"Wow!" you say. That's pretty cool. I want that. How do I get that in my home? Well if this is what you want it can happen. The future of tomorrows automated home is happening today. Today with the Internet expanding constantly and spin-off technologies making our lives easier and simpler the house of the future is being built today. At no other point in history have so many events happened to coincide to give the user a more informed, entertained and comfortable life. Today is the day. The microprocessor has truly revolutionized the world. As computing power goes up, cost goes down and home automation systems are benefiting as a result. To be prepared for what lays ahead if you are building a home in today's Internet automated world you should understand the pitfalls and problems that can occur. Make sure you know what to expect. Do some homework. It is for this that we sat down to write the Home Automation Survival Guide. We wrote this to give you the basic knowledge you would need to plan and prepare for a home automation system of your own. We hope it helps…

    Home Automation is a term that has lost some of its luster in the past years. Thanks to companies that , which caused builders, a string of losses and lawsuits in the early 80's and did not do much to foster confidence in this new industry many have stayed away from Home Automation for fear of being bitten once again. The fact is Home Automation is a lot harder than it was originally thought to be. There were a lot more variables and problems than anyone thought at the time. Many of those problems have now been worked out. With more processing power and better Internet style control and programming the Home Automation system has seen a reawakening of interests. People are starting to see the benefits of tying everything together like never before. So lets discuss for a moment what Home Automation really is. What does it do for me? Why is it hard to do? By thinking about these items before you buy a home automation system you could save yourself a lot of money and a great deal of frustration.

    First, What is Home Automation? While this is tough to answer, lets start with a little history so you can better understand what it is and what it does for you. You already live with some sort of Home Automation. Most people have at a basic level some kind of Home Automation in there home and don't even realize it. For instance you probably have a thermostat in your home. This thermostat regulates the temperature in your home. When the temperature goes above or below a certain point the thermostat turns on the air conditioning automatically. This at the most basic level is a form of home automation. Now lets look at what that does for you. It takes an essential subsystem (air conditioning) and regulates it so you don't have to. Automatic and simple this makes living in your home a little easier. This is what Home Automation is supposed to do for you. Unfortunately in the past due to lack of computing power and good programming the truly simple home automation was a bit of an enigma. Out there somewhere but not quite reliable or simple. So back to our question "what is Home Automation?" For our purposes here lets define it as something like this:

"Any system or group of subsystems (Air-conditioning, lighting, audio, video distribution, pool heating, cooling, landscape lighting system etc.) that makes living in the house simpler, easier to use, more energy efficient or more capable of providing entertainment, data or information or any combination of these things to any part of the home."

    You can see why most people have trouble defining what home automation is. Ask ten different people and you will get ten different answers. It is a huge area of ground to cover. So this amounts to a great deal of confusion.

    Second, What can Home Automation do for me?
    Well, it can do a lot of things. A well-designed home automation system that is tailored to its users can be almost like a butler. It can turn on lights when you come home after dark, turn down the thermostat while you are at work to save energy, provide you with movies, or music in any part of your home or just simply shut everything in the house down when you forget. A good Home Automation system can control and coordinate (key word coordinate) a bunch of different items in your home with ease and completely unnoticed by you. It should work in the background with minimal input from you. Simple and elegant a home automation system can really do a lot of very useful things. Okay you say what can a good system control? Well most can control the subsystems below?

· Security
· Heating and Air Conditioning
· Audio Distribution (Speakers in every room)
· Video Distribution
· Lighting
· Landscape Lighting
· Garage Doors
· Sprinkler System
· Theater or Media Rooms
· Pool and or Spa
· Security Cameras
· Drive up and Walk Up Gates
· Intercom · Telephone / Caller Identification
· Networking / Data (High Speed Internet)
· E-mail and Messaging Support and Distribution throughout the home
· Internet Content (no longer limited to the computer) Weather, News etc.

    One thing you will learn right away while researching a Home Automation system for your home is that the possibilities are truly endless. Remember with lots of possibilities comes lots of confusion. Be clear about what you want to control and what it is you want to do in your home. For instance a good security system can control some lighting, a couple of thermostats and provide Caller ID and the ability to call into it and control things but it cannot control Audio and Video Distribution or control the Pool or Spa system. If you are clear about what it is you want (make a list) to control and how you think you will live with the system and use it this can save you a lot of money and time.

So how do I know what I want I don't even live in my new home yet?
    This is a great question. Many people ask me "how do I know what I want? I don't live there yet". While this is true most people have some idea of how they live in they're current home. What time do you leave in the morning? When do you come home? What do you normally do no Friday nights? Do you have movie night with the kids? What part of your house do you normally live in? (Bedrooms or Common Living Areas) Do I work in the Yard a lot or not at all? You know from past experiences how you live in your current home. Put this information to good use. Write it down and make it the basis for your future system. Yes your system will need adjustment a few months after you move in but it will be a lot closet to how you live if you work all of this out while you build your new home. Decide up front based on past experiences what is important for you. Don't waste your money on items you will not use. Remember the clearer you are about what you want the less chance you have of being frustrated later. We have worked with countless clients to design and build the home automation system of their dreams. Without a doubt the clients who do a little documenting and make good decisions about what they want in a home automation system by basing it on past experiences are the happiest with there systems when we are done. The unhappiest clients are those that cannot make up their mind. This leads to confusion and chaos. Don't be this client. A little organization and understanding will go a long way to a good home automation system.

Now that I know what I want what should I watch out for?
    This is an easy question to answer but it must be answered in parts. The first step is identifying what you want and how you will live with it. Assuming you have done this the next step is understanding what problems you will have to face. These can range quite a bit so the following list should help?

