Why Is My Smart Home So Dumb?

It's also easy to oversell (to yourself) the value of a room having a movie mode. Most smart home features are 'nice to have', not worth a lot of messing around and cash.

Security motion detectors can be used to double effect here as well, you would naturally have them facing doors so they could activate wireless or through signals across existing wires. All sorts of options.

My girlfriend used to occasionally watch a show about house-buying (House Hunters). In general the show wasn't terribly interesting, but the real estate agents featured sometimes had some interesting tips.

One of those tips was to carefully consider not just how you will use a feature of a house (like a pool, or guest bedroom), but how often you will use it. Apparently people spring for expensive extras like pools and outdoor living spaces because they imagine how great it will be to have family and friends over for picnics, etc. But then they do it once, and never again because it is a huge inconvenience. Same goes for "mother-in-law suites" and spare bedrooms. People tell themselves it will be wonderful to have family stay with them, but the family members only visit once a year (if that), so a hotel is actually more economical (or just have someone sleep on the couch).

I tend to think of "smart house" features in this way. Every once in awhile I would appreciate having my living space adapt to my needs or respond to remote commands, but 99.99% of the time, it just doesn't matter. The light switch is right next to the door, I can stand up to close the shades, and thermostats have been programmable for decades now.

Eventually we'll probably come up with something that works even better (just like the programmable thermostats were a strict improvement upon their predecessors). But things like converting the light switch to an "app" or controlling the AC with a rudimentary geo-fence aren't it.