Service area
Private AI Home Assistant Setup in Houston
Kotoh Home sets up private AI home assistants in Houston remotely. Here the setup centers on water and power: flooding, hurricanes and outages that can last for days.
Water and power, mostly
Houston's flat landscape makes heavy rain dangerous, and flash flood warnings come at any time of year. In August 2017, Hurricane Harvey stalled over Southeast Texas and many areas received more than 40 inches of rain in four days, causing catastrophic flooding across Greater Houston. In July 2024, Hurricane Beryl made landfall near Matagorda on July 8, and about 2.7 million people in Texas lost electricity, many of them in the Houston area. Three years earlier, the February 2021 winter storm had shown that Houston homes can freeze too.
None of that can be automated away. What a well-built system does is tell you what is happening inside your home, quickly, and handle the steps you've decided on in advance.
What we set up for Houston homes
- Water sensors on the ground floor, in the garage and by the water heater, washer and AC condensate line, which is a common source of slow leaks.
- Automatic shutoff on the main water line if you add a valve, so a burst pipe closes on its own.
- Power and generator. An alert when grid power drops, generator status if you have one, and a summary when power returns.
- Heat and humidity. A closed-up house without air conditioning gets hot and humid fast. Sensors tell you when it's time to send someone over.
- Hurricane routine. Steps you approve before the season: close shades, set the temperature, confirm doors are locked, and text the household.
Remote setup in Houston
We do a video walk-through first, then ship a hub configured for your home. You plug it into your router, and we connect your devices, calendars, email and family texting on a call. For Houston we usually recommend a battery backup for the hub and router and an optional cellular backup, so alerts keep flowing when the internet doesn't. Valves and anything wired are installed by your plumber or electrician to our spec, or as a quoted travel install.
After the storm
When the power and internet come back, the assistant sends a check-in: the highest temperature and humidity the house reached, whether any water sensor tripped, the state of the doors and garage, and whether the generator ran. If you evacuated or were away, that report helps you decide what needs attention first, and who should go over.
Prices
Private Cloud starts at $4,995, with a $199-a-month care plan that includes your private AI server. That is the tier we set up remotely. Private Home, with a dedicated AI computer in your house that works fully offline, starts at $24,995 with care at $399 a month; in Houston it is a travel install, and travel is quoted with the project at cost. Estate projects are quoted individually. Smart devices are extra. The full breakdown is in our cost guide.
Privacy
Your hub runs in the house. With Private Cloud, the assistant uses an open-source model on a private server we run for you in a U.S. data center, with no conversation logs kept. With Private Home, nothing leaves the house and the assistant keeps working offline, which is worth considering where outages can be long.
Book a free video walk-through on our contact form or email hello@kotohhome.com.
Common questions
Can it tell me if water is coming into the house?
Yes, inside the house. Leak sensors on the ground floor, in the garage and by appliances text you the moment they detect water. For street and bayou flooding, follow official alerts; the assistant can relay them.
What happens during a hurricane outage?
The hub keeps running your rules locally. With a battery backup for the hub and router and an optional cellular backup, it can tell you when power drops, report generator status if you have one, and check temperature and humidity once things come back. On Private Cloud, chatting with the assistant pauses while the internet is down.
Do you come to Houston?
Private Cloud is set up remotely over video. Private Home and Estate projects in Houston are travel installs, quoted with the project.
How much is it?
Private Cloud starts at $4,995 plus a $199-a-month care plan that includes your private AI server. Private Home starts at $24,995 with care at $399 a month, plus travel. Estate is quoted individually.