As part of Google I/O 2011, Google announced Android@Home which brings automation to your home. There have been plenty of technologies like X10, Insteon, ZigBee, and Z-Wave that have tried to get home automation to the mainstream, but it has never happened.

Google is not really coming up with anything new here. People who have implemented the above systems can do what Google is touting. For example, with my Android phone, I can turn on lights, set my thermostat, open/close my garage, and much more. I can do any of those things from anywhere in the world.

My overall observations come from using Insteon which I have been slowly implementing in my house for a few months now. The 2 biggest reasons that home automation has not taken off is price and complication.


As far as price goes, plug in lamp modules cost about $35 and light switches cost about $45. As you can see, this is not cheap if you are looking into implementing your entire house.

Now as far as complication goes, there are 2 elements. The first is installation. The plug in modules are easy, but a lot of people are not comfortable replacing light switches. The second item is the programming. To me, the programming is not hard, but if you remember the old VCR days, most people never set the timer on them because they just didn’t get it.

Its like NFC. Your phone does not need it in it per se, just get a NFC key ring and link that to your phone, and jobs a good-on! As far as light's are concerned, it is not possible to have some i/o device that plugs in in between the bulb and the fixtures, this can then be wirelessly incorporated into the system. Might prove to be cheaper one in the long-run.

So what's the average installation cost for this? You need to replace a dozen or so light switches + some lamps, etc. Looks like we are talking $1000+ That doesn't sound like a mainstream price quite yet to me.

Well I really like this idea of bringing automation to our homes because I really would like to see what my dog is doing while I am at work. But I don't want to just let my computer/webcam on because it is wasteful.

Originally Posted by Mjames81

So what's the average installation cost for this? You need to replace a dozen or so light switches + some lamps, etc. Looks like we are talking $1000+ That doesn't sound like a mainstream price quite yet to me.

It looks expensive, when you put it that way Mjames. Like any other technological developments, prices will come down eventually. Well, if this thing pushes through, that is.