DIY or Do it Yourself Home Automation may be overwhelming for some. Maybe there are those who don’t know where to begin. However, automating your home in a practical way has never been more economical and achievable then with the many off the shelf smart devices sold at any retailer today.

Purchasing and automating your home one device at a time assures affordability and allows you to learn the basics of home automation before investing in and trying other smart devices. It really is that simple and anyone can begin today.

Let’s look at the practical steps to begin automating your home and essentially automating your life.

Practical Steps for DIY Home Automation

There is no right or wrong way to approach home automation. It all comes down to your personal preferences and goals. That being said, here are some practical steps to help with the process.

Step 1 Determine Your Goal

The first step is to determine your goal or vision with home automation. For example, are you wanting a doorbell cam or other smart cameras for home security? Do you want to control lights and other appliances? Or maybe you are looking for a smart controllable thermostat?

Maybe you don’t know what your goal is and that’s okay too. You may have been at a friends or neighbors house and witnessed them ask Alexa to dim the lights or mute the TV and you were amazed.

If you know a specific goal then you can target those devices specifically. Then add other devices one at a time. If you don’t have a specific goal and just think it’s cool to control devices with your voice or from the app on your phone, then join the club.

It’s not only fun to monitor, schedule, and control devices in your home, but it’s empowering too. If you don’t have a specific goal to begin with then start off with something simple like a Smart Light or Plug.

Step 2 Determine Your Budget

Because you can practically begin with one device at a time, budget may not be an issue. On the other hand, if you know your vision and have grand plans with whole home automation utilizing many Smart Devices, then you may need to consider the cost.

How often will you add new devices? Monthly, Quarterly, or Annually? Obviously if you have the money you can purchase many devices to begin with and add more later to achieve your goals.

Step 3 Do your Research

Now that you know what devices you will be purchasing and how much you can spend, it’s time to do your homework. There are many different device brands on the market today and a little research goes a long way.

Search the internet for reviews of the different brands and watch YouTube videos. Review the device features and specifications from their websites. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Automated Living Blog to keep up with the newest devices and automated living trends.

Step 4 Determine Your Control Platform

So you now know which devices you are going to purchase to begin living the automated life. Now how will you control the devices and automate with schedules. There will always be an app for your phone, but you can also use a voice assistant like Amazon Alexa on the Amazon Echo Devices or a Google Home Assistant to do more with your Automation.

These platforms can always be added at any time. They are essentially another device, but they allow you to manage the whole home automation with schedules, triggers, scenes, routines, and of course voice commands.

Luckily most name brand devices today work on either platform, but you should always verify device compatibility before making your purchase. Both platforms are similar and it really is a personal preference.

Step 5 Purchase and Install Your Devices

Next comes the fun part, go shopping. Have fun looking around at all of the smart devices you may want to add to your system. Take some time to look at the displays and read the product labels on the boxes.

When you are finished exploring and scheming at all the ways you can automate your home, Don’t forget to purchase the device or devices you came to get.

After you get home, it’s time to set up your new devices. Depending on what devices you have purchased, you will most likely need to plug in the device, download the app, and connect it to your WiFi.

Many times the app will prompt you to update the firmware in the device before proceeding. All you have to do is click okay and wait. You will need to create a free account for the app after downloading.

Once you have the app downloaded and your account created and the device connected to your network, you can begin to set up your schedules, routines, or scenes.The app may prompt you or you can usually find these in the settings on the app. The apps are very user friendly.

Step 6 Sit Back and Rule Your Domain

Finally the hard work has paid off. Just sit back in the easy chair and control your devices with the touch of a button or a simple word spoken out loud. The Automated Life has now begun and it only gets better from here on out.

The possibilities are endless with the many different automation schemes you can imagine and make a reality.