Consider these Possibilities for Your Highland Park Home
If you’ve decided to make 2017 the year you embrace smart technology in your Illinois home, then the big question you’ll need to answer is which technologies to pursue first. One of the fantastic things about automation systems is that they are fully customizable, so you can pick and choose the elements that matter most to you. Below, we cover the five most popular smart home automation components to help you get started.
1. Lighting and Shading Control
Create the perfect lighting levels in your home effortlessly through lighting and shading control. All of your lights, from the living room lamps to the outdoor pathway lighting, can respond instantly to your command. It’s a system that not only aids in convenience and comfort but also improves energy efficiency.
This goes beyond simply turning the lights on and off remotely. With lighting control, you can save preset “scenes” that create the perfect lighting environment for any given activity. So when you’re ready to start watching the latest blockbuster in your media room, just press the “Movie” button on your smart home system to automatically dim the lights and close the window shades (along with the TV, surround sound system, and Blu-ray player if you’d like). You can also use smart sensors to save energy by turning off the lights in unoccupied rooms, closing the shades on particularly sunny days, etc.
2. Whole Home Audio
Nothing beats high-quality music that you can enjoy in every area of your home. Typically, stereo systems are isolated to individual rooms, and if you want to continue listening to your favorite album in another part of the house, you have to pause the music in one room and then go through the process of turning on the stereo and finding the right song once you reach the next room.
Whole home audio systems allow you to skip that entire hassle. Your music enjoyment becomes a cohesive experience. As you move throughout the house, the same song is playing wherever you are. And because all the sound equipment is connected as one system, you never have to struggle to find the right remote or go room to room in order to adjust the volume. Instead, all you need is your smartphone, tablet, or remote.
3. Distributed Video
The average American household has at least three TVs. A distributed video system connects all of your media devices together for ease of use. It’s a system that eliminates many of the hassles you probably didn’t even realize took up time and effort throughout your day.
For one, you can get rid of duplicate devices like Blu-ray players or cable boxes. Instead, one media player can connect to every TV in the home. Want to continue watching a movie in another room? Just pull out your phone or smart remote, press a button, and it will pick up at the exact same spot on the other TV. You can even select a show for your kids and start playing it in a room on the other side of the house, right from your phone.
4. Climate Control
Imagine never having to fiddle around with a thermostat again. Modern smart thermostats are able to intelligently improve climate management over time, learning your habits and preferences. The result is a home that is always the right temperature for comfort. If you prefer a more hands-on approach, smart thermostats allow you to control the climate remotely from your phone or tablet. So if you’re driving home on a chilly day and prefer to be greeted with a particularly warm and cozy room, just pull out your phone and set the temperature to rise before you arrive.
5. Surveillance
While you can always use your phone or tablet to review information about your home such as the current temperature, music that’s playing, whether the lights are on, etc., sometimes it’s nice to be able to see each room. With smart surveillance cameras, you can access real-time footage of your home whenever you want.
So while you’re on vacation and you have that niggling doubt that you left the stove on, all you have to do is pull out your phone and select the kitchen camera to put your mind at ease. You could check to see who is ringing the doorbell, whether the kids are in the playroom, if the garage door is closed…the practical applications are endless.
Start with one smart technology or do them all at once—with smart home automation, we can design a fully custom solution for you. For more information, give us a call today at (312) 423-7938 or fill out this quick form to schedule a free consultation.
