Getting Started - One Month at a Time

Hello all. Last year we moved into a new house, and it’s now time to bring the home into the 21st century.
We held off because of the cost of doing all the automation we want at once, but finally decided that we’d go at it one month and one purchase at a time.

We started with the SmartThings starter kit and a couple of GE Z-Wave light switches to control the exterior lights. Combined with our existing Lyric Thermostat and Ring Doorbell, we’re off to a great start. We plan to buy one (maybe two) devices (switches , sensors, etc.) at a time, eventually replacing almost every light switch in the house. I expect most of the system to be Z-wave, with a handful of ZigBee and WiFi devices.

I’ve done this before in a previous home using X10, but am looking forward to working with the latest products.

Any general tips you could provide or “gotcha’s” you could warn me about would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome! Sounds like a great way to approach things! I did something similar with my “limited investment“ strategy, detailed in the following project report:

You might want to take a look at the “get started“ quick browse list in the community – created wiki. Lots of great ideas and tips there. :sunglasses:

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=How_to_Quick_Browse_the_Community-Created_SmartApps_Forum_Section#Quick_Browse_Links_for_Project_Reports.2FQuestions

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