Home Automation

It’s possible these days—not only to see what’s happening at home when you’re halfway around the world, but also to control your home environment with the touch of a button.

Really. That’s all it takes for you to dim your lights, change a room’s temperature, roll down storm shutters or turn on the spa at your house—while you’re out of town or even just driving home from work.

Just ask local remodeler Jon Greaves, who installed 
a system in a home that he describes now as “really wired.”

Says Greaves: “The family travels a lot and they wanted to be able to see what was going on at home for security reasons. With a system like they have, they can adjust the lights, temperature and pretty much everything 
else from anywhere in the world—
all from a laptop.”

With today’s technology, it’s possible to have a home that obeys your every command, says Greaves, president of Greaves Construction. Whole-house automation systems can be customized for your lifestyle and they can be accessed and activated from home—or anywhere else—using touchpads, remote controls, cell phones and iPhones.

Sound complicated and expensive? Indeed, home control systems once were too pricey for most of us. But not anymore, says Michael Stram, president of Home Theater Gallery by Stram Electronics.

“You could buy a nice little light control package that controls five lights for under $2,000, installed,” Stram says. “And with that, you’ve 
just purchased the foundation of your whole-home lighting control.”

Stram says you can always add more rooms later on. But the best time to incorporate these high-tech systems is during the building/remodeling process, because installers can pre-wire the entire house before the walls and ceilings go in.

Hardwired systems, which are perfect for new construction, are the most reliable—and the most expensive.

“We’re constantly pre-wiring our remodeling projects for future home technology,” says remodeler John Marzulli of Emerald Contractors in Tarpon Springs. “Everybody wants to be ready for it but maybe they don’t have the money yet for all the components.”

In the Tampa Bay area, the most common requests for home technology generally have to do with security, safety and entertainment, says remodeler Wes Jenkins, president of Blue Diamond Builders in Largo.

“A lot of people have been installing weather control devices to run hurricane shutters up and down, and they’ve been combining 
security systems with weather controls,” Jenkins says.
Also popular here are home theater and audio systems, he adds.

When you don’t have the lux-
ury of installing wiring before the walls are finished, there are wireless systems that use radio frequency signals to send commands.

These cost less than hardwired systems and use “mesh networking” 
technologies such as ZigBee and Z-Wave. This allows control to be added to nearly any electronic device in the home, including appliances and thermostats.

Even more affordable—although not as advanced—is a system that uses the power lines that provide electricity to your home.

Go Green
“If you’re watching trends in home technology, you’ll know that what’s hot right now are green technologies,” says Stram. “Reducing your carbon footprint—that? seems to be what people are worried about now.”

Today’s technology allows 
homeowners to save energy by doing something as simple as motorizing shades or drapes to open and close at certain times of day or by dimming lights, Stram says.

“With west- or south-facing windows, the home becomes like a big oven in the afternoon. And sunlight can do huge damage to wood flooring,” Stram adds. “By lowering solar shades and using designer fabrics, it cuts the glare factor and reduces your electric bill by reducing the amount of heat coming into your home.”

Lighting automation systems also are popular, Stram says. You can conserve energy if you dim lights when they’re not needed or program outdoor lighting to turn on at night and turn off in the morning.

Also, you can program a system to run lights at, say, 85 percent of full power. You’ll barely notice the difference in brightness but you’ll lower your energy consumption—and your light bulbs will last between three and 20 times longer.

Experts can tell you what you need, but if you’re a do-it-yourselfer looking for an affordable option, check out the GE Z-Wave wireless lighting control system, which allows you to use a hand-held remote to control overhead and outdoor lighting, lamps, thermostats and small appliances.

If you’re concerned about overall energy usage, manufacturers such as Crestron offer an entire line of lighting, shade/drape control and heating and air conditioning systems designed to maximize energy conservation. And Crestron’s new Green Light software allows you to monitor energy consumption cost in real time and also displays historical usage.

Home Viewing
You can make environmentally sound choices when installing a home theater as well. Take a look at some of the hot new products on the market today, such as Pana-sonic’s energy-efficient LCD and plasma TVs.

One model, the Panasonic TC-50G10 50-inch Plasma HDTV, has a lead-free, environmentally friendly screen; its neoPDP panel is more energy efficient than other plasma screens, the company says, and it has a lifespan of 100,000 hours, which amounts to 30 years of viewing if you watch eight hours each day.

Also, fun, convenient, affordable—and eco-friendly, if you factor in transportation costs—is VUDU, which Stram describes as “a very cool little high-definition Internet movie player” for your television.

“There’s a couple of versions,” Stram says. “The one that we sell connects to your hard drive and spits out movies in high definition, all with no monthly fees. So you could rent movies from 99 cents to $5.99 or buy movies and TV shows and download and store them forever. It also gives you instant Internet access through your TV.”

Going Remote
Typically, the big, high-powered touch screens and web tablets that control home systems are
mounted on the wall or sit on a table, and they can run as high as $10,000.

Another option, however, is the iPhone, which can cost less than $200. An iPhone can command your lights, audio, video, pools and spas, and security systems—and do it remotely.

“Home security is really getting easier and easier to do,” Stram says. “Now there are cameras and the camera has its own Internet address. You’re not watching fluid video just yet but you’re seeing a refreshed view every few minutes. You can use your iPhone and control your house while you’re sitting on the couch.”

Or sitting in a Paris caf?