Lisa Montgomery - Home Automation: A Complete Guide to Buying, Owning and Enjoying a Home Automation System

ISBN: 9781483533582

Copyright 2014 by EH Publishing, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed "Attention: Permissions Coordinator," at the address below.

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Much of a home automation system's hardware can be hidden away inside a cabinet, closet or utility room. Systems design and installation by Surreal Systems; Photography by Jeri Koegel

WHY & HOW

to Automate Your Home

Unsure about automation? Heres a primer to help you get started on your quest for easy living.

AUTOMATION USED TO CONJURE thoughts of a house gone wild, where technology ruled the roost and the decor resembled a science lab. Fortunately, this stereotype has been shattered, thanks to improvements in the technology and consumers growing affinity for home electronics. The bottom line is, automation can add real value to your home, and its a fairly simple process to have a system installed. Here are 8 helpful bits of information for anyone thinking about or in the process of automating their home.

1. Automation Boosts Efficiency. This refers to both efficiency of the systems in your house and the efficiency of your household. Because an automation system is able to control multiple devices, you can, with one touch of a button, set back the thermostats and turn off the lights, for example. Youll get out of the house faster and save electricity.

2. Automation is Convenient. Youll be able to monitor and manage all types of electronic devices (lights, thermostats, A/V equipment, motorized shades, security system, etc.) from the screen of a smartphone or tablet. The convenience alone is enough to inspire many people to automate.

3. Automation Delivers Comfort. Through its ability to actively monitor and manage various electronic elements, an automation system ensures maximum comfort. The entire environmentfrom the setting of the lights and thermostats to the activation of musicis at your command.

4. Automation Provides Peace of Mind. A home automation system helps prevent potentially bad things from happening by enabling you to monitor parts of your house conveniently from tablets, smartphones, and other devices. You can check up on the house even when youre miles away.

5. Shop for Gear. If youre handyor just want to window shopmany big-box retailers now offer automation systems designed to be installed by homeowners. A DIY system is the most affordable type of automation system.

6. Roll it into your Cable, Satellite, Phone, Internet Bill. From the same company you buy cable, satellite and/or phone and Internet service, you may be also able to bundle in a basic home automation system.

7. Start with Security. Many security systems come with basic automation features built in. Home protection is always important. If you can also automate the lights and thermostats, its a bonus.

8. Customization. Its a beautiful thing when an automation system can be adapted to fit your lifestyle, not the other way around. A custom electronics (CE) professional is able to tailor a system exactly to your needs.

Key Features of a

HOME AUTOMATION SYSTEM

THE ABILITY TO MANAGE YOUR HOMEs electronic systems from one main control system can make your household run smoother, feel better and save energy. The trick is to find a system that will meet all the demands of your household, now and in the future. Most systems can be tailored by a custom electronics (CE) professional to provide all the benefits you desire, but there are some key features that will make his job easier and your interaction with your system more enjoyable.

1. Interoperability

The beauty of an automation system is its ability to tie diverse electronic devices together so they can perform as one unified system. Getting these devices to work cohesively can be simple or complex, depending on the openness of the automation system. The more open a system is, the easier it will be for the lights, thermostats, audio/video equipment, security devices, motorized shades and other electronics to communicate with each other. A good example of interoperability is having the lights turn off and the thermostats set back when you press a goodbye button on a keypad or when a motion sensor notices that you have exited a room.

To support interoperability between multiple electronic devices, manufacturers of home automation systems often form connectivity partnerships with other manufacturers. For example, Control4 has partnered with more than 60 other companies to ensure its line of automation products can communicate seamlessly with a wide variety of other systemsfrom architectural lighting and irrigation to multiroom audio.

Home automation manufacturer URC offers a wide variety of user interfaces (see Feature #5)

Another way automation manufacturers are fostering interoperability is through adherence to technology standards. For example, many manufacturers have embedded Z-Wave wireless control technology into their automation products so those products can network easily with other Z-Wave enabled products.

The more connectivity partners a manufacturer has formed and standards it has adopted, the more choices youll have as a consumer. More importantly, says CE pro Bill Charney of Advanced Home Audio, Shelton, Conn. It allows installers to select the best suite products for their clients.

Interoperability (see Feature #1) between various subsystems, as pictured here, ensures that all electronic devices can communicate openly with each other; automation systems are the glue that binds all of the devices together. Systems design and installation by Electronics Design Group; Photography by William Psolka

2. Remote Access

Automation is all about being able to control things in your home, says Jay McClellan, president of Leviton Security & Automation, and part of that is being able to change the settings quickly and easily if your plans change. More often than not, plans change when youre not at home, so being able to communicate those changes to your home automation system remotely is one of the most revered features of an automation system. Remote access capabilities allow you to monitor your homes environment and alter the settings of the lights, thermostats and other gear, if necessary, all from your laptop, smartphone or tablet. McClellan believes that remote monitoring should be a service manufacturers and installers provide free of charge. Why should you pay $30 a month to access your automation system when youre already paying for broadband access? he suggests. Remote access also allows your installer to tweak your system without having to make a house call, which is always cheaper and more convenient.