Smart House

Smart House Technology Defined

A smart house is a home that has been configured to use technology to increase comfort, enjoyment, security, energy efficiency and convenience. Smart houses are created by interconnecting, configuring and computer controlling elements such as lighting, heating and cooling systems, security systems, and entertainment systems including whole house audio and video, and the Internet.

Convenience may be as simple as having a keypad available in any room to control the lighting and entertainment system or as complex as being able to monitor and operate all the systems in the house from a remote Internet connection. Many people find it quite reassuring to be able to check in on their home while they are 2,000 miles away on vacation. They can check the temperature to make sure the furnace or air conditioner is working, take a look through security cameras, turn lights and appliances on and off and even answer the doorbell intercom.

Smart house technology has been around for over a decade and is smarter, more affordable and more readily available than ever. Many new homes are being pre-wired to accept smart house systems are they are being built in from the start. Existing homes can be retrofitted with smart house technology by skilled technicians who can help you with design decisions. They can fit smart house technology into homes of almost any age and design.

Smart house features menu:

The beauty of modern smart home technology is that you can choose the features and designs that you want and can afford. With some forethought and the help of an experienced designer, you can build a system that you can add to over time as your needs and wants change. Good planning will also let you take advantage of technology improvements as they occur.

Here is a list of some of the great things that you can choose from for a smart house

	Centralized lighting controls
	One-button lighting to change the scene for a room or more
	Whole house audio systems – enjoy high quality music anywhere
	Distributed video systems – watch a DVD or cable in any room
	Access phone and Internet from any location
	Monitor your house remotely via the Internet
	Access and monitor security cameras from anywhere
	Monitor your front door on any TV
	Check your pet door remotely to see if it has been used – lock it
	Manage your lawn irrigation system to save water & keep your plantings healthy
	Let your refrigerator help you with a shopping list
	Close the window blinds from Paris or your bedside
	Check to make sure your basement isn’t flooded
	Monitor temperature and/ or humidity inside to detect problems
	Adjust the heating and cooling for maximum energy savings
	Adjust the heating and cooling for comfort
	Monitor and adjust electrical demand for energy savings and lower cost
	Control and/or monitor just about anything you want from anywhere in the world

Smart House design considerations for a home under constructions:

If you are building a home today, this is the time to plan for the future. You don’t even have to complete the design today but you can make it much easier to put in or extend a system in the future. Consider the following:

The first thing to consider is whether or not you will have a system?
What features do you want now?
What rooms and areas do you want to equip with what features now?
What rooms and areas do you want to pre-wire for the future?
What is your budget?

We will work with your budget. As with most things, your budget will determine the ultimate design. The technology is available to accomplish almost any conceivable home task (short of walking the dog, of course – well, we can even automate and monitor a pet door if you want).

Even if you don’t plan to install a system immediately, it is often a wise investment to pre-wire the home. Wiring is much less expensive and offers more flexibility in choices when it is done at the design and build stage before the walls are covered. At the very least, it will increase the resale value of the home down the line.

Smart house design considerations for retrofitting a home:

Retrofitting a home with smart home technology is more involved because of the challenges of routing the wiring throughout the structure. Some of the considerations will include the following:

What features do you want now?
What rooms and areas do you want to equip with what features now?
Where do you want to locate the various room controls and equipment and are those locations accessible?
What can be done with a wired system and what should be done with wireless technology?
What future expansion do you want to plan for now?
What is your budget?

An experienced designer can help you choose from the menu of smart home options, match your needs and wants to your budget and install high technology to give you a better life.

A smart house is really just a home that a smart owner has designed to be more convenient, safer and much more enjoyable. You won’t ever have to worry about whether or not you turned off the coffee maker, closed the garage door or turned on the outside lights. Your smart house will talk to you or do those tasks for you in response to your programmed command.

Take charge now and enjoy 21^st technology for a better life today.

Contact Park Place Installations for your smart house technology needs. One call installs it all.

716-472-9904
One call installs it all - High technology craftsmanship for home and business audio and video systems
Serving Western New York with entertainment systems, home theaters, television, audio, smart conference rooms and more
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