Best Review Guide / Articles / Home / Home Security Monitoring / Smart home technology. Is it worth it? Pros and Cons

Smart home technology. Is it worth it? Pros and Cons

Hailey Avatar By: Hailey | Last updated February 14, 2019

home security monitoring smartphone house


In a world invaded by smart devices, such as smart TVs, smart phones, smart watches and so on, it was only a matter of time until our entire home would become smart, too. There are companies out there that can sell you fully automated houses, from the first light switch or light bulb in your house, to all your thermostats, appliances and everything else in your household.

But are smart homes really worth it? Here are the main pros and cons for you to consider.

Pros of smart homes

The first and biggest advantage of a smart home is of course convenience. The main purpose of technology itself is to make our life easier, from the daily, insignificant, routine-like tasks and chores and up to the most important things and actions that make up our existence. Technology allows us to accomplish everything faster and with almost no effort.

Another pro is the fact that smart homes allow you to control and monitor everything remotely. For instance, even if you are on vacation somewhere 1,500 miles away from home, with a simple command on your smartphone you can turn on the lights in your home.

There is also the matter of bills, utility costs. While the initial investment might be a bit steep, you’ll end up saving more money in the long run. That is because smart homes are, well…very smart and programmed to analyze usage, create patterns with pre-programmed temperatures depending on the time and day, learn your behavior and preferences and adjust everything in your home accordingly. Within even the first year you can see reduced bills with up to even 25-30%.

Security is yet another advantage of smart homes. Smart homes are more secure than traditional homes, because they let you monitor your house 24/7 via smartphone or computer. You can even keep an eye on your pets while they are home alone, to make sure they are alright and they don’t destroy anything while you’re at work.

Cons of smart homes

Although you will recover your investment in time, smart homes require you to spend a pretty large amount of money up front, because buying, installing and setting everything up is quite expensive and hard…You’ll also most likely want to hire a specialist to configure everything and teach you how to use the system.

Another inconvenient is that you have to take some time to learn how to use the entire system, if you want to make the best of your smart home.   

One annoying drawback is also the fact that smart homes depend on your home WiFi in order to function, so if  that goes down, you might end up with no lights, no heat and so on.

And last, but not least, there’s compatibility. Unless you invest in a centralized platform, which will cost you additional money, you will have to log into several platforms in order to control all systems. While security might be on one dashboard/location, thermostats and lights might be on different ones and you have to joggle between them to be able to set and monitor all of them.

SUBSCRIBE