The smart home industry wants you to buy everything. Smart fridge. Smart toaster. Smart egg tray that tells you how many eggs you've got left. (That last one is real. We checked.)
Most of it is nonsense. Some of it is genuinely useful. Here's the difference — from someone who installs this stuff every day.
Start here. This is the foundation.
A Home Assistant box. You can run it on a Raspberry Pi or a small refurbished office PC. £50-100. This one device replaces every hub you'd otherwise need and makes everything talk to each other. Without it, you're just buying gadgets that work in separate apps.
A ZigBee coordinator. A USB stick that plugs into your Home Assistant box. £20-30. This lets you connect ZigBee devices directly — no brand-specific hubs, no cloud dependency, no subscription fees.
That's your foundation for under £130. After that, you add devices as you need them.
Worth spending on
Smart TRVs. About £35-50 per radiator. These pay for themselves in the first winter. Being able to heat rooms individually isn't a gadget — it's genuine energy savings. If you only do one thing, do this.
Presence sensors. £25-40 each. One per main room (living room, kitchen, home office, bathroom). Your lights actually work properly. No arm-waving. No lights going off mid-shower.
Leak sensors. £12-18 each. Put them under sinks, behind the washing machine, by the boiler. The cheapest insurance you'll ever buy. One leak caught early saves thousands in flooring and plasterwork.
ZigBee relays behind light switches. £15-25 per switch. Keeps your normal switches, adds smart control. Cheaper than replacing every switch with a smart one, and it looks better.
Save your money on
Smart bulbs everywhere. Fine for lamps where you want colour temperature control. But for ceiling lights, a ZigBee relay behind the switch is cheaper, more reliable, and doesn't confuse guests. One relay smartens every bulb on that circuit.
Smart appliances. Your washing machine doesn't need WiFi. Nor does your kettle. Nor your fridge. The problem these solve is "how do we sell you a fridge in 2026." It's not a problem you actually have.
Branded ecosystems. Philips Hue is good stuff but you pay a premium for the name. Generic ZigBee bulbs and sensors do the same job for a third of the price. Home Assistant doesn't care about brands.
Smart speakers in every room. One or two is fine. A dozen is just an expensive way to make your house listen to you.
The order that makes sense
Week one: Home Assistant box and ZigBee coordinator. Get the hub running.
Week two: Smart TRVs on your most-used radiators. Start saving money immediately.
Month two: Presence sensors and ZigBee relays in key rooms. Lights that work properly.
Month three: Leak sensors and contact sensors. Peace of mind.
After that: Whatever's actually useful. You'll know by then what you actually need versus what looked cool in a YouTube video.
The real numbers
You can get a solid foundation — hub, heating control, and lighting in three main rooms — for around £400-600. That covers the stuff you'll actually use every day. You can spend more, obviously. But you don't need to.
We design smart homes for every budget across Greater Manchester, Leeds, and the North West. If you want the useful stuff without the fluff, get in touch.