Affordable Home Automation: Is It a Dream?
Writing by admin on Friday, 22 of June , 2007 at 8:09 am
An oxymoron can be defined as putting (2) words together that are opposites in meaning. “Affordable home automation” seems to fit in this catagory to many people. Its very understandable to see why some feel this way since you can spend upwards of a $100,000 or more on a smart home system.
That is what I like most about some of the newer systems that are available today.
Instead of being forced into buying an entire home automation package with tens of thousands of dollars in automation programming costs alone…it certainly makes sense to choose affordable home automation equipment that will allow you to build on it a little at a time as you can afford it.
Again…that is what I like about the particular system we recommend.
I always recommend to my clients to think 2 steps ahead . For example, while most people would buy one of those smart universal remote controls…
I let them know that for just a little more they could own a true home automation control device.
First of all this Controller not only communicates with your Satellite or cable box, TV, & Surround Sound Receiver, when combined with the Sony 400 disc DVD player it takes one look at your DVD & searches the internet for the jacket cover art & display it on your plasma TV!
Now its true you get the immediate benefit of having (1) remote that does the work of 4 or 5. But that is only the beginning of what a Controller can do.
On the other hand , now think back to all the people that were content to buy a smart universal remote. They will be limited to operating their home theater equipment only.
But when you have a true home automation controller… watching movies is only the tip of the iceburg. Down the road as you can afford to invest more into your home automation system you can later integrate your thermostats, security system, lighting dimmers & even music thruout your entire home!.
The way it works is this– Your home automation remote control can be preprogrammed to trigger a series events with one touch of a button.
For example, before you go to sleep at night you can hit the preprogrammed command for “bedtime”. Automatically any lights you left on thruout the house will shut off, the thermostat will lower itself , the security alarm will set itself, your master bedroom lights will slowly dim over the next 15 minutes as bedtime music plays until you drift off to lala land.
The wonderful thing about this system is that you can do a little at a time. You can add lighting dimmers later this year when you get a bonus at work and perhaps add distributed music thruout the house when you get your tax return next year.
The moral of the story…
Think ahead. Don’t spend the money on a smart remote, only to have to revinvest in a home automation controller down the road.
Tags
video
home-automation
technology
wireless
audio
home+theater
Category: Home Automation
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