Newest Advances in Home Automation
As smart electronics and mobile devices play a more central role in our daily lives, new technologies are bound to make their way into our homes.
Recent advances in home automation make it possible for virtually everything in the home to work together—from lighting to heating and cooling, TVs and receivers, DVD players, stereos, speakers, security systems, garage doors, pools, and more.
And they can all be controlled from a single screen or touch pad or remotely from a smart phone, tablet computer, or laptop.
If you are building a new home or remodeling an existing one, consider how intelligent automation can bring you and your family more comfort, convenience, and peace of mind.
Save Energy and Create Ambience with Lighting
- Lights that turn on automatically to welcome you home. Lights to go on at sunset and off at daybreak. When you are going to be out of town, set them to replicate your normal usage pattern.
- Experience hands-free illumination when entering a dark hallway. Motion sensors can make sure you never have to fumble around in the dark.
- Turn the whole house off in one touch with a "good night" scene—let some lights go completely off and leave others, such as the ones in kids’ rooms, dim to10 percent.
- Program your lights to turn off automatically when a room is unoccupied for a certain amount of time.
- Set your lights to a maximum level of 80 percent. Your eyes won't notice the difference, but your utility bill will.
Enjoy Comfort and Energy Efficiency
- Program your shades and thermostat to automatically adjust for maximum energy efficiency based on the seasons, time of day, or outside temperature.
- Control your thermostat from any touch screen interface—even your iPhone or iPad.
- Use dimmers, timers, and occupancy sensors to reduce energy waste.
- Use motion sensors to turn off lights automatically when rooms are unoccupied.
- Program your pool and sprinkler systems to source water only during energy-efficient windows of time.
- Check out devices that can “teach themselves” to keep the environment controlled the way you like it.
- Monitor and manage your home's energy consumption through any TV or 7" touch screen—or even remotely. See real-time energy use as well as current costs, projected monthly costs, and projected monthly power charges.
Gain Peace of Mind with a Secure Home
- Receive e-mail alerts based on security-related actions, such as a garage door left open, a security system triggered, or a window opened.
- Assign temporary security codes for the days and times when service workers are at your house.
- Use Internet protocol (IP) cameras to keep an eye on your home, no matter where you are.
- Set controls to give the kids limited or no access to the TV or PlayStation.
- Lock the whole house with one touch.
- Access your security features from your mobile phone.
- Program your lights to mimic your usual patterns to appear as if you’re home, even if you’re not.
- Employ specific features for elder care, including interactive communication via e-mail and instant messaging to keep an eye on loved ones.
Control Your Home Entertainment Environment
- Simplify your audio, video, and home theater components with one remote or touch screen to control all of your digital content, such as movies, photos, videos, and music.
- Access from one interface all movies in your multidisc changer, iPod, iPad, or network hard drive, and then search by cover art.
- Turn your television into an elegant interface from which you can access and control your entire home.
- Create a one-touch screen to lower the lights and shades and adjust the temperature to create the perfect ambience for movie night.
- Play music from multiple formats and sources, including radio, streaming music services, your iPod or MP3 player, an external hard drive, or a computer.
- Enjoy classical music in the den, blues in the kitchen, and rap in the teen's room—all at the same time.
If these home automation technologies appeal to you, talk with your builder before construction begins. He or she can work with local installers and vendors to make sure you get exactly what you need in home automation for your new or remodeled home.
|
