Yip I dropped down into the smart home hole ... man it is dark down here ... lots of windows to open and view how to videos ... you need to have a lot of patients and little expectations ... unless you have a gold mine to keep feeding technicians (@R1200 per hour for a call out ... seems the solar and smart home techs fall in the upper class bracket).

How wrong I was thinking smart homes have become simple easy affordable systems to use ... they are still expensive ... you can start with a cheap setup which has very limited options but as you expect more so the prices just to the R20-30k bracket ... then there is the DIY route ( the one I have taken) ... its needs to be something you enjoy doing and have tons of time to tinker ... you will need to keep up to date and make sure your wifi signal is always on ( there are options to keep it in house)

To hook up a simple wifi lamp ... easy peezie ... there is an app and remote ... start adding multiple lamps ... from differnet manufacturers and the challenge starts getting real.

I think its much like going to gym ... the more effort you put in the better the result ... but if you stop tinkering the system will eventully just fall apart.

lets see where this goes.

I want to be able to operate my entire home off one app. ... at the moment I am using smart life ... CBI ... IDS HYYP and IDmss.

I have no interest in opening and closing blinds and silly things like that ... I want to get my power backup ... security system ... lighting ... geyser ... gates and garage door all working together ... with the added bonus of knowing the status of the each device with remote control from an app.

With water becoming just as bigger challenge as electricity outages ... control over the water system storage and filtration will be an added bonus.

The most import part of the system ... everything is hard wired ... the app side of it is the make life easier fun part.