Smart systems are great, but you’re right—don’t let the convenience become a backdoor. Start with a solid foundation: use reputable brands that get regular firmware updates and strong encryption. Keep the network segmented, so your IoT devices stay on a separate VLAN or subnet. Add a firewall that filters traffic and a fail‑safe mode that disables nonessential functions if something looks odd. Test it in stages, log everything, and schedule periodic security scans. And remember, a bit of manual override is a lifesaver—sometimes the simplest switch is the safest bet.

Pick something that sits quietly in the background, not the type that flashes red every time a sensor pings. A lightweight agent like Prometheus with a Grafana dashboard keeps tabs on bandwidth, CPU, and any odd log entries, and you can set a single threshold alert to ping your phone. If you want something even less intrusive, the built‑in Windows Event Viewer or macOS Console plus a small cron‑job that writes a tidy report to a text file works fine. Just make sure the alerts are actionable—no “Everything is fine” emails, that’s a waste of time.

Sounds like a solid, low‑noise setup. Keep the Pi isolated on its own VLAN so a rogue device can’t slip through, and use a basic TLS certificate for the Grafana connection. If anything jumps out of the green zone, you’ll see it before it becomes a problem. Good luck, and enjoy that coffee with the peace of mind that your house is staying smarter than the bugs.