What is the cost of a smart home in northern ireland in 2020?

You’ve done the research, you love the idea of having a more economical, functional and safe home. It’s exciting, accessible, it’s going to make your life a whole lot easier and reduce your monthly household bills. Now comes the fun part.

How much does it cost?!

This is the big and mighty question, and the big and mighty answer is … (drum roll please!) … well, that depends. How long is a piece of string? Anything from £50 to £50k? Stick with us and we’ll break it down for you.

You could predict that installing a smart home system may cost between 4% - 10% of the property’s value or roughly the same price as a kitchen but it is also worth considering the following factors; the size and cost of your home, the features and specification you are looking for, hardware options, planning, design and consultancy costs, and labour and installation costs.

Remember – while you may be a dab hand at DIY, investing in good professional installation will be reflected in the quality of what you get in the end and a big investment is usually a better, longer lasting and cost-effective one.

With that in mind and in order to simplify it even further, here at Epitome Living we believe it is down to a few key factors;

1.     Crossover

2.     Existing Budgets

3. Energy Efficiency

Crossover

In a traditional home, we have electrics, plumbing, kitchen, bathrooms, tiling, joinery, blockwork and various other trades. Sometimes, there is a little crossover with these naturally, but there is usually cooperation between trades, rather than one person or company doing everything involved.

Whilst a smart home is a separate “trade” from the above list, there is a lot more crossover than there would be traditionally - this is good news for you, as there is more cohesion in your home. It also means systems aren’t fighting against each other as there is an overall system considering everything to ensure it’s all working as efficiently as possible (we’ve heard the story about the heating system and aircon constantly fighting against each other!).

Existing Budgets

This one can be difficult to handle. Some people assign budgets for “electrical” & “plumbing”. Some will dive a little deeper, and consider lighting, networking, alarm, cameras etc under electrical, and potentially break out heating from plumbing. 

With a smart home, it may be that some of the electrical and plumbing budgets would be moved over to the smart home budget. For example, we regularly look after lighting control, heating control and security cameras (to name but a few), as well as some items which traditional trades tend to avoid, such as networking with whole-house WiFi, audio-visual systems and electric door locks.

Things worth remembering is that YOU choose the level of home automation in your own home, you choose which systems, functionalities and features will suit your living patterns but also worth keeping in mind that picking a proper professionally installed system could add value to your property’s value, if and when the time comes to sell.

Energy Efficiency

If you were to utilise a solar panel or wind turbine to provide your home’s energy supply, it will have a sizeable initial investment cost, yet also that in the long run there will be less spent on energy bills from using this renewable source.

The same applies to smart home technology where there is an initial installation and equipment cost, but looking ahead, the system when set up and managed correctly can reduce monthly expenditure for heating, lighting, security and access, audio visuals and whole-house WiFi. This makes set up costs more reasonable and affordable long term.

How much does it cost then?

While we may not be able to tell you exactly how much a smart home costs right away, we will be able to tell you how much your smart home will cost. We can work that our with our unique process starting with an initial complimentary consultation to discuss your needs and wants.

In essence, you can get a great head start with your project, allowing you to get a plan in place to match your taste, lifestyle and budget, giving you the most value from your smart home. Keeping a close eye on what is important to you in terms of functionality, costs and whether you want to go with a basic, mid-range or luxury finish.

Contact us and we’ll be happy to walk you through the options to find out what suits you.

Call +44 (0)28 3881 0102

Email info@epitomeliving.com