The Good and Bad of Home Automation

Home automation is a huge technological advancement for mankind. The ability to remotely control various aspects of our home is appealing to many, and makes life more convenient for a lot of people who invest in home automation. Home automation, however, isn’€™t a good investment for everyone. As is the case with nearly everything (except free money and/or food), home automation has its pros and cons. Let’€™s delve a little deeper:

Pros

Home automation systems can make life super easy. They are built to help relieve stress from your life, and they usually do. You won’t have to pay a small fortune for your small mistakes, anymore, because of home automation. You’€™ll have the ability to turn off your lights, coffee pot and other small appliances from your phone or tablet.

Another way that you can save money is by having a smart thermostat. By turning off or down your heating/ac, you’€™ll be saving a lot of money on your energy bill. You can program your thermostat according to your schedule, or you can turn it on and off from your mobile device. So basically, you’€™re paying to have an easier, more convenient life. To many people there is no price tag that you can put on that. To many other people, however, these comforts seem unnecessary and expensive.

In addition to saving money and going green, a great thing about the home automation industry is that there are a lot of different companies to choose from. This enables you investigate using sites like Vivint Reviews to find the best fit for you. Competition in business like this is always an advantage to the consumer, and should be taken advantage of.

Cons

There are a surprising amount of things that are negative about home automation. Home automation providers usually require you to sign a contract of at least three years, paying over 50 dollars a month, in most cases. That’€™s a lot of money. One of the big pitches in selling you home automation, is that you’€™ll save money on your power bill. Unless you’€™re saving at least 50 dollars a month, home automation will end up costing you more than it’€™s saving you. Also, home automation can be a bit complicated for those of us who aren’€™t good with electronics. There are a lot of gizmos and gadgets that can be a little tricky to use, but if you don’€™t use them, you won’€™t maximize your home automation experience.

I recently read a pretty fantastic piece called the Pixar Theory. It theorizes that all of the Pixar movies take place in the same universe. It was very interesting, but it got me thinking about what we are doing with technology and how it is affecting our lifestyles. The movie Wall-e had a lot to do with it. Basically in the movie, humans live a completely automated life. So automated to the point that they don’€™t have to do nearly anything. Humans are lazy, overweight and don’€™t contribute to society at all. Don’€™t get me wrong, I’€™m not saying that home automation systems will make everyone fat. But maybe it’€™s a step in the wrong direction, for us.

In summary, there are some good things about home automation and there are some bad things too. If you think that the comfort and conveniences of home automation are worth it, you should invest. However, if you think that home automation is not worth the contract and it would be too difficult to use, don’€™t. The choice is yours.