Here are some things to be aware of that could add to your installation costs when making your smart home.
- If more electrical outlets are needed, there will be additional costs due to the licensed electrician required to do this task.
- If the drywall is damaged due to retrofitting and fitting of wiring when installation occurs, the drywall would need to be repaired, the texture may have to be redone and that area would likely need to be painted, which would result in an additional cost.
- Some other things to consider include, for example, if you are planning to integrate a swimming pool controller or other equipment, potentially different manufacturers have different equipment required for a third-party interface between the controller and that product so it can be integrated with the rest of the smart home. For example, garage door openers, swimming pool controllers, motorized automated shades, may each require a third-party device to integrate between the central brain and that actual product. You would need to check with your smart home provider to see what is required to integrate those elements in your system and see what additional costs those items would be.
- Some other additional costs could be Wi-Fi enhancement, such as making an extended network to be sure its signal is reaching all parts of the home and also that it is strong enough to handle the load of the smart home on the system. One of the first things to consider is if you have adequate Wi-Fi throughout the home or business. If you have poor distribution of Wi-Fi throughout the home or business, you would need to address this before being able to completely integrate a smart home hub. This would be needed to ensure that all the devices that are Wi-Fi would have the accessibility to connect to the system easily. That could involve a mesh Wi-Fi system or other enhanced Wi-Fi network to reach all parts of the home.
- Zigby or Z-Wave, which are two different types of wireless communication over two-way radio frequency, for example, which may be how a remote or light switches of the different systems connect. You may need to add repeaters or extenders for extensions of the Wi-Fi signal, or Zigby or Z-Wave signals. These 2-way radio frequency repeaters can range in price anywhere from $50 to $150 per and the Wi-Fi extenders can be as little as $50 to $150 or they can be hardwired wireless access points which could cost as much as $500 to $750 per location plus the cost of adding that pre-wire.
When doing a smart home system, you should keep in mind that you may need to allow as much as $1500-$2500 if you need to add hardwire access points to ensure that you have perfect Wi-Fi throughout the home or business.
- One more thing that could add costs to your smart home installation is client-supplied equipment. For example, if a client supplies an older TV or other device and wants that to work with the system, they may have different wires than what we use to integrate into the system. With any client supplied devices, you could run into some additional costs to make sure it will connect seamlessly to the smart home hub.
We’re here to help answer any questions you have about the home technology process. Call (813) 938-1585 or click anytime.
