Before I actually researched and made my home smarter, the idea of a voice activated thermostat or lights seemed very expensive to me. After doing a bit of research and actually buying a few key smart products I was shocked to discover two things:

First, it is very inexpensive to make your home smarter. Second, it is very easy to install the products yourself (with the exception of the Smart Lock). After talking to my friends and co-workers I realized that very few people have understood how accessible a smart home is.

All these individual products can be controlled through their own app. The beauty of it all is to make them voice activated and to have one central hub that controls it all. (Very Last recommendation)

So, here is a list of products (under $USD1000 total) that will help you make your home smarter.

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Smart Lights 

There a couple of options here. You can either buy smart lights or a smart switch that can control your existing lights.

The cheaper option is to buy the smart switch and use your existing lights. We recommend: LUTRON P-PKG1W-WH Caseta Wireless 600-watt/150-watt Multi-Location In-Wall Dimmer with Pico Remote Control Kit, White, Works with Amazon Alexa – $USD59

Smart Thermostat

There are a lot of options here. Most popular thermostats out there are: Honeywell, Nest and Ecobee. We recommend Canadian made Ecobee – ecobee3 lite Smart Thermostat, Works with Amazon Alexa, 2nd Gen – $USD166.99.

Smart Door Bell

This product allows you to answer your front door bell on your smart phone without letting your guest (or stranger) know that you are not home. This product is convenient and it adds extra security to your home. We recommend: Ring Wi-Fi Enabled Video Doorbell in Satin Nickel – $USD179

Smart Lock

I had left for a night out and drove about 50km before my wife called me as she was coming back from work to tell me that she had forgotten her key at home. I had to drive back to unlock the door for her. That is when I decided that I will be changing the lock to a smart lock. NO MORE KEYS! We recommend: August Smart Lock HomeKit Enabled (Silver) with August Smart Keypad (Dark Gray) – $USD319

The device that makes it all seamless

Do you choose Google Home, Amazon’s Echo or Apple HomePod? All of these will voice activate your lights, voice control your thermostat, music and lock your front door. I am not about to get into product reviews, I simply recommend the Amazon Echo because I know it works with all these products and I love the quality of the speaker itself. I use this as a my primary music speaker every time I entertain. I mainly use Amazon Music Unlimited. Try Amazon Music Unlimited 30-Day Free Trial

Get the Amazon Echo Here: – $USD179  Amazon Echo – Black

Total Cost for all of the above products: $USD907

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