I am building a new house and want to install smart lighting the ozbargain way.
What I am looking for is a cost effective solution that will allow me to control lighting throughout the house via light switches or an app. Ideally an in wall or light switch solution. Something that will work with Google Home would also be preferable.
I am not keen on replacing individual bulbs with smart bulbs.
I was thinking some combination of Google Home, Smart Things Hub and ZigBee switches but am very open to suggestions. Has anyone done something similar?
Can only give you a few perspectives, since I've only dabbled so far.
First, it's a developing area, which means it's GOING to massively change over the next 5 years. Design in flexibility and expect at least something you buy to be overtaken by events.
Second, consider Echo Dot (or Google Home if they sort themselves out) for voice control. Changing things without having to find the switch or app, or get up, is a major selling point.
Third, do you want to change the colour of the light? In many situations you might find that as an added bonus, which means a smart bulb.
Practically you have the option of just having a smart switch, but I'm not thinking that that option will survive contact with smartbulbs. In the smartbulb vein you have Philips Hue, LifX, or also rans. Hue is Zigbee whereas LifX is wifi. If you are doing a whole house then Hue might end up cheaper, but it's far from certain.
If you wedded to the apple walled garden, consider that their proprietary homekit effort needs special chips, and that some bulbs don't have them (LifX Gen3 does IIRC, and Hue too).
I'm probably trending towards something that means I don't have to think about lighting, so that it adapts without input. Thus consider presence sensing in your new house design as well (even if it's just alarm PIR units in each room). And above all, think about the lighting design and having flexibility, rather than just one light in the middle of each ceiling.