Assessing Your Building Or Environment Automation Capabilities

Environment automation sounds like a new concept, but building or environment automation has been around for a long time. While new technology allows for deeper integration of lighting, security, audio/video and other home or commercial systems, the fact is that you probably employ some degree of systems automation already. Assessing the building or environment automation capabilities you already have can help you plan for future integration and automation. These are some of the areas where you may already have some automation capability.

Security

Automated security elements include such things as motion-activated or sound-activated lighting and security cameras. You can also integrate your other systems with your security system to turn on lights, music and television on a timer to simulate that someone is home. Some aspects of building or environment automation make your home or business safer: garage lights that turn on when you open the garage door, for example, or stairway and path lighting that remains on for several minutes after you enter your driveway.

Lighting

In addition to the security aspects of lighting, you can also set lights on a timer to conserve energy, or install motion sensors to turn lights on when someone enters the room and off a certain number of minutes after the last person exits the room. This kind of automation can be a huge money saver in commercial buildings, where customers and staff frequently leave lights on in bathrooms or other seldom used areas.

Audio/Video

Many cable and satellite companies already offer distributed audio/video capabilities that allow you to watch the same or different channels on different screens in your home. Some of them also allow you to integrate a central audio server that stores your entire music collection and lets you access it from any room in the house. Turning that into a distributed audio system doesn’t take much effort – talk to a wiring/pre-wire specialist about wiring ceiling and wall speakers throughout your house to deliver music anywhere you want.

Environment Control

Programmable thermostats are the most common type of environment automation found in homes and commercial buildings everywhere, but they’re only an example of what’s possible with building or environment automation. If you can measure something with equipment, you can use it as a signal for event-based automation. Set your window blinds to open automatically to let in sunlight or close for privacy based on lighting levels, time of day or temperature. Put your lawn sprinklers on a timer, or program them to turn on when a motion sensor is tripped – a rather novel home security measure.

Building or environment control capabilities are becoming a bigger and bigger selling point in new and existing homes and commercial properties. Contact a home automation specialist to find out what capabilities your property already has and how they can be upgraded for more convenience and security.

The Many Facets of Custom Audio Video and Home Automation

Thanks to new technologies in custom audio video and home automation, homeowners and commercial property owners can now have far more integrated control over the way their home systems function. Home automation can be as simple as putting your outdoor lighting on a timer or light sensor, but the possibilities of custom audio video and home systems integration can accomplish so much more. This is an overview of the various systems that can be controlled in an integrated home automation system and ways they can make your life better.

Lighting

Lighting automation is probably the easiest and most popular segment of the industry. For many people, putting home lighting on a timer is a matter of controlling energy costs, but automating your lights and integrating the controls with other home systems offers so many more possibilities. On the practical end, you can set up a scheme where the garage light turns on automatically when the garage door opens – and control it all with the garage door opener, or from your smartphone. On the aesthetic side, you can create home lighting schemes to suit your moods or to highlight landscape or architectural features. And of course, proper lighting is an important aspect of home security.

Security Systems & Access Control

With the proper setup, your home can call you to alert you to any variety of situations that may require your intervention. Those situational triggers can range from traditional security events to such things as water in your laundry room or basement, or the fact that your child didn’t arrive home on schedule. You can even wire your home to allow to remotely unlock your front door when a friend or repairman arrives and you’re not home.

Audio/Video

Replace the typical array of remote controls for your cable, audio system, television, DVR and other audio/video devices with a single controller. You can set up an integrated system that will turn on your television, set it to the right channel, start the DVR and even dim the lights when you press a single button. In-wall or ceiling speakers can pipe your chosen playlist to any room in your house – or provide different playlists in different rooms.

Utility Automation

In addition to security and entertainment, you can automate a wide variety of home utilities, including sprinkler systems, heating and air conditioning, intercom systems for communication and even the windows and blinds. You can set any or all of those systems to start or stop based on a variety of triggers, including time, light, motion and other events.

For more information about how custom audio video and home integration systems can make your life more comfortable and convenient, contact a company that does wiring/pre-wire for new and existing homes in your area.

Custom Audio Video and Home Automation Not Just for the Rich and Famous Anymore

One of the nice things about high-tech is that it is ever-evolving, and as it evolves the prices start coming down. The newest tech toys may start in the homes of the rich and famous, but they eventually work their way down to wider accessibility. That’s the case with custom audio video and home automation solutions, which once were the province of the very wealthiest. In just a few years, automated and integrated systems for audio/video, lighting, security and networking have made their way into the mainstream. Where you once had to travel to major cities to find companies that specialize in bring automation to the home, today you’ll find dozens of companies that design, manufacture and install systems for custom audio/video and home automation in cities all over the country.

What Is Home Automation All About?

At its simplest level, home automation is the integration of services inside and outside the home to make them easier to control. Those services can include lighting, security, telephone, home networking and Internet, sprinkler controls, heating/cooling, audio/video and even window, blind and curtain control. Many of these services are already automated in many homes via programmable thermostats and sprinklers and lighting on timers, but home integration takes it all to the next level.

The end result is a home you can control from a single remote – or, with the right apps, from your smartphone or iPad – or one that can turn on the lights when you need them, turn up the music when you want it and kick up the heat half an hour before your alarm clock goes off.

And those are just the easy options. If you’re willing to sink a little more investment into your home automation scheme, you can have window blinds and curtains that draw themselves closed when it gets dark enough to see inside – or when the temperature in the room reaches a certain level. You can create lighting and music schemes for entertaining, program it into your remote and call it up with a single button when you have guests.

Accessibility of Home Integration Systems

Multiple manufacturers are working to bring custom audio video and home integration to the average homeowner. While it’s still easier to outfit your home for automation if you’re building new, it’s getting easier for manufacturers to retrofit older homes for updated systems. You can bring in an installer to do wiring/pre-wire your home so that you can pick and choose the features you want to install now and have the wiring in place when you want to add more in the future.

If you’ve dreamed of having a custom audio video and home automation package but thought it was out of your reach, this could be the time to explore your options further.