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.