Get smart: Here's how to upgrade your home tech on any budget
Interior decorator Chelsea Graham in the home theater of a house in Hempstead she recently converted from a garage. Credit: Danielle Silverman
Since adding wired cameras to the security system of his Woodbury home, Rich Ritholtz can have neighbors pick up packages for him when he’s away. He can also see what his teenage children are up to.
“My wife and I were in Europe this summer and I could see what’s going on when we’re not there,” said Ritholtz, 52. You can see the deliveries, who comes and goes, the people who are supposed to be there — it keeps your kids in check.”
A home security system is just one of an ever-growing number of high-tech products aimed at making your house smarter, more efficient, more comfortable and maybe even more fun to live in. Here is a selection of gizmos and gadgets available at a variety of price points.
Rich Ritholtz installed security cameras at his Woodbury home with the help of Total Security specialist Rick Fuchs, left. Credit: Morgan Campbell
About $25: Smart light bulbs
Ditch the old-fashioned timer: Using an app, you can control the color, brightness and temperature of WYZE LED 1,100 lumen smart bulbs. The bulbs, which are compatible with Google Assistant, can be adjusted through voice controls and automated to turn on and off at different times through the Wyze app. They are available directly from Wyze.com, Amazon and retail outlets. On the Wyze site, a two-pack runs $22.99.
$130 to $300: Home energy savers
A Google Nest smart programmable thermostat can be paired with a phone to set different temperatures around the house to help save energy, said Leepsha Bag, a sales representative for Best Buy.
The device, which costs $129.99 plus an additional $129.99 installation fee, runs on batteries and is controlled through the Google Home app and via your phone.
A stepped-up Google Nest Learning Smart Wi-Fi Thermostat, which costs $174.99 plus $129.99 for installation through Best Buy, also has voice controls, and includes more monitoring alerts than the Nest smart thermostat.
Fred Kaplan at Sound Insight, his audio-video store in Huntington. Credit: Rick Kopstein
$1,700 and under: Sound systems
Back in the 1980s, an in-home sound system consisted of speakers placed around the house with volume controls next to a light switch in each room.
Today, the most popular way to create a sound system that distributes music throughout the entire house is with Sonos products, said Fred Kaplan, owner of Sound Insight, an audio-video company with a storefront in Huntington village.
“We do everything low-voltage except vacuum systems, basically,” said Kaplan. “We can come into a house and do a full smart home with lighting, thermostats, cameras, security and music. Or we can just piecemeal it, if that’s what the customer wants.”
Because the music is streamed through the internet, each room can have its own volume control, or rooms can be grouped together, all controlled by phone or tablet.
The products, which work through Wi-Fi, are semiportable radios that can be plugged into outlets.
“But when a customer wants to fill the room with more balanced sound and you have larger rooms, then they still do traditional wall or ceiling speakers, which get hardwired back to a Sonos unit,” Kaplan said.
With retrofit installations — in an already finished home — a custom installation is required.
“There’s pretty much always a way to do this with our expertise without any visible damage,” Kaplan said, adding that they often use attic and basement spaces.
For music to fill the room, a Sonos amplifier runs $700, speakers range from $500 to $1,000 a pair, plus the additional cost for wiring, cable and labor — so the total to set up one room can reach about $1,700.
A more economical approach would be to use Sonos semi portables, which come in two plug-in models: one $220, the other $550. There's also a battery-operated version that can go anywhere in the house or outside, which costs $179 or $399.
$1,800 to $2,500: Home security
A typical home security installation includes four high-resolution cameras covering the front, back and sides of the home, said Matthew DiMicco, owner of Total Security of West Hempstead, who installed Ritholtz’s cameras.
Cameras should be visible, DiMicco said, “because you want to use them as a deterrent, but they are aesthetically pleasing.”
The cameras, which are hooked up to a recorder in the house that’s connected to the router, enable you to watch footage on your cellphone, tablet or computer from anywhere in the world.
Camera installation for a typical home through Total Security runs between $1,800 and $2,500, with prices depending on camera resolution and ease of installation. An entry-level camera, such as Google Nest, starts at $100 per camera.
Since adding wired cameras to his Woodbury home, Rich Ritholtz said he can have neighbors pick up packages when he’s not home and he can see what his teenaged children are up to. Credit: Morgan Campbell
A burglar alarm system, which could be linked to an app that can be adjusted via a phone or other smart device, typically includes a combination of contacts for the front and back doors and windows, along with motion, smoke and glass breakage sensors.
A simple basic alarm installation — front and back door contacts, motion detectors, alarm keypad and siren, would cost about $500, plus monitoring, which ranges from $25 to $50 per month, said DiMicco. A higher-end installation, which would also include some window contacts, would cost about $1,500.
$3,000 to $4,000: Upgraded streaming
With many people working from home, the amount of “traffic” going through home systems has significantly increased.
Upgrades to Wi-Fi could mean getting faster internet connections into every corner of the house, allowing multiple people to stream at the same time.
This could be through hard-wired systems, which cost $3,000 to $4,000 installed, or mesh wireless systems with nodes that run around the house. Most homes usually need three or four nodes, with each one costing about $200.
$15,000 to $45,000: Movie magic
To achieve surround sound in a family room, many people add speakers in front and back of a large television, plus a subwoofer. With flat-screen TVs costing between $12,000 and $20,000, you can set up this system for about $15,000, Kaplan said.
A dedicated home theater, typically in the basement, includes a 120- or 130-foot screen with a ceiling projector, which can run from $300 to $30,000; screens cost $2,000 to $3,000; and additional costs go into the speakers and installation.
Sound bars on the wall and other stereo equipment at Sound Insight. Credit: Rick Kopstein
A popular option for those who don’t want to invest in a stereo and separate speakers is the $900 Sonos ARC (Audio Return Channel) sound bar, which pairs with any flat-screen TV, boosting what is often considered the TV’s inferior sound.
“By adding a sound bar underneath the TV, it really opens up much bigger sound for bigger rooms and clearer sound,” said Kaplan, adding that it can also be used to stream music when the TV is off.
Chelsea Graham, owner of Ray George Interiors of Carle Place, recently converted a 20-by-20-foot garage off the kitchen of a house in Hempstead into a home theater with surround sound.
To achieve a comfortable, tasteful vibe, Graham decorated with deep modular sectional seating that can be easily reconfigured, an accent chair, coffee table, gallery wall, mirrors and floating cabinetry. Blackout shades, which are voice-activated and controllable via phone, complete the theater effect.
This home theater in Hempstead started out as a garage. Interior decorator Chelsea Graham's transformation included modular seating. Credit: Danielle Silverman
She said the room cost about $20,000 for décor and technology, which included $4,000 for an 85-inch-Samsung television; $2,500 for a Sonos system; $500 for a Brilliant smart switch that can connect to Amazon’s Alexa, and $3,000 for voice-activated shades. The garage renovation was an additional $25,000.
Several thousand to $250,000: One-stop home automation
Instead of having separate lighting, alarm, camera, music and thermostat apps on your phone, some consumers are choosing an automation system that unites them in one easy-to-control platform.
One of these, Control 4, offers “moccupancy” (think “mock occupancy”), which analyzes the kind of activity a home has had over a given week, and mimics that to make it look like the home is occupied by turning lights, TVs and music on and off at various times.
“It lets you put everything on one application where everything is at your fingertips,” said Kaplan, adding that the app can be controlled from a phone or via a screen in the kitchen, bedroom and front door.
The price of each custom installation depends on how many lights will be manipulated and the number of HVAC zones and cameras, but starts at a few thousand dollars and can go up to $250,000 for a large, full-house installation.
