Benefits of Home Automation

There is a growing convergence of entertainment and home automation technology. Many traditional home automation vendors offer basic entertainment capabilities, and newer entertainment technology provides home automation capabilities. “Entertainment” generally refers to home theatre and multi-room audio distribution. Music selections can be automatically played as part of preset lighting scenes. When a button “Play Movie” is pressed, lights can be dimmed, video equipment can be powered up, and a projection screen can be lowered.

An automated home delivers safety and security capabilities that go well beyond traditional alarm systems. For example, automatic lighting that turns on during a burglary means the intruder will be far more likely to leave the premises sooner. Automatic lighting can make it faster and easier to exit the home in the event of a night-time fire emergency. Or, occupants can be warned in the event of a gas leak, water leak or heating/cooling failure.

This is the traditional “core” of home automation and includes features such as controlling lighting from a single location. Room lights, as well as the level of light throughout the home, can be easily controlled with preset “scenes”. Entire household systems can controlled at the touch of a single button. For example, a press of a button “Arrive Home” can disarm security, turn lights on, adjust temperature, and play favourite music. The home can be controlled from a remote location via telephone or Internet. And the home can automatically notify the homeowners when something needs attention, such as a wine cellar temperature rise, or a child arriving home past curfew

Automation can be used to minimize energy use. Lighting levels and temperature can be automatically adjusted based on occupancy, preset scenes, or the cost of energy.