Starting a smart home doesn’t have to break the bank, but some of the best upgrades you can make require a significant investment. I’d argue that they’re all worth it, and some can even save you money.

Here are some pricey smart home upgrades to put on your shopping list.

Rooftop solar with an energy monitor

An upgrade that eventually pays for itself

Rooftop solar is a sound investment, especially if you’re planning on staying in the same house for an extended period. It can take around a decade (but often less) for solar panels to pay for themselves in energy bill savings, after which they will last another 20 or so years before needing to be replaced.

Tracking the energy you generate in a smart home platform like Home Assistant or Apple Home gives you an easy way to monitor electricity production. It also allows you to create reactive automations that turn appliances on and off based on how much “spare” energy you have.

For example, you can add a high load smart plug for an electric vehicle charger and control it based on solar panel energy generation. This allows you to charge an EV for free simply by creating a rule that turns on the switch when conditions are favorable.

If you want more control, a system of actionable notifications delivered to your mobile device during the day can prompt you to switch things on and off in a more efficient manner.

Heating and cooling control

Automate your home’s temperature and humidity

Credit: Tim Brookes / How-To Geek

The ability to automate your heating and cooling can make a huge difference in the way you use your smart home. How you go about this depends heavily on what your heating and cooling setup looks like. For example, a smart thermostat is a relatively cheap investment as long as your existing system is compatible. If you have individual split-system head units in each room, an infrared proxy might be the perfect solution. If you have a central boiler and radiators, smart valve controls on each radiator give you control over which rooms are heated.

Beyond the control method, you’ll also want to invest in some temperature sensors to place around your home. This is ideal if you have zoned heating and cooling. You might feel comfortable setting this up yourself, but for ease of use, the option to use an all-in-one system of sensors and controller is always there.

I added zoned central air to my house last year, and took the opportunity to add a wireless controller that can be controlled via an app that also happens to have Home Assistant integration. It pushed the price up by around $500 compared to a standard “dumb” controller, but it was a priority and factored into the quote from the outset.

With a controller accessible in Home Assistant, I can do everything from a dashboard or companion app. This includes automating heating and cooling based on criteria like solar generation, time of day, and presence. I added scripts to quickly open zones and switch modes exposed to Apple Home so anyone can control the system.

Other neat tricks include automating heating in the winter to prevent pipes from freezing or turning on cooling for home-alone pets in the summer.

Water shut-off valves

Better to have them and not need them

Water shut-off valves can be pricey, but they will pay for themselves many times over in the event of a burst pipe. By linking your water leak sensors, you can automatically turn off your water supply when a leak is detected. That’s all they do, and there’s a good chance you’ll never actually make use of them.

You don’t necessarily need a plumber to install one of these, since many of them are simple actuators that work with your existing tap, like the Bulldog Valve Controller and Robot (around $650). Not only can a smart shut-off valve stop damage, it can prevent your insurance premiums rocketing and save you the stress of what to do when a water leak sensor sounds an alert and you’re not around to do anything about it.

A full set of smart locks

Peace of mind for the price of a locksmith

Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek

Smart locks vary considerably in price, from around $100 through to $400. To really get the benefit, you’re probably going to want one for both your back door and front door (since you won’t like going back to a key once you’ve experienced the frictionless ease of smart entry).

The more you spend, the more you get. If you want fancier features like palm vein recognition, where you hold your arm out, and the door unlocks, be prepared to pay more. It’s worth spending enough money on a lock that satisfies the brief since you won’t want to change or upgrade it for a long time (and getting it wrong will cost you more when you decide to upgrade later).

Think about which features you want, whether a backup keyhole is of interest (these are convenient if the battery dies, but they also leave the lock open to picking attacks), and then double the price to account for both lock units. On the plus side, most locks are relatively easy to install using your existing hardware.

Brand

Anker

Connectivity

Wi-Fi

Eufy FamiLock S3 Max brings together a smart lock and video doorbell together into a single package. Along with a PIN pad, the smart lock feature palm vein authentication biometrics. After enrolling, you’ll just place your palm around 4 inches away from the scanner at the top of the smart lock. It also features a video camera that can sense motion when anyone comes near your front door. On the inside, a large screen will show you who is at the door without the need for an app or smart display. 

Whole-home Power-over-Ethernet

Less Wi-Fi, fewer problems

Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek

I don’t use Wi-Fi in my smart home if I can help it. Keeping my network as light as possible means that the devices that truly rely on Wi-Fi—smartphones, laptops, and unavoidable smart home devices—work consistently. I hardly ever reboot my modem, and things rarely drop.

Before I get security cameras installed, I’m going to make another big investment first: a whole-home run of Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) cabling. Ethernet is reliable, fast, and more consistent than Wi-Fi. It’ll be great to have Ethernet at my desk, behind the living room TV, and anywhere I might want to add a wireless repeater.

On top of this, having power in the Ethernet cable means one less wire to worry about. You can power all manner of other smart home devices with PoE, from sensors to Bluetooth and infrared proxies, and even mesh network coordinators.

Depending on your home and your level of skill, it could be a cheap job that’ll cost you only time and the best quality Ethernet cable you can afford. If you need to pay someone to do it, expect it to cost considerably more—especially if you haven’t got underfloor or roof cavity access.

Now that you’ve got your eye on some pricey upgrades, why not take a look at some smart home devices you should avoid