5 Reasons to Automate Your Home
August 22, 2017
Most people think of Home Automation as just an entertainment center with surround sound, a remote and TV. Maybe they’ve installed a light bulb you can adjust with an app on your phone. While those are popular elements in an automation system, it doesn’t even scratch the surface of new technology. There are many possibilities aimed at streamlining your daily activities all over the home for safety, entertainment and savings.
How many times have we arrived home with a bundle of groceries and struggled with the key in a dark entryway? This is a great example of how Home Automation can add personal safety and home security, all in one. Imagine pulling into the driveway and unlocking the door from your car? Your porch light is already on as you’ve had it programmed to come on at the time and day that best fits your schedule. With a video doorbell you can also lock and unlock your door for packages, repair professionals and your kids. Additional video cameras around your home double as a deterrent and live recording of an adverse event. If your schedule changes or you’re out of town, program a vacation schedule. You can easily monitor it all in your smartphone app from anywhere around the world!
How about opening your door and having the interior path lit up, and your favorite, relaxing song playing through speakers in the kitchen ceiling that line up with your recessed lighting to blend perfectly with your aesthetic? The kitchen has become the center of the action in most homes, and a wall-mounted touchscreen can handle it all. From controlling light and music to displaying recipes for hands-free cooking, even catch up on your favorite show on one of your apps! And don’t forget the climate in your home! Scheduling the thermostat to turn up or down to your comfort zone a half hour before you get home is not only saving on your utility bill, it’s doing your part to conserving precious energy resources.
Ok, so you’ve got the picture on how convenient and cost saving the automation of lighting, climate and a security system can be to your busy life. Now how about fun?! You can make any room into a theater, with the distributing power to put audio and video in every room. Start with a smart TV for live streaming your favorite shows or movies with the Netflix app, and pump out your music throughout the home with Pandora. A good quality receiver will do this and also tie in a surround sound speaker system. There’s nothing like theater-quality sound to make you jump out of your seat! Smart Home Automation makes control a snap from the comfort of your couch with your tablet or iPad. You can dim the lights and turn on the surround sound with a simple touch. Even turn off lights and music in other rooms. So you don’t want to clash the look of modern technology components with your elegant, classic style furnishings? You can hide speakers and subwoofers in cabinets or even in the wall. Also a media rack can be hidden in a closet to keep things uncluttered.
But how will you control all of this without killing your home network’s capabilities? The easiest solve is to upgrade it with a signal booster, maybe a bigger house would benefit from a wireless access point placed where signal is difficult to get. Either way, a more robust, faster network works for everyone.
With the multitude of products now available in the IoT (Internet of Things) category, professional A/V integrators are still your best bet on choosing exactly what sort of system you’d prefer based on your particular needs and desires.
All in all, the automation of a home helps you navigate the hectic schedules we all have nowadays. And isn’t more time spent enjoying your family worth that?
Read more about home automation here.
