Companies MentionedThere’s a lot to absorb when setting up a smart home. That's because the concept of a "smart home" is relatively new, and the term itself is fairly nebulous. Two readers wanted to know the best way to get started. Image credit: Philips "Which systems are good for learning how to install full home smart systems?" AdicommunicationsukAs we explain in our Smart Home Guide, a smart home can be as simple as a set of lights that you can control from your phone. Or it could be a whole home setup in which your lights, thermostat, locks, security cameras, smoke detectors, garage door openers and more are all interconnected and can react in different ways when one of them is triggered. For example, you can have all your lights turn on when your smoke detector starts blaring, or you can have all the lights turn off, the locks lock and your security camera turn on with a single command. MORE: Our Favorite Smart Home Gadgets and SystemsIf you're just getting started, I would recommend getting the Philips Hue White Starter Kit $69 and the Amazon Echo Dot $49. Philips' lights provide one of the least expensive ways to get started and should give you a taste of what you can do. From there, you can connect the lights with the Echo Dot, so you can turn them on or off using Alexa. Image credit: TP LinkIf you want to go further afield, I suggest investing in a smart plug or two; these simply plug into an outlet and connect to your home's Wi Fi network. From there, just plug a lamp, a coffee maker or anything else into the smart plug, and you'll be able to integrate that device into your smart home.