Get started with the Smart Home

4 min read
From what to start, if you have no experience with using smart home? How to get started with minimal spendings and get understanding, how is smart home fits to you?

From which point can you start, if you don't have experience with using smart home technologies?

What can be used as the start point if you have never tried the Smart Home at work and want to start using its functions without significant costs?
Most smart home devices require a control gateway to work. Its cost is about 30-50 dollars, and if you have not yet decided whether you need a smart home or are not sure that you want to choose Xiaomi smart home - starting with the purchase of such a gateway may not be worth it. What to choose then as the first device?
Most likely, the best choice would be a sort of device that can work autonomously and can be useful in itself, regardless of whether you have a smart home or not. And if the device works by itself and is "smart" at the same time (i.e., it can be controlled, it can participate in some scenarios) - then, most likely, it will be controlled via wi-fi. What could it be? For example, an air purifier Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier Pro:
Xiaomi Air Purifier
A rather expensive purchase - most likely, the price will be more than 150 USD. But such a filter can improve health, significantly reducing harmful impurities in the air of the apartment. This is especially true if you live in a city with highly polluted air or if you are allergic to pollen. The filter has a large, silent fan that forces air through a massive carbon filter (the filter should be replaced once a year).
But where does the smart home have to appear with it, you will ask? This air purifier can be added to the Mi Home app and connected to a wi-fi network. Once connected, the following options will appear: manual control of switching on or off, switching the filter on and off scheduled, and brightness control for display.
Additionally, you will be able to control the temperature, humidity, and air pollution level in the room where the filter stands, using your smartphone.
But that's not all: you have the opportunity to create automatic scripts, and automatic actions are now available to you by changing the threshold (both up and down) of humidity, temperature, or air pollution level.
For example, you can set up a notification on your phone when a threshold level of air pollution exceeds. Air pollution sensor very sensitively reacts to the slightest appearance of smoke, which means, among other things, you have an additional element of fire safety.
Another example of a device that works autonomously is a robot vacuum cleaner. It will not generate events for smart home, hovever, after adding the robot vacuum cleaner to the Mi Home app, you can set up cleaning, for example, on certain days of the week, which will start, if no one is at home (for example - the entrance door was opened, and no motion sensor is no longer detecting movement in the past few minutes).
A cheaper option of the first purchase for a smart home can be the LED light bulbs controlled via wi-fi. For example, the Xiaomi Philips Smart LED Wi-Fi (E27) bulb can replace an ordinary light bulb with a standard holder and it will start working immediatelly as a white LED lamp. But, after adding to the Mi Home application, you will able to change the brightness of the light bulb, light tone (from white to warm yellow), set scheduled on/off, and of course, control such a light bulb from other events in the Mi Home system.
But don't get carried away with devices that connect via wi-fi, more on that see here

Xiaomi Mijia Smart Multimode Gateway 2

Xiaomi Mijia Smart Multimode Gateway 2

Xiaomi Mijia Smart Multimode Gateway 2 is a smart-home hub (model DMWG03LM) using Zigbee 3.0, Bluetooth Mesh, Wi-Fi. It integrates with Xiaomi Home / Mi Home with China-region pairing where specified.

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Xiaomi Camera

Xiaomi Camera

Mi Camera 2K (Magnetic Mount) is a compact 3 MP indoor Wi-Fi camera with 2304 × 1296 video, 940 nm night vision, two-way audio and Mi Home app control.

From $80.01 + shipping

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Aqara D1 No Neutral 1Key

Aqara D1 No Neutral 1Key

Aqara D1 single-key no-neutral Zigbee wall switch, commonly model QBKG21LM. It controls one wired circuit and requires a compatible gateway for Mi Home smart control.

From $42.85 + shipping

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