A. What system should I by? This is a tough question for most consumers to answer. First by identifying what you want you can make this easy on yourself. For instance if you only want a few lights, security and a couple of thermostats controlled then X-10 or an enhanced Security system might be the answer for you. If however your are in a larger home (4000 sq ft plus) and you want to control the Media Room (no more eight remotes on the table) and you want 4 thermostats, Pool and Spa, and lot of lights then you would probably be more in need of a dedicated control system. These systems not only control things directly but also control the other subsystem (like your security system) to provide complete control and security in your home. The most important thing to consider in all of this is that once you decide on what type of system you want be sure it will meet all of your current needs and have at least some room for future expansion. Do not sell yourself short. You may find out that you really like this home Automation stuff and want to do a lot more only to find out your system won't or can't handle the additional level of control. Above all consult an expert in the field. This should make your decision a lot easier. Do your homework and have blueprints ready but contact an expert.
B. Over-wire and Over-plan! Many great ideas once you live in the home are thwarted by the fact that you just did not wire for it. Make sure that you plan for your system and wire accordingly. Do not assume that because you bought a "structure wiring system" your house will be in any way ready to handle a home automation system. Structured wiring is really just the beginning of a good home automation system and really is just the tip o the iceberg when it comes to wiring for your system. Remember each system is different and often proprietary so wire for your system and do not assume that there is any generic wiring you can do to cover all the bases. You can't. Also when you wire over-wire the house. Make sure you over do it a bit. Give your-self room for expansion. This will save you a lot of time and headaches later on. It may cost a little more up front but it will cost a lot more later
C. I put a system in and now it breaks constantly? Where did I go wrong? More often than not most systems do at some point in their lifetime break. This is not a common occurrence but as with any electronic system they will break. A great deal of installers and designers of Home Automation systems won't tell you this. This does happen. It could be caused by a power surge, age, wear and tear, user action or lightning but at some point the system will fail. So how do I make sure that this does not happen to my system? The simple answer is you can't. The best piece of advice is that unless you are doing it yourself hire a firm that you can trust to be around when it breaks. Look at the history of the firm. How long have they been in town? How long have their employees worked for them? Talk to friends and neighbors get the low down on a firm to do your system before (not after) you hire them. This is the single most important decision you will make concerning your home automation system. A good firm with good programmers and lots of experience can make your system a dream to operate. A bad firm or inexperienced one can make the same system impossible to live with. Remember that the Home Automation system sale does not end with the firm collecting the final check and never coming back. Most systems require periodic updates and checkups as well as tune-ups to keep up with changes in your lifestyle.
D. We got it all in and now my installer is saying, "That's not on my work order". I have heard this complaint more than once. This stems from a lack of understanding on the part of the consumer and or a lack of communication on the part of the Automation designer. To avoid this look at all the details. Don't just accept that the programming or installation is going to happen; spell out in the contract what will be programmed or installed and how long it will take? While this will not always head off all of the problems and yes things will change later this will get everyone on the same page and generally keep the misunderstandings under control. Remember to do a home automation system you must be prepared to talk about it with the designer. What you want can be so many things without talking about it he may never know what you really want. An Architect could never design a building you like without talking to you and this is the same with designing a home automation system. Know what you are buying in detail!
E. Get everybody talking! The most successful home automation systems out there came about because everyone involved in the job talked about their part before beginning and all the way through. Now this does not mean that if you hire an Automation consultant he will be able to do this for you. He has only so much power and control on the job. It is up to you as the end consumer to get everyone talking right from the start. This will head off any "He said, She said" scenarios later and keep your end frustration down to a minimum. That way they can't say, "I called him and he never called me back". This is truly unacceptable and the easy solution is to have a meeting at the beginning of the job and invite all the subcontractors and get them all talking.
F. Programming, Programming, Programming! I can't say it enough. Most of them times the great home automation systems come down to programming. The systems have a tremendous amount of latent capability. This means that most programmers under program because the consumer either did not know what they wanted or they are in a hurry. Make sure that your home automation bid includes a lot of programming. Also make sure you list what you want or at least what ideas you have about how you want it to work for you programmer or designer. Have this spelled out in the contract ahead of time and go over the items in detail. While you can never go over it all this will help immensely. A good firm should be willing to provide you with a list of what will and won't be programmed and how many hours of programming that will take.
G. The Punch list! As you near completion of your job and things are beginning to take shape keep a running punch list of items that you find that either don't work or do not work as you intended. Keep this list out in the open and go over it frequently with your programmer. In a home automation system there are simply too many variables for a programmer to find them all. He can't live with the system like you can. Be willing to write down what you find and the conditions you find it under. This will help him iron out the trouble spots and give you a better system in the end.

    Home Automation systems are really cool in theory but hard to pull off in practice. They are pitched with a great deal of fluff and a great many ideas that seldom come into practice. They really can be cool and easy to use. We have had a number of clients who truly love their home automation system. They can't thank us enough for how easy it all is to use. Often times in just eliminating those eight or ten remotes from the media room table and making the media system easy to use and we have a friend for life. These systems truly can be fun to use and easy. You can have a party and push one button to set all the lights, turn down the temperature, turn on the landscape lighting and start the music. This is what its all about. Simple, elegant, easy to use and reliable, working in the background so you don't have to, this is how it can be. Just remember to follow the above steps. Be clear, concise about what you want and sit down with a professional consultant and you could be enjoying easy to use comfort, security and entertainment in your new home for years to come.

Imagine what you can do with the possibilities…

Put together by the folks at Dyer Electronics in the hopes that we can help you!