New - old smart home

damn tough questions, lets try to keep it to the 50,000 view initially:

1. a 60yo home may not have electrical commons run. most smart switches require constant power so they need that 3rd wire in the wall box or you'll have to have an electrician rewire it to include ($$$) so before you go down the path of smart switches, you need to find out what's going on in your house first.

1a. lutron makes smart switches that don't require a common and they patented the technology. my guess this is something as simple as having a connector in the switch that keeps the light 'on' (completed circuit) so it can respond to commands and then another connector that actually powers the light on/off. simple ooncept..but kudos to lutron for getting a patent on this. if you go the lutron route, which is not a bad thing, you can run smart switches no problem.

2. if you dont want to put in lutron switches ($60ish each) you can buy from any number of smart bulbs. the risk here is someone can always come along and turn the switch off but smart bulbs are cheap cheap cheap now! simple white/dimming bulbs can be found for $8ea at Ikea and even Hue (once you buy the bridge) makes $15 or less white bulbs available. the biggest advantage of smart bulbs over switches is when you get into color bulbs which are most like $50 each.

3. consider smart outlets. like a plug adapter brands include iHome and if you look on amazon you'll see all kinds. these are typically wifi so you don't need a smart hub and can do a good job with lamps, etc.

4. most locks are still zwave so you'll need a hub. if you do go for a non-zwave lock do *NOT* get bluetooth. you'll want a wifi. bluetooth locks are pointless.

5. garage door openers..2 games in town; go control (zwave) and chamberlain myQ. chamberlain sucks.

6. nest..what? camera? thermostat? i'd go for a ecobee3 over nest any day of the week and if you just want a simple wifi thermostat consider the $70 touchscreen honeywells. they're built like a tank.

7. hubs. lol. you can try rolling your own with a raspberry pie but for a true smart hub you really need a smart things..or....wink. i'm no longer recommending wink.

8. voice control. alexa or google. pick one and stick with it. neither support zwave so you'll still need a hub for more sophsiticated smart stuff.

Don’t forget Sonos CAD!

Looked into things last night, things have come a long way in 5 years!

I'll probably go with ecobee3 or 4 for the thermostat. I like the August smart lock pro for the locks. Also looking at a ring doorbell. Will get amazon echo and maybe a sonos beam. Will pick up a few of the outlets and see how that works, and maybe a few lightbulbs for my bedroom.

House doesn't have a garage, so I'm good there.

Can anyone recommend a basic security camera for inside? Just something to remotely monitor or posibly be set to detect motion?