Smart home technology has gone from a luxury to something homeowners expect. I'm Sam from City Power Electrical Services (ECRA/ESA #7015314), and I install smart home electrical systems across the GTA. Whether you want a few smart switches or a fully connected home, here's what it costs.
Let's start with the simplest and most popular upgrade: smart switches and dimmers. Replacing a standard light switch with a smart switch (Lutron Caseta, TP-Link Kasa, or Leviton Decora Smart) costs $120 to $200 per switch installed. That includes the smart switch ($40 to $80 for the device), the labour to install and configure it, and any necessary wiring modifications. Most smart switches require a neutral wire in the switch box, and many older GTA homes (pre-1980s) don't have neutral wires at the switch. Running a neutral wire to a switch box adds $100 to $200 per location if the wiring needs to be modified.
For a whole-home smart switch upgrade — converting, say, 20 switches and dimmers to smart devices — you're looking at $2,500 to $4,500 total. Volume discounts bring the per-switch cost down, and I can often batch the work efficiently.
Smart lighting goes beyond just the switch. If you want individually controllable smart bulbs (Philips Hue, LIFX, or Nanoleaf), the cost is mostly in the bulbs themselves ($15 to $60 per bulb) plus the hub ($50 to $100 for the Hue Bridge). The electrical installation is minimal if you already have standard fixtures and outlets. However, if you want recessed pot lights controlled by smart dimmers, the pot light installation itself adds the costs I outlined in my pot light cost guide — typically $150 to $250 per light plus the smart dimmer.
Structured wiring is the backbone of a truly smart home, and this is where the real investment lies. Structured wiring means running Cat6 Ethernet cable, coaxial cable, HDMI, and speaker wire throughout your home to a central distribution panel. For a new construction or gut renovation, structured wiring costs $3,000 to $8,000 depending on the size of the home and the number of drops. Each Ethernet drop (cable run to a wall plate in a room) costs $150 to $300 including the cable, wall plate, and termination at the patch panel.
For an existing home, adding structured wiring is more expensive because of the difficulty of fishing cables through finished walls. Expect $250 to $500 per drop in an existing home. A typical smart home setup might include 8 to 15 Ethernet drops (home office, living room, bedrooms, media room), 4 to 6 coax drops, and 4 to 8 speaker wire runs. That can total $4,000 to $10,000 for the wiring alone in an existing home.
Whole-home audio pre-wiring is increasingly popular. Running speaker wire to each room for in-ceiling or in-wall speakers costs $200 to $400 per zone (a zone is typically one room or area). A 6-zone whole-home audio pre-wire costs $1,200 to $2,400. The speakers and amplifier are separate costs — a Sonos Amp is about $800 per zone, though there are more affordable multi-zone amplifier options from brands like Russound or HTD for $2,000 to $4,000 for a 4 to 8 zone system.
Smart home hubs and systems. A dedicated smart home controller like Control4, Savant, or Crestron is the top tier but comes with professional programming costs. A Control4 system for a mid-size home runs $5,000 to $15,000+ including hardware, programming, and installation. For most homeowners, a simpler hub like Apple HomeKit, Google Home, or Amazon Alexa provides 90% of the functionality at a fraction of the cost — and these work with the smart switches and devices I install.
Smart doorbells and security cameras. A Ring or Nest doorbell installation is typically $150 to $250 (device is $200 to $350, installation $100 to $150 if existing wiring is present). If there's no existing doorbell wiring, running new low-voltage wire adds $200 to $400. Security camera installation costs $150 to $300 per camera for PoE (Power over Ethernet) wired cameras, which require Ethernet runs to each camera location.
EV charger smart integration. Smart EV chargers that connect to your home network for scheduling, monitoring, and solar integration are becoming standard. The smart features are built into the charger, so there's no additional wiring cost beyond the standard EV charger installation.
Smart thermostats. Devices like the Ecobee or Google Nest are typically $250 to $400 installed. If your furnace has a C-wire (common wire), installation is simple. If it doesn't, running a new thermostat wire costs $200 to $400 depending on the difficulty.
Here's a summary of common smart home packages I install. A basic smart home package including 10 smart switches, a smart thermostat, and a smart doorbell runs $2,000 to $3,500. A mid-range package with 20 smart switches, structured wiring with 8 Ethernet drops, whole-home audio pre-wire for 4 zones, and security cameras costs $6,000 to $12,000. A premium package with full structured wiring, 30+ smart switches, whole-home audio, security system, motorized blinds wiring, and a dedicated smart home controller runs $15,000 to $30,000 or more.
All smart home electrical work in Ontario must be done by a Licensed Electrical Contractor and inspected by the ESA when it involves modifying or adding electrical circuits. Low-voltage work (Ethernet, speaker wire, security cameras) doesn't require an ESA permit but should still be done properly.
Want to make your GTA home smarter? Call City Power Electrical Services at 416-877-3048. I'll help you figure out what makes sense for your home and budget, and we'll do it right.