Is Saving Money Your Primary Motivation for Home Automation?
I write extensively about home automation as part of my job. Whenever the topic of home automation benefits comes up, I find myself writing about the exact same things – including saving money. While it is possible to save some money through automation, savings probably shouldn’t be your primary motivation.
What is wrong with saving money? Nothing. But if you are like most people, getting on board with home automation opens up a rabbit hole from which there is no escape. You will start pouring money down that hole in ways you never imagined.
Doing so isn’t a bad thing. Likewise, my goal in writing this post is not to dissuade you from jumping into the home automation pool. Rather, it is to explain that there are reasons other than financial savings. I believe those reasons are more important.
How Money Is Saved
Financial savings achieved through home automation are rooted mainly in two things: energy efficiency and homeowner’s insurance. Efficiency savings are realized through smarter temperature and lighting control. Meanwhile, insurance savings are found in discounts offered on homes equipped with security devices.
Beginning with energy efficiency, a smart thermostat capable of artificially learning your routine and self-adjusting can maximize efficiency in both heating and air conditioning. Forget first generation programmable thermostats. Today’s smart thermostats put them to shame.
You also save money by automating lighting. But there is a big catch: today’s LED light bulbs consume significantly less electricity than their incandescent counterparts. So if your home was already equipped with LEDs throughout, the amount of money you’ll save through automated lighting is negligible.
Saving Money on Insurance
Savings on homeowners’ insurance isn’t a given. Some carriers offer discounts and others do not. Among those that do, estimates range from 15%-20%. Based on an annual premium of $2,400, a 20% discount would work out to $40 per month. It’s nothing to laugh at for sure, but you will spend a lot more on home security and automation devices than you will save on insurance costs.
As a side note, investing in a system from a provider like Vivint Home Security will get you top-of-the-line equipment. If you want your system monitored, you’ll pay an extra monthly fee for the subscription. So while monitoring is worth it, you’re not saving as much money with home automation as you think.
Other Reasons to Invest in Home Automation
Running the numbers proves that in most cases, financial savings alone do not justify the cost of investing in home automation. But there are other reasons to jump down the rabbit hole. To me, they carry more weight than the financial savings.
- Convenience – Home automation equals convenience. It is a lot more convenient for me to run a smart thermostat than manually change the setting multiple times per day. I can program the thermostat and forget about it.
- Safety – Home automation makes my home safer in several ways. For example, automated lighting guarantees I never return to a dark house after an evening out with my wife. The house is always well lit as we pull in the driveway.
- Frictionless Interaction – Every manual flip of a light switch or thermostat adjustment represents friction. With home automation, I can control all the devices on my system with voice commands. Now I have frictionless interaction.
I appreciate saving money through energy efficiency and lower insurance costs. But in the end, what I save does not outweigh the financial investment in home automation. Still, automation is worthwhile to me because it offers a level of convenience, comfort, and safety that otherwise would not be available.
