Home automation is a large topic and a very exciting one, however we appreciate that it is not yet for everyone and it is still some years of before it will become as common place as a television. For now we see it as a luxury item for the rich or the geeky DIY’er and you are probably right. But thanks to the new range of automation controllers and cheap tablets on the market, it has become more accessible to everyone, the question is, what do you want to automate and does it bring added value to your experience or lifestyle and that is where we want to help you.
With the current technology we can:
- turn lights on and off or dim them
- turn appliances on or off
- measure the power consumption through every smart power outlet and not just the total consumption of the house as with the energy meters provided by many energy suppliers
- manage central heating (gas and electrical)
- monitor temperature and movement in every room
- monitor security cameras
- send alerts when a door or window has been opened
- remotely open and lock the front door
- operate curtains and blinds
Just to mention a few, and these can all be programmed or scheduled and a sequence of events can be send based on a single trigger event of button/switch on the wall. The possibilities of home automation are practically limitless and there are new devices coming on the market every few weeks that add more to this list already.
All the automation solutions we work with can be operated inside the house from a range of traditional looking remote controls, dedicated touch screen controllers, smart phones, tablets and computers, as well as most of these are internet enabled for you to access and manage them remotely.
Some of the higher end video solutions are also very closely tied into the automation side of things as we can interface these together to operate a projector screen, dim the lights, close the blinds or curtains when you press the “Watch Movie” button on your remote control.
We are very excited about the future of home automation for a number of reasons, this time around the technology is ready for it unlike the earlier attempts form X10 and others and is now also much more secure and reliable, and most importantly there is a good level of competition with more and more brilliant automation controllers showing up offering a wide range of features for a fraction of the cost of some others making it accessible to everyone with a bit of imagination.
On a more serious note though, we also see this technology becoming key in the care services and looking after the elderly. With the remote monitoring of temperature, motion, doors and being able to see inside a remote property via security cameras it enables children of frail parents to have a 2nd pair of eyes or means of keeping an eye on their loved ones and even communicate with them via the automation controller. Again, the aim of this is not to replace something as vital as the “Panic Button” or similar monitoring services as such systems are designed around saving lives where every second counts and although the home automation solutions can provide the technology for for these services, we specialize in the convenience side of automation and not the monitoring services.
If you are intrigued and want to know more, please feel free to give us a call and we will be able to advise you on the best option for you.