How to save money when buying smart home devices

2 weeks ago 2

Person holding smart phone showing various interconnected smart home appliances

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Between video doorbells, security cameras, smart thermostats, water leak detectors, routers and more, you can easily spend thousands of dollars when setting up your smart home.

Before you drop the equivalent of a mortgage payment on smart home devices, there are a few things you should know. Here are three tips to make sure you don't spend too much money.

Figure out your needs in advance

A smart home can mean lots of things, depending on who you're asking. For every device in your home, there's now a "smart" version, from the humble lightbulb to a refrigerator that can let you know when your milk is expiring.

Unless you want to go all Jetsons-style in your home, chances are you don't need to replace every appliance with a smart version.

Before buying a single device, think about what you want to achieve. Do you want to save money on your heating and cooling bill? Do you want to keep tabs on your property? Or maybe you just want some funky lighting.

Identifying the problem you want to solve in advance will help you know which devices you need to buy, and which you don't.

Look for budget items — but make sure they're reliable

For every type of smart home device, there's usually a premium version as well as a budget model. For example, you can get security cameras with 4k resolution, advanced tracking, and a whole host of other features, but they might run you $150 apiece. But, there are also models with lower resolutions that cost less than $50 each, which might suit your needs just as well.

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Similarly, the best premium smart thermostats cost around $250, but you might not want or make use of all their features, in which case a model that costs half as much will work just fine for your home.

Take a hard look at all of the features a given device offers, and decide if they're right for you, or if you can go for a budget model instead.

Don't pay for subscriptions if you can avoid them

One of the hidden costs of smart homes are subscription fees, most notably for security cameras and video doorbells, many of which will require you to pay a monthly feee to save video and access all their features.

Fortunately, there are plenty of models out there that do not require you to pay for a subscription, so it's worth checking them out first. Your wallet will thank you.

Michael A. Prospero is the U.S. Editor-in-Chief for Tom’s Guide. He oversees all evergreen content and oversees the Homes, Smart Home, and Fitness/Wearables categories for the site. In his spare time, he also tests out the latest drones, electric scooters, and smart home gadgets, such as video doorbells. Before his tenure at Tom's Guide, he was the Reviews Editor for Laptop Magazine, a reporter at Fast Company, the Times of Trenton, and, many eons back, an intern at George magazine. He received his undergraduate degree from Boston College, where he worked on the campus newspaper The Heights, and then attended the Columbia University school of Journalism. When he’s not testing out the latest running watch, electric scooter, or skiing or training for a marathon, he’s probably using the latest sous vide machine, smoker, or pizza oven, to the delight — or chagrin — of his family.

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