Smart Home Automation: What It's Actually Like

"I Don't Want to Get Up to Turn Off the Light"

Winter. Lying in bed watching YouTube, getting sleepy, and the light is still on. Getting out from under the blanket to flip a switch felt unbearable. I just wanted to say "lights off" and have it happen. So I started a smart home project.

Googled "studio apartment smart home." Blog posts everywhere, but mostly "here are good products to buy." Almost nothing about actual installation and the inevitable debugging.

The 127,000 Won Shopping Cart

What I bought (all prices in Korean won, roughly $92 total):

• Smart bulbs (LED, dimmable) x 2: 34,000
• Smart plugs x 2: 22,000
• Smart speaker (Google Nest Mini): 39,000
• Temperature/humidity sensor: 15,600
• IR remote hub: 16,400

Total: 127,000 won. Initial budget was "under 100,000." Adding things one by one pushed it over. As always.

Day One: Stuck on the Bulb

Screwing in a smart bulb is easy. Swap old bulb, insert new one. But the app pairing failed. The bulb wouldn't connect to WiFi. After 30 minutes of debugging, found the cause: my router was running 5GHz only, but the bulb only supports 2.4GHz.

Changed router settings to enable 2.4GHz. Then my other devices started connecting to the slower 2.4GHz network. Had to set up a separate SSID for 2.4GHz IoT devices. Total time: 2 hours. (Two hours to install a light bulb.)

Voice Commands in Reality

Told Google Assistant "turn off the light." "Turning off the living room light." It went off. Genuinely delightful. I can actually turn off lights from bed.

But problems emerged. Saying "Hey Google, turn off the light" in a quiet apartment at night -- neighbors can hear. Studio apartments in Korea have thin walls. And recognition isn't 100%. Once, "turn off the light" was interpreted as something about brightness, and the speaker cranked the bulb to maximum. At 1 AM. Nearly blinded.

I barely use voice commands now. I control everything through the app on my phone. From bed, tapping "lights off." Which raises the question: why did I buy the speaker? (I use it for timers and weather. That's about it.)

Automation Is Where the Real Fun Is

Manually pressing app buttons isn't a smart home. Automation is the point.

Connected the temperature/humidity sensor and set up rules:

• Humidity above 60%: dehumidifier ON (via smart plug)
• After 11 PM: lights auto-dim to 30%
• 7 AM: lights auto-ON (alarm substitute)

The IR hub controls the air conditioner. "Indoor temp above 28C: AC on. Below 25C: AC off." This is genuinely great, especially in summer.

But when automation rules conflict, things get messy. "11 PM dim to 30%" and "movie mode lights OFF" firing simultaneously makes lights flicker. Debugging this takes time. (IoT debugging is more frustrating than code debugging.)

One Month Later: The Electric Bill

I'd hoped "smart control means lower electricity costs." Result: bill went up 1,200 won from the previous month. Smart devices draw standby power 24/7. The smart speaker especially needs to be always on.

AC automation probably saved some cooling costs, but exact comparison is hard since this summer's temperatures differ from last year's. Honestly, don't expect savings on the power bill.

What I Wish I Could Do as a Developer

There's an open-source platform called Home Assistant. Install it on a Raspberry Pi and you get unified control of all devices. I want to do this but haven't. Need to buy a Pi, and setup will take significant time.

Currently managing everything through Google Home, which has customization limits. Complex rules like "if humidity is rising from 55% to 60% quickly, pre-activate the dehumidifier" aren't possible. Home Assistant could do that.

Next month's goal: buy a Raspberry Pi and set up Home Assistant. This goal has been "next month" for three months now.

At Least the Original Goal Was Met

I can turn off the light from bed. That's enough. Everything else is a bonus.