Smart home design and installation for apartments and family houses

We design and build smart home systems for apartments and family houses, from the first consultation through cabling, installation and programming to handover. If you wish, we also take on the operation afterwards. On new builds we get involved as early as the shell construction phase; in existing homes we work without tearing into walls.

Yabune Home runs locally: the hub is in your home, it brings heating, lighting, shading and security devices together in one interface, independent of the manufacturer, and it works without the internet.

What you get from us: from smart home design to operation

Every project follows the same process, so you always know where we are, what comes next and what you get at the end.

1. Consultation and needs assessment. You tell us what you are planning: building a new house, renovating, or making your existing home smart. Online or on site, we talk through your goals, the property and what is really worth doing.
2. Concept and plan. Based on the consultation, we write the smart home concept: what the system will control, with which devices, and where cables are needed. It comes with a device list and a cabling diagram. We plan the network separately: where the Wi-Fi access points go and what coverage each room will get. Based on the concept you receive an itemised quote; if you accept it, work starts when the order form is signed.
3. Installation. On new builds and renovations, we specify in advance which cables, boxes and distribution points go where, so the electrician can work to our specification. We then install and commission the devices, build the low-voltage network and set up the automations. After every step we check that the devices are in place and work as they should.
4. Handover. We walk you through the system, show you the phone app and back up the system. You receive the installation and handover document (what went into the house, where, and with which settings, including the network port map) and the user manual. The handover is recorded in writing, and for 30 days after handover we fine-tune the system free of charge.
5. Operation. With Yabune Service packages we monitor your system’s status during working hours, make regular backups, and test updates before applying them. When you report a fault, we start investigating within the agreed response time.

All of this is done by one team: software developers, electricians, network specialists and project managers work together, and we develop the system software on our own platform. That way everything your system needs stays in one hand. We present the steps, with sample documents, on the How we work page.

New home or existing home

New build and renovation

When building or renovating, good preparation is the cheapest step. The right wiring and preparing device locations cost next to nothing during construction, but later they mean cutting into walls, patching and repainting. On the technical preparation page we have collected, area by area, what is worth installing in the shell and electrical installation phases, from junction boxes and conduits to the network cabinet. The guide can also be downloaded as a PDF, so your electrician can work from it too.

Existing apartment or house, without tearing into walls

With a module hidden behind the light switch or in the junction box, existing lighting, blinds and heating can be controlled without opening the wall. This also works with two-way switching, and we set in advance what the system should do after a power cut. For this we most often turn to our partner Shelly and its modules. Existing air conditioning can be included too: the indoor unit is connected with an infrared controller, regardless of brand, so it appears in the same interface as the heating. In an existing home we start with a survey, which shows what can be done without tearing into walls.

A system left without support

If your Home Assistant-based system was built by a previous installer and has now been left without support, we take it over too: we audit it, fix it, document it and, if you wish, operate it. We describe how this works on the system takeover page.

How the smart home system is built

Local hub. Control runs locally, in the property. Depending on the size of the system, the hub is a small single-board computer (Raspberry Pi) or an industrial mini PC. What matters is not the box but that it is reliable and your data stays in the house.

Works without the internet. The system runs on the home’s own network, so scenes, schedules and automations keep running without the internet. Remote access goes through an encrypted connection, not through a manufacturer’s cloud.

Built on Home Assistant, with our own additions. The system is based on the open-source Home Assistant. We add what a production system needs: a selection of proven devices, our own integrations for devices the platform cannot talk to on its own, and operation. We connect wireless devices over Zigbee, Z-Wave and Wi-Fi, and we usually build the network from TP-Link Omada equipment.

One interface for everything. The hub brings together heating, cooling, lighting, shading, security devices and energy metering, independent of the manufacturer. You don’t have to install everything at once: most people start with one area and extend the system later. We present the individual areas on our solutions page.

What determines the cost of a smart home?

There is no single price, because every home is different: basic heating and lighting control in an apartment is one thing, a fully automated family house is another. The cost depends mainly on five factors:

• Areas: heating and cooling, lighting, shading, security, energy metering – each needs its own devices and configuration.
• New build or existing home: during construction or renovation, wiring and preparing device locations is cheap; in an existing home we can work without tearing into walls, but the choice of devices is narrower.
• Devices: wired solutions last longer, wireless ones are more flexible; brand and quality matter too.
• Network: stable Wi-Fi coverage, a tidy network cabinet, an uninterruptible power supply.
• Setup and operation: the more custom automations you ask for, the more programming is needed; after handover, we provide supervision under a Service package.

Building a smart home can be done in stages: it is worth starting with the areas that matter most or save the most, typically heating and cooling, and security. The itemised quote lists devices, labour and operating options on separate lines. You can read more about the cost factors on our FAQ page.

Where do we work?

We are based in Budapest, but we design and install smart homes all over Hungary, in apartments and family houses alike. Where our systems are already running is shown by the map on our references page (“Where have we worked?”), by town and, in Budapest, by district, without exact addresses.

Frequently asked questions about smart home installation