Home automation systems provide big benefits to homeowners
If you’re a homeowner, you likely knowthat dreaded feelingwhile you’re away that you’ve forgotten to do something important. Did you set the security alarm? Did the kids remember to shut the garage door? Howmany times have you come home to a dark house because you forgot to leave a security light on?
With the push of a button or two, you can alleviate those concerns, take care of issues remotely and protect your biggest investment— your home. A home automation system integrates all of the subsystems of a home— from security systems to lights to home theater systems— into a convenient interface that can control the various systems of a home via a remote control, smartphone or computer.
“It reallymakes the house manage itself,” said BrentMetz of Hooked Up Installs Inc. in Lincolnshire, Ill. “You can arm and disarm your security system from your phone or iPad. You can tie in your lighting systems, your outdoor irrigation system, pool and spa, thermostats and outdoor cameras. You can program it so a certain event triggers another event. So, if the back door opens and it’s dark out, it can light a path to your house. Or, if the security system goes off, you can have all the lights in the house turn on. It’s supposed to simplify your life and make your home easier to live in.”
There are a variety of systems, some still are hardwired to an in- wall control panel, while others communicate and are controlled through a wireless network. Homeowners can invest anywhere from several hundred dollars for a basic wireless unit to control one room to tens of thousands of dollars for an advanced system that controls most of the home’s electrical components, including a centralized audio/ video distribution center that allows programming to be controlled independently in any room that has a TV ormusic distribution device.
“You can set up the kids with their very favorite tunes for when they wake up to get ready for school, or you can set it to sleep for when they go to bed,” said Jay Jarrett, president of Linked UpMedia Inc. in Frisco. “We can set the light dimmers to come on to 80 or 95 percent, which just that little change will save on your electric bills. We can set them up to operate with occupancy sensors. They can sense when you turn on the lights, and when you leave, they turn off automatically. There are lots of ways you can use it.”
As demand increases, so do more affordable options. It seems the trend has begun to take hold. Requests for home automation service through Angie’s List have increased 64 percent this year compared to the same period last year. Some industry experts say home automation is one of the fastest- growing segments of the construction industry and estimate almost a 90 percent increase in revenue this year for home automation providers.
Added security is a big benefit of home automation. Many systems include alarm components for fire and carbon monoxide, water and motion detection. Some insurance companies offer discounts on homeowner’s policies if the home is equipped with an automation system that has security monitoring.
“If the system goes off, it not only calls the monitoring service, it can send you a ( text), send you an email or blink every light in the house if you choose to alert the neighborhood that something is going on with the house,” Jarrett said. “You can have a camera system attached to it, so if the alarm goes off, it will send you a text to log into a remote access to look at the cameras. You can tell the DVR to start recording every camera at once. The possibilities are endless with the security side.”
Most home automation systems can be easily updated to account for changes in technology. Some systems allow for things such as remote garage door access and wireless door locks. Features like that add to the “cool factor” of the systems.
“Say someone is dropping something off to your house,” Metz said. “You can pull them up on your camera. Disarm the alarm. Open the garage door. Unlock the door. Watch them drop the package or whatever in the house. Watch them leave. Lock the door. Close up the garage. Set the alarm, and see them go out. That’s pretty cool.”
Angie Hicks is the founder of Angie’s List, the nation’smost trusted resource for local consumer reviews on everything fromhome repair to health care.