Have you ever walked into a friend’s house and all the lights are blue? Did your friend change the colour of the lights with their phone? Did they turn on the music with voice commands? Did they adjust the heat with their phone? Have you found yourself wondering how they can afford these things?

Not as much as you might think. Here are 5 easy, affordable smart home upgrades you can do yourself. All are available at Home Depot, Walmart, and Amazon for an average price of $200.

Smart Thermostat:

Cost: $200 - $300

Installation: Installs easily using the same wires as your current thermostat.

Benefits:

Adjust the heat with your cell phone, so you don’t come home at 10pm to a freezing house.   Create multiple programs to automatically adjust the heat, or use smart mode to automatically adjust your heat based on your routine, to save money on your power bill. 

Setup vacation mode by entering your departure and return date, keep the heat low while you’re away. Monitor the heat while you’re away with your cell phone, or set up a low temperature alert. Nobody wants to come home to frozen pipes.

Smart Lock:

Cost: $150 - $400

Installation: Install with only a screwdriver and a few batteries, it directly replaces your                                                                                                                                                                                                    existing deadbolt using the same hole.   

Benefits:

Smart locks automatically lock the door when you leave the house, no more wondering if you locked the house when you're out driving in the car. Unlock your home with a PIN number, never look for your keys again. Although smart locks still cannot prevent you from forgetting your password.

Tired of staying to let in your home service provider, create a temporary PIN so they can let themselves in. Gone for vacation, create a PIN for your friend to check on your home. Most feature a low battery indicator so you never get locked out by a dead battery.

Smart Doorbell

Cost: $150 - $200

Installation: Uses the same wires as your existing doorbell. If you don’t have a wired in doorbell, any electrician can install it easily through your basement.

Benefits:

Smart doorbells allow you to see who is at the door when somebody rings the bell. The camera will broadcast to your phone when the doorbell is rung. If you couple the smart doorbell and lock you can let someone in remotely to 

The video camera allows you to monitor your front yard to protect your home. A motion detector takes a photo when somebody walks by your home. Photos are automatically saved so you can preserve the evidence if necessary. 

Smart Lights

Cost:    $59 each for bulbs that can operate without Alexa or Google Nest.

 $59 for 4 packs of lightbulbs that need Alexa and Google Nest to operate.

Installation: Simply replace the light bulb with a smart bulb, then program your cell phone, Alexa, or Google Nest.

Benefits:

Some smart light bulbs can operate with your cell phone, simply down the app and program it to your lights. Then, you can turn the lights on and off, and change the colour with your cell phone. 

Other bulbs that link to Alexa or Nest operate the same way, except for the cost of the hardware. Use voice commands or link with your phone to operate your smart lights. Impress your house guests by changing the colour or turning the lights out without getting up. 

Smart Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Cost: $150 to $200

Installation: Replaces your existing wired in smoke or CO2 detectors using the same wires. If you have battery power detectors, an electrician can install the unit easily.

Benefits:

Receive alerts on the go if anything happens when you're not home, detect both smoke and CO2 with one unit. The unit self tests everyday and sends an alert to your phone if there is a problem. 

Smart detectors can tell the difference between fast and slow burning fires and alert you on your phone. Turn off the alarm using your phone when there’s a false alarm. No more climbing on a chair when you burn your toast.  

Easily install these affordable smart home upgrades today. Impress your friends and reap the benefits of smart home technology.