Backyards go high-tech
Latest gadgets for light and sound transform outdoor experience
FROM lighting to sound, technology continues to evolve to make outdoor living spaces sanctuaries. With all the time we’ve been spending at home, increasing the aesthetic of our living spaces has become more important.
Jen Rual, a local office manager who took an early retirement recently, has turned her patio into a relaxing workout space. Her plans to travel over the summer were cut short with the pandemic, so she used the funds to create an outdoor nook she can’t wait to use each morning.
“It’s like a sanctuary that I control, morning noon and night,” the 67-year-old grandmother of two said. She recently installed speakers and lighting in her Summerlin home. She has a playlist connected to her outdoor tech for each part of her day.
“I do yoga and meditate in the morning with my tea with soft music,” she said. “When my husband gets off work, we’re out there rocking out and cooking. When the grandkids come over, we might have a dance party. It’s brought us outside instead of locked up indoors all the time.”
The latest tech and gadgets for outdoors can significantly improve your at-home experience, said Christopher Sterle, founder of Acoustic Design Systems. The locally owned company specializes in integrating smart technology into your indoor and outdoor living spaces.
From artificial intelligence, radio-frequency identification, voice control and facial recognition, there is a lot happening within the walls and underground in smart home tech.
“It’s all about living your outdoor life the way you want,” Sterle said.
There are many different types of outdoor sound and speakers that have evolved from the bulky and scratchy outdoor sets that looked like rocks or statues from just a few years ago.
“Now there are speakers that actually look like landscape lighting,” he said. “There are also manufacturers that produce landscape speakers to match their lighting product lines for the same universal look throughout all of the landscaping.”
Sterle suggests distributing the sound as much as possible so that areas where the sound level is too high or too low are diminished. Distribute speakers around the yard to be able to lower the volume or clearly adjust the sound level.
“With sound, the best solution is to put multiple speakers throughout a space and keep them at a lower volume level so that it fills
By Kimberley Mcgee the area completely and there are no hot spots,” Sterle said.
Those types of outdoor sound systems are typically paired with in-ground subwoofers buried in the ground to offer a low-end bass for full, rich sound in outdoor living space and entertaining areas.
Another popular product for locals that Acoustic Design Systems is installing is an all-in-one bollard speaker. It features an in-ground subwoofer with a 360-degree dispersion speaker that sticks out of the ground.
“Putting those around the yard or in the center will throw sound everywhere for the best possible sound,” he said.
Speakers can be paired with multiple control systems or standalone apps. Smartphones can then be used to turn on certain speakers or various speaker zones in the yard.
“They also work as part of larger control systems that manage your home automation such as lighting, locks and televisions,” he said.
With the latest tech, the entire backyard can be programmed into the overall system. Music that is playing in the kitchen can be the same as or different than what guests are hearing on the patio.
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Timers and program settings can be used for entertaining as well.
“I have a button on my control system that says ‘Backyard Party,’ and when I push it, it’s programmed to turn on my pool lights, all my landscape lighting, the gazebo string lights, palm tree lights and the music playlist I’ve set up,” Sterle said.
App-based products have become a much more popular install for the local company.
“(They) give you the ability to sit outside or anywhere in your home and control the backyard,” he said. “The best sounding systems we do are a combination of all of the products, such as wall-mounted bracket speakers, in-ceiling speakers under the patio cover, bollard or landscape speakers in the yard with subwoofers, etc.”
Perfectly placed LED lights can alter moods in a variety of ways. Dim the lights to soften the mood or add different colors to showcase certain areas around the yard and draw attention to water features, garden beds, statues or other highlights.
“Just like with lighting inside of the home, you can dim certain lights, or raise up other lights in different areas to create a more romantic or more fun atmosphere for your guests or your family,” he said.
Combining all of these components offers the ability to set moods in different areas of the yard and at different times of day.
“You can easily set up a scene where each day at sunset your music playlist and all of your landscape lighting come on automatically,” Sterle said. “You can just sit back, relax and enjoy your time.”
Adding smart tech to your outdoor area is not as an expensive and overwhelming undertaking as it may first appear.
“Anyone can start with speakers that cost around $500 and place them in a central area, and then build upon that. And for the higher-end customer, you can spend all the way up to $100,000 for the coolest outdoor movie system you’ve ever seen.
When installing new tech in your backyard areas, Sterle warns to be careful of underground irrigation and wiring.
“We install a lot of backyard and patio living rooms with televisions and surround sound systems that are specifically manufactured for outdoor living and the harsh conditions we experience in the Southern Nevada climate,” Sterle said. “In these outdoor living rooms, you can sit outside to watch a game or movie, and enjoy the same sound outside as you do inside.”