Home Automation

Table of Contents

What is home automation?

Home Automation can be as simple as a programmable thermostat or a timer to control your lights or include anything that can automate our everyday tasks, leaving a few less thing for us to remember to do each day.

Home automation may sound expensive or something that is for the higher end homes. Yes, that used to be a fact, but not anymore. New technology has created a greater range of automation products for any budget! Automate one room one floor or your whole home. All systems are very flexible and easily expandable to easily make additions as your budget allows.

Lighting Control

Lighting control is probably one of the most used devices in our homes, every day we manually turn on and off our lights. (Or we turn off our lights after our children leave them on!) Seems like a pretty simple task, but when you can open an app monitor and adjust any light in your home from virtually anywhere, you won’t have to worry about that last run around the house flicking light switches. Simply press the all off button and be on your way.

Just by changing out a few light switches & adding a smart hub to your network, you can have full control of any of you lights from an easy to use app on your smart phone.

HVAC Control

Sure you may already have a programmable thermostat, which is great for energy saving but not necessarily the greatest for comfort. With an automation system you gain a very handy remote access feature.

While on your way home from the lake in the summer, time and your thermostat is still set to economy or away mode, in the middle of the day. Rather than unpacking in warm stale house, you can simply open the app half way home adjust to your preferred temperature and your home is just the way you like it when you arrive. Or on your way home from the ski hill or out to the cabin in the winter time, you can bump your thermostat up so it is comfortable when you arrive.

Motorized Shade/Blind Control

Wireless shades are a great addition to any automation project. They are equipped with wireless remote control, same easy to use app control, or daily programming and have a fully retrofit battery operated solution.

Worried about UV damage on your furniture? Programmed system can follow the sun around your home and close the blinds before the sun shines through the window. Have a window that is too high to reach? Wireless shades are a great solution. These motorized shades come in full fabric selection Roller Shades & Honeycomb style, black out, satin and sheer.

Home Theater Control

Your home theater is usually already one of the most automated portions of you home. Smart remotes not only allow you to get rid of the 8 remote controls on you coffee table, including the ones you cannot find! It is easily integrated with your automation system for one button total control.

With a couple button presses you are ready to sit back and enjoy! Press Watch Blu-ray, have the all the system inputs automatically change to their required settings. Press play for the Blu-ray have the lights dim to 15%, blackout shades close. All programming and backgrounds can be customized to suit your home.

Home Audio Control

Home audio can be achieved at any budget. It is as simple as adding a few control modules to you existing amplifiers & speakers to create an easily controllable sound through you home. With a little more budget space you can add an Advance Streaming Multi Zone Amplifier, with in wall or ceiling speakers. Which will give you access to many additional features including:

– Independent Source & Zone Control
– App based control
– Radio Streaming
– Satellite Radio
– Bluetooth
– All features and control can be integrated into any automation system.

Astronomical Clock

Rather than setting a basic time to come on and off a pre-set times of day, that need to be adjusted throughout the year depending on the daylight hours, automation systems have built in astronomical clock that allows you to use features like:

– Turning your exterior lights on 1 hour after sunset or turning them off 2 hours before sunrise.
– Set you blinds to close when the sun comes up in the summer time or open when the sun comes up in the winter time.

Additional features of new automation systems:

Geofencing

What is geofencing? It is a GPS run virtual barrier, that allows control over you system without even so much as a button press. You can turn on your lights on as you pull in the drive way and turn on your lights off as you walk out the door.