, you might get hooked

Even if you start with a very small investment, you can easily add more devices and intelligence later as your budget and other resources allow. That's why it's worth warning you – home automation can be addictive. Once you get going, you might soon find your home filled with all sorts of gadgets.

Harju reminds us, however, that even if you get excited about home automation, you don't have to force other family members into it. Lights, remotely controlled outlets, and other smart devices can still be used with regular switches, so only those family members who are excited about automating different things and creating automation rules need to use the smart features.