Working late again? Dreading the drive home, arriving to an empty, dark, cold and quiet house? Envision having the power to transform your homes lighting, audio, video, window coverings even the heating and air conditioning system with just the touch of a button. Home Automation brings this power directly to your fingertips. As you enter the driveway and hit the controller to open the garage door, the lights gently light-up your path into the house, the sound system is playing your favorite music, the drapes close for privacy and the temperature is adjusted to feel just right from the moment you step over the threshold.
Just Imagine
Visualize being able to control every system and appliance in your home remotelyin much the same way you channel surf. Thats the promise of home automation. Imagine you are sitting with your friends watching a movie in your home theatre and the phone rings, you hit the pause button and your system will receive the pause event from the remote control and instruct the DVD player to pause while telling the lighting system to gently turn up the lights slowly to the 40-percent level to allow your eyes to adjust. While your friends are talking about how cool that trick was, you end your phone call and simply hit play on the remote and the system turns the lights smoothly down while starting the movie again to everyones amazement.
Light Up Your Home
Hosting a special dining party? Easily set lighting to accentuate points of interest such as a special piece of artwork. Limit the mingling areas by lighting only the rooms or sections for the gathering. And when your guests have bid farewell, press one button to say farewell to your evening as well. The doors are locked, security system activated, stereo is quieted, shades drawn, temperature adjusted and a path of lights lead the way straight to the master suite.
This is a lifestyle enhancement you get when going green. Home automation technology is becoming as synonymous with sustainability as it is with convenience. This automation has been making homes greener, almost by accident, for nearly a decade. Controlling the lights, HVAC systems, water heaters, entertainment systems and even drapes and blinds can save home owners as much as 25% or more in electricity consumption. Youll be the envy of your friends and neighbors when your power bill comes in lower each and every month while theirs continues to grow.
Selecting Vacation mode from your touch screen remote control to automatically setback all thermostats to energy-conserving mode and automatically lower motorized shades or close drapery in sunlight-exposed rooms when the temperature raises to a preset temperature will amaze your neighbors while you are away, How are they doing that when they are not even home? Honey, did the Smiths hire house sitters while they are away? Selecting home automation proves you can be a good steward of the Earth while enjoying the benefits of the latest electronics.
The savings dont stop there, Occupancy sensors in the rooms trigger an energy miser scene that shuts off lights and reduces heating and air conditioning when family members leave the room. That scene also shuts off electricity to some televisions, laser printers and personal computers to eliminate parasitic energy loadsalso called standby, phantom or vampire powerthat many electronics consume even in their off states.
A Smarter Home
Sounds like something from a futuristic sci-fi movie? Perhaps, but with todays smart homes the entire system can be automated with simple touch panels and controlled from anywhere in the world with internet access or iPhone. So maybe we really are reaching far into the future. However, considering our busy lifestyles of today, wouldnt it be nice to have one more thing automated and one less thing to be concerned about?
The best time to think about home automation is now, while you are planning your new home or retrofitting an older home to accommodate updated software and electronic needs. As experts agree, these upgraded systems in old or new construction save time and money. Making all these different systems work together is what we specialize in at Wilshire Home Entertainment each and every day. That and making your neighbors green with envy or at least giving them a taste of the sustainability bug of their own.
Source: HD Living