You sign the tenancy agreement, pick up the keys and, for the next three, four or five years, that flat is going to be your home: where you wake up, where you work some days, where you come back tired at nine in the evening. And yet there's a line many tenants take for granted: “it's not mine, so it's not worth changing anything”. Home automation, the thinking goes, is for homeowners doing a renovation.
It isn't. Most of what makes a home comfortable — the light that welcomes you as you walk in, the radiator that comes on before you get back, the peace of mind of knowing everything's fine while you're out — can now be installed without touching a wall or asking anyone's permission, and taken down in an afternoon to go with you to your next flat. This is the guide to doing it properly: what to install, what to discuss with your landlord first, what to leave out and how to move it all on the day you leave.
The tenant's golden rule: nothing that leaves a mark
Everything you're about to read boils down to one simple rule. If a device runs on batteries, sticks on with adhesive or plugs in, it's yours and it goes with you: you put it in on day one and take it out on the last day without the flat ever noticing. If a device goes inside the wall or replaces a fixed part of the flat — a switch, the lock, a blind motor — it's still possible and still reversible, but you talk to the landlord first. Not because they'll say no — they almost never do — but because it's their flat, and a ten-minute conversation now saves you an argument over the deposit four years down the line.
This rule exists because the technology has changed: today's systems are wireless and build on what the flat already has, instead of requiring new wiring. If you want to understand why you no longer need to cut channels into the walls or run new cables, we explain it in our guide to how home automation works in an existing flat. Here we'll stick to the practical side: what falls on each side of the rule.
What you can install without asking anyone
Think of it in terms of moments in your day, which is how a home is actually lived in, rather than as a catalogue of gadgets.
Coming home. A smart bulb screws into the light fitting that's already there; a smart plug goes into the wall socket, with the floor lamp or desk lamp plugged into it. With that, the house greets you with the lights on when you open the door, switches itself off when you leave and, if you like, dims the lights from ten o'clock onwards. On moving day, you unscrew the bulb, unplug the smart plug and the flat is left exactly as you found it.
In winter, which is only a month away. The big expense in a rented flat is usually heating, and the most common mistake is heating five rooms to use two. A smart thermostatic radiator head (a smart TRV) screws on in place of the radiator's usual control knob, without turning off the water or calling anyone out: each room gets its own temperature and schedule, the bedroom warms up by itself before you go to bed and the living room switches off when you leave for work. You keep the original head in a box and put it back when you move out. If your heating runs off a boiler with a thermostat on the wall, there's a no-building-work solution for that too; we look at it on the visit and it costs from €700.
When you're out. A sensor on the door and on the windows facing a courtyard or balcony, a motion detector in the hallway and a plug-in siren make up an alarm with no monthly fees that alerts your phone within seconds if someone gets in — and, if you want, switches on every light at once. Everything runs on batteries or plugs in, everything sticks on with adhesive, nothing leaves a trace. And add the one thing no tenant should skip: a leak sensor under the sink and next to the washing machine. The fault itself may be the landlord's responsibility; the ceiling of the neighbour downstairs, when water has been coming through for six hours while you're at the office, is your problem.
Evenings and weekends. A speaker or two, some warm lights and a “film night” or “dinner” scene that sets everything just right with one tap. It's not the urgent part, but it's what makes a rented flat feel like a home of your own.
What to discuss with your landlord (and how to bring it up)
There are three things that greatly improve a flat and that, because they go inside the wall or replace a fixed part, fall into the “let's talk first” category.
The existing light switches. If, instead of smart bulbs, you want the wall switch to stay in charge — because of guests, children, or simply because you like it that way — a small module is fitted behind the existing switch. The switch isn't changed, nothing is visible, and when you move out it's removed and everything is left as it was. Because it touches the electrical installation, it's one to mention to the landlord.
The lock. It's the one that raises the most doubts and causes the fewest problems. The usual model for rentals is a motor that fits over the lock cylinder on the inside of the door: the landlord's key still works, the lock doesn't change, and you open the door with your phone, let the cleaner in without handing out copies of the key and never again wonder whether you locked up. When you leave, it comes off without leaving a single hole. Before choosing a model, it's worth checking whether your door can take a smart lock: it takes five minutes and saves you surprises.
The blinds. If the flat already has motorised blinds, connecting them to the system is our job and doesn't touch anything in the flat. If they're strap-operated, they'd have to be motorised first, which already involves some minor building work and is a job for a blinds specialist, not for us: in a rental it only makes sense if you're staying for years and the landlord sees it as an improvement to the flat — which it is, and sometimes they're willing to share the cost.
