But creating your smarthome isn’t something you should go into without planning.
Without forethought, you may make some common mistakes.
Poorly Named and Grouped Devices
Getting your firstsmart light bulbis exciting.
The whole process seems so simple: just screw in the bulb and pair it with an app.
For more convenience, you may even have a smart speaker to control your light by voice.
Before long, you have several light bulbs because the first worked so well.
That’s where convenience goes out the window.
Unless you choose carefully,smarthome gear names can be hard to remember.
Speaking of grouping, you shouldgroup your smart lightsby room.
you’re free to just say “turn off the lights.”
But what about rooms without smart speakers?
Too Few Smart Speakers
You might be tempted to stick with one smart speaker for voice control.
To start, that’s not a bad idea.
But the best voice commands are simple and easy to remember.
That makes voice control easy.
Josh Hendrickson / How-To Geek
Once you pick a smart speaker, you should stick with that brand.
Additionally, you’re compounding your work by adding different smart speakers.
Pick one voice assistant and stick with it.
Josh Hendrickson / How-To Geek
Don’t resign yourself to permanently living with different voice assistants in different rooms.
The moment someone flips a light switch controlling your smart bulb, you lose all the intelligence.
Breaking the light switch habit is hard, especially when multiple people living in the same home.
Instead of smart bulbs, you could usesmart switches, which replace your standard light switch.
There are a few downsides, however.
And you’ll lose the color options that come with smart bulbs.
If you have Philips Hue smart bulbs, Lutron offers theAurora Switch.
Instead of wiring in a new switch, the Aurora slips over your existing switch.
It then acts like a dimmer switch.
Josh Hendrickson / How-To Geek
If you don’t have Philips Hue, you could considercovering the dumb switchto prevent anyone from using it.
If your smart bulbs offer a remote control unit, consider mounting that next to your dumb switches.
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Many Brands of Devices with Many Different Apps
Smarthome gadgets are all the rage.
It seems like every day a new manufacturer pops up with its take on the latest smart widgets.
To cut down on that problem, use the same brand across devices as often as possible.
If the manufacturer of your smart bulb also makes smart plugs, attempt to use those.
When all fails,use one app to control them all.
That will probably be your voice assistant app—Alexa or Google Assistant.
You’ll still load the other apps, of course.
You don’t need to replace everything all at once.
Even if you could, you shouldn’t.
Instead, start small with just a few devices.
A few smart bulbs, a smart plug, and avideo doorbellare more than enough for a starter smarthome.
Getting started can beless expensive than you might think.
Consider picking just a single room to start.
Smart homes don’t have to be complicated, and they shouldn’t be frustrating.
