Is automating repetitive, menial tasks beneficial? Hell yes, if it's shit you don't want to do repetitively. The monetary value is equal to how much life it gives in return for something you don't want to do.
Is randomly buying consumer "smart devices" worth it? No. That's way too general a question and most are just network security holes or short-lived, proprietary ewaste.
I'm building out a system to sync music between my multiple bookshelf systems using snapcast on rPi /hi berry DAC running Mopidy music players. Should be able to plug into any device depending on the DAC you choose. Control from my phone. Choose which snapcast /combo of snapcast clients to sync to. All without having to run multichannel audio to every room
Great fucking question. You're getting the appropriate answers but it's just good to see users thinking properly about access to their home network
Yup, electricity isn't terrible on these. My htpc/nas/util server has been my basis for everything for almost 20 years now. No reason not to