Bringing it up is simpler than it sounds: “I'd like to install this, a company will fit it, it's reversible and the day I leave, the flat will be as it was or better”. Offering to leave the lock or the module in place when you move out, if the landlord wants them, usually ends the conversation with a yes.
What we won't do in a rented flat
We also need to say what we won't do. We won't run new cabling, cut channels into walls or put in a fixed installation you can't take with you: in a flat that isn't yours, every euro should go on something that moves with you. Nor do we put cameras on the landing or in the building's communal areas — those belong to the owners' association (comunidad de propietarios), and data protection law is clear on this. And we're honest about what taking it all down involves: an afternoon removing sensors and bulbs, and another afternoon setting it back up and reconfiguring it in the new flat. It's nothing compared with a house move, but it's there.
Moving day
When it comes — and when you rent, it always does — the list is short:
- Sensors, bulbs and plugs: peel them off, unscrew them, unplug them. Into the box.
- Radiator heads: take them off and put back the original knobs you saved on day one.
- Lock and switch modules: take them off, and the door and switches are left as they were. If the landlord wanted to keep them, you leave them set up and part on good terms.
- The brain of the house: it's a small box plugged into the router. Unplug it, take it with you and plug it in at the new flat.
- In the new flat: it's connected to the new Wi-Fi, the devices are put back room by room, and the routines — the welcome-home light, the bedroom radiator, the alarm for when you're out — work again just as you had them.
There's one detail that makes all of this possible and that's worth checking before you buy anything: the system has to live in your home, not in a manufacturer's cloud. When everything runs on your own network, you don't depend on anyone's account, there are no subscriptions to transfer and no app stays “tied” to the old flat or to the landlord. It's the same philosophy we apply to every smart home installation, and in a rental it's the difference between taking a system with you and taking a pile of orphaned gadgets.
How much it costs and when it's worth it
In a rented flat, the budget starts with one question: how long are you staying? Not because the system expires — it comes with you — but because it decides where to start. For two years, what pays off from the first month is room-by-room heating and the lights; for five, it makes sense to add the alarm and the lock from the outset. The figures are the same as for any home: smart lighting from €600, heating and air conditioning from €700, security with no monthly fees from €900, and a full installation from €2,500 — always as a one-off payment, with no monthly fees. And with the same warranty: we guarantee our installation and configuration for 5 years. The devices carry their manufacturer's warranty (2–3 years), and we handle it for you — even if by then you're living in another flat.
Common questions
Do I need my landlord's permission to put in smart bulbs or plugs?
No. A smart bulb screws in where the old one was, a smart plug goes into the wall socket and a sensor sticks on with adhesive: there's no building work, no holes and the flat's wiring isn't touched. It's exactly the same as changing a lamp or plugging in an air freshener, and it comes out just as easily. What is worth discussing with the landlord is anything that goes inside the wall or replaces a fixed part of the flat: a module behind a switch, the lock or a blind motor.
Can I fit a smart lock if the flat isn't mine?
Almost always, yes, and without changing the door. The model we use most in rentals is a motor that fits over the lock cylinder on the inside of the door: the existing lock stays where it is, the landlord's key still opens it and, the day you leave, it comes off in ten minutes and the door is left as it was. If the chosen model requires changing the cylinder, the original is kept in a drawer and put back when you move out. Either way, let the landlord know beforehand: it's their door and they'll appreciate knowing, and once it's explained that it's reversible, hardly anyone objects.
I'm staying for two years — is it really worth it?
Think of it in years of use, not years of contract: almost everything we install in a rented flat comes with you to the next one, so two years in this flat are just the start of the system's working life. What pays off from the first month is what it saves you or spares you: heating only the room you're using in winter, never coming home to a dark house again and finding out about a leak under the sink before it turns into your downstairs neighbour's bill. And whatever isn't worth it for two years, we simply don't suggest: that's why one of the first questions on the visit is how long you plan to stay.
What if my next flat is bigger, or completely different?
All the better: the system grows with you. The brain of the house, the sensors, the bulbs and the plugs are reconfigured in the new flat in an afternoon, and whatever's missing is added — more bulbs for more rooms, another radiator head, one more sensor on the new terrace. What you already have isn't thrown away or paid for twice. Because everything runs on your own network, without depending on any manufacturer's account or app, there are no subscriptions to transfer either: you take the box with you and switch it on in your new home.
In short
Renting doesn't mean just passing through. Anything battery-powered, stuck on with adhesive or plugged in — lights, radiators, the alarm, the sensor under the sink — you install without asking and remove without leaving a mark; anything that touches the wall or the door gets discussed first and comes out just as easily; and the brain of it all lives in a box that plugs in at your next home. The flat may belong to the landlord; the comfort of living in it is yours, and it moves with you.
