Why Can Two Home Automation Quotes Have Completely Different Prices?

“I received two quotes, but I don't understand the gap”

Who it’s for: Homeowners and building owners comparing quotes.

This is a situation we encounter regularly when a home automation project reaches the tendering stage.

The owner described the same needs to both companies: lighting, shutters, air conditioning, a few scenes, possibly a mobile app. So the two quotes seem to be talking about the same thing.

And yet the first shows an amount that can be significantly lower than the second.

The first reaction is often simple: “One of them is too expensive.”

But before comparing prices, one much more important thing needs to be checked: are the two companies really offering the same installation?

It is rarely as simple as it seems.

Two quotes can list the same functions without offering the same solution

Let us take a very simple example.

Two offers state:

• automated lighting;
• centralised shutters;
• controlled air conditioning;
• scenes;
• control from a smartphone.

At first sight, the two offers look identical.

But this list says almost nothing about the architecture behind it.

• How do the devices communicate?
• Where is the control logic located?
• What happens if the Internet goes down?
• What level of automation is actually planned?
• How is the installation organised in the electrical panel?
• Which devices are integrated together?
• What can be added in five years?
• Who will be able to work on it if the original installer is no longer available?

Two quotes can therefore promise the same visible functions while resting on very different solutions.

This is exactly the problem we began to explore in the first two articles of this series: what matters is not only what the home lets you control, but how the system is designed to do it.

The price of a quote is not simply the number of devices

A home automation quote can contain dozens of line items: buttons, modules, actuators, sensors, gateways, power supplies, interfaces, enclosures or communication equipment.

Yet it would be misleading to compare two offers simply by adding up their components.

A system can use less hardware while requiring more design, programming or integration work. Conversely, an offer can include more line items without necessarily delivering more useful functionality.

The final price therefore depends on several dimensions:

• the study and design of the architecture;
• the devices chosen and their quantity;
• their level of functionality;
• the wiring and the necessary adaptations;
• programming;
• integration between the different systems;
• testing and commissioning;
• documentation;
• support after handover.

In other words, the price of a solution does not only reflect what is installed on site, but also what was thought through before the work began. This is why a home automation quote should never be read as a simple list of products with a total at the bottom of the page.

An example: the same scene can hide very different work

Let us imagine a “Leaving” scene.

In both offers, the client reads:

Leaving scene: lights off, shutters closed and certain devices switched off.

The displayed result looks identical.

But let us look at what may lie behind it.

In a first installation, the various devices are relatively independent. The scene may require several interfaces or gateways to make the systems involved talk to each other.

In another, the architecture was designed from the outset so that these functions can communicate within the same operating logic.

In both cases, the client presses the same button and sees the same lights go out.

Yet the possibilities for evolution, the behaviour in the event of a fault, the maintenance and the work needed to carry out the project can be very different.

This is an essential point: the price does not only pay for what you see working on handover day. It also pays, in part, for the way that function was built.

What a quote includes matters as much as what it shows

Two companies can also use the same words while including different services.

For example, “home automation installation” can mean:

• supplying the hardware;
• fitting;
• wiring;
• programming;
• configuring the scenes;
• integration with the air conditioning or the lighting;
• testing;
• commissioning;
• training the user;
• handing over the documentation.

But these items are not always included in the same way in every offer.

A quote may look cheaper simply because part of the work sits elsewhere: in another work package, in an additional service, or it is simply not planned. This does not mean that a cheaper quote is incomplete or bad. It simply means that its scope must be checked before comparing it with another offer.

So before comparing two amounts, you need to compare the actual scope of each offer.

The level of automation also changes the price

There is another difference that quotes sometimes make hard to see: the expected level of operation.

Writing “automated lighting” is not enough to define an installation.

Is it simply centralised control?

A scene?

Presence detection?

Adaptation to natural light?

Time-based control?

A combination of several conditions?

And what happens when a condition changes?

The higher the level of automation, the more you generally need to define the interactions between devices, the operating rules, the exceptions and the expected behaviours.

The price of an installation therefore depends not only on the number of functions announced, but also on the depth of those functions.

And after handover?

This is probably one of the least visible parts of a quote, even though it can matter a great deal over the life of the installation.

A home automation installation must be tested, tuned and documented. This commissioning work is what distinguishes an installation that works “well enough” from one that is truly fine-tuned.

You need to check that the controls work, but also that the scenes respond correctly, that the devices communicate as planned and that the expected behaviours are consistent across different situations.

Then comes the question of documentation.

Should an owner receive the plans, the settings, the identification of the devices, the logic of the functions and the information needed for a future intervention?

Two companies can therefore hand over a home that works on the same day, yet leave behind very different levels of documentation and maintainability.

This difference is rarely visible in the amount shown on the first page of the quote.

How can you compare two quotes without being a technician?

You do not need to know every technical reference to start comparing two offers properly.

Above all, you need to ask both providers the same questions:

This comparison already turns a comparison of prices into a comparison of solutions.

The initial price is only part of the cost of the project

This is an important distinction.

An offer can show a lower amount at the start and then require additions: a new function, a panel adaptation, a new gateway, an extra intervention, a programming change or reworking part of the installation.

Conversely, an offer that is initially higher can include more items from the outset.

This obviously does not mean that a higher quote is automatically better. Price alone simply does not allow you to draw that conclusion.

The right comparison is to look at what each amount actually buys, today and for the rest of the project: possible changes, extensions, maintenance, the company's availability and the documentation left behind.

This is also why you should be wary of comparisons based solely on a brand or on the number of modules.

A component is only one part of the solution.

How we approach this kind of project at ExaBuilding

At ExaBuilding, we start by defining the building's needs and expected uses before translating those needs into equipment.

This makes it possible to distinguish what belongs to the functions that are actually needed, the architecture that must support them and the devices that will implement it.

The quote then translates this solution into services and supplies.

Above all, this approach allows the client to understand what they are buying, and not just how much they are paying.

Because a home automation installation is not just a series of technical references. It must work as a coherent system, be commissioned properly, be understandable after handover and, when the project calls for it, evolve with the home.

Conclusion

Two home automation quotes can show very different prices while, on paper, meeting the same needs.

The difference can lie in the architecture, the level of automation, the devices, the integration, the wiring, the programming, the commissioning, the documentation or the possibilities for evolution.

That is why the right question is not:

“Which quote is the cheapest?”

but rather:

“Do both quotes really offer the same solution?”

So before comparing two amounts, compare what they actually contain.

A home automation quote is not a list of hardware. It is the financial translation of an architecture, a level of service and an expected result.