Your Smart Home Budget - Part 1 of 3

This blog is a straight to the point, pull no punches, guide to budgeting your Smart Home systems in a major renovation or new build project. I’m going to highlight all the major spends and stick a price on them to give you a heads up before you start scoping out your Smart Home options.

Before we dive in, the pricing I’m going to reveal is relevant to most types of house but is definitely not relevant to the hyper luxury multi-million pound homes. Let’s go!

Early Stages

It’s unlikely that the Smart Home install businesses who are quoting for your project will charge you to provide a quote but be prepared to pay for revisions to quotes. Budget around £150-250 per revised quotes for your project.

Once you are happy with the quote and wish to proceed with your installer, demand a contract, get a full list of the work to be carried out and request a schedule of the install stages and time scales for each element of the project.

You should expect to pay a deposit to the installer once the contract has been signed. At Customised we typically invoice for 15-20% of the project at client agreement stage.

Design

Your Smart Home installation needs a design. This cannot be omitted from the quote, it's vital. The design will prepare the wiring scheme for the home, it will be the schedule for all the specialist wiring being installed and will be a document that multiple tradespeople will reference during tasks relating to home tech.

At Customised we produce easy to follow designs and wiring schedules for electricians to install the wiring and prepare layouts for detailed parts of the install like a home cinema or a wiring enclosure.

Design Budget - for a 2 or 3 bedroom project, budget £500-800 and for 4 bedroom+ homes, budget around £600-1200.

1st Fix

At Customised we undertake the 1st Fix with this mentality; Electricians cable homes. You, the client, do not need to pay two company’s to run wires in your project. Customised provide the wiring schedule and layouts to the electrician on the project. You have to be prepared for additional charges from the electrician for running the Smart Home wiring but it will still be more economical for just the electrician to wire the home. What we always price into the 1st fix is site checks of the 1st fix progress. The checks ensure that the right cables have gone in at the right positions and locations. This low cost check could save thousands of pounds if an important cable is left out.

One element of the 1st Fix that Customised maintain control of is the supply of the Smart Home cable. It’s crucial that the cabling installed is capable of meeting current and future technology demands. Smart Home cabling typically consists of Cat6, loudspeaker, coaxial, HDMI and fibre optic cable.

1st Fix Cable - for a 2 or 3 bedroom project, budget £500-800 and for 4 bedroom+ homes, budget around £800-1400.

1st Fix Checks - any project size, budget £200-400.

Parts 2 and 3 of this blog will cover items like 2nd Fix labour and materials, wi-fi systems, multi-room audio, TV distribution and lots of other Smart Home options. Let me know your thoughts on Part 1. Comment below or email kris@customised.uk.com.