We live in an old house (~350 years old at the creation's time of this page) and when starting some house works after moving in, we had to think about putting in place some home automation.
And we did not.
But still, some aspects are interesting and I keep reading about this topic... and wish to put some things in place.
As for the solutions: Low consumption is the key. Reduced costs as much as possible. Zero performance or Nerd-only-usability are no go.