Chapter 7 : Building An Automated Home

Did you know that the expectation by many was that when home automation technology came onto the market it would be so beneficial and life changing that it would be installed in virtually every home quickly?

But, there are many things that left it in the dust, including an overrun imagination that many had.  From the “Jetson’s” style of cartoon, many believed that automating the home was going to be a way to let robots handle virtually all aspects of our days.  That didn’t quite make it, or at least hasn’t to this point. 

The fact that it hasn’t reached that level yet has frustrated some, but for others it just means another far researching goal is set.

Yet, do homes have to be so far behind in this technology? Why can’t you have all of the home automation that you crave?  You can, but in most cases, there is a rather steep cost that must be paid to make it actually happen in your home for you.

The cost of rewiring a home and tearing up the walls to install a home automation tool isn’t something that you are likely to do.  In fact, it could cost you some serious investment to do this throughout your home.  For that reason, many have decided not to install such life altering home automation tools.

Good or bad, that’s what happened.  Yet, if you are building a new home, things have changed considerably and for that there are many opportunities for success and well being.

Are you Building A House?

If you are building your own home, there is no reason not to consider home automation as part of it.  Because the walls aren’t yet set up, you can make many changes that can help to lay the foundation for a home that’s completely automated.

It is essential to know what goes into these home building projects, though.  You will need to work with a competent builder who will guide you through the process giving you step by step direction to take. 

Even still, it’s important to consider these points about home automation and the building of your home.

First, Determine Needs

When building your automated home, the first things you need to take into consideration are your needs.  If you visit an online retailer offering home automation products, you’ll have an easy time of choosing the right ones for you.  In fact, you may just want to install one of each into your home’s design.

As part of the building process, you should consider your future needs in regards to home automation.  What do you want now and what could you want later?  Remember, it is easy to add these affordable differences into your home when the walls are still going up!  That’s not true when they are coming down!

You will want to develop a proposal that includes all of the pre wiring and home automation projects to your builder.  You’ll want to work on the electrical plans first and foremost because these will be vitally important to your automation system’s success from the start.

By working out what you would like and how it effects the home’s wiring needs, you can easily get your home on the right track.

Pre Wiring Needs

Some of the most common needs for home automation pre wiring will include these elements:

  • Your phone, phone to video and phone to intercom types of systems.
  • Computer needs such as your LAN and internet needs, pay per vision television and cable needs
  • Surveillance equipment such as cameras, security systems and room to room surveillance.
  • Multi room audio needs, communication devices within the home, communication devices with outside the home.
  • Keyless entry needs, watering and irrigation needs as well as other outdoor elements

Considering this type of pre wiring necessities now will help to alleviate countless problems later for you and future homeowners.  Working with your builder on each of these situations must be done before any type of walling up of the home happens.

Outdoor Lighting

Believe it or not, outdoor lighting is one of the most sought after types of home automation.  When you are building your home, it is easy to install lighting automation from the start.  You’ll even find it to be quite easy to do in this manner.

You will want to consider such things as landscaping lighting, security lighting needs, walkway lighting, as well as security and keyless entry systems.  Each of these must work together as well as alone to provide you with the help you need.  There are both switch style operation and control with outdoor lighting needs as well as touch screen technology that makes it just that much more user friendly.

Work with your designer to determine what type of outdoor lighting and security you will have.  Determine where each location will be that the units are placed.  You should also consider the various design or inspirational looks that are after as well as the security lighting needs that are much more important.

Adding outdoor lighting home automation is also a great money saver, as we mentioned earlier.  It helps to keep the home well lit and quite attractive at the same time.  It increases the home’s value, too.

The Nice Additions

If you are planning on adding a few additions into your home that may be a bit more luxurious, you should exam the options that you have for home automation from the start.  Consider the benefits on both a large scale and a small scale here.

For example, if you are building a new home, why not invest in a good quality home theater system for your home’s entertaining and relaxation?  When you are purchasing and then installing these units into your home from the start, everything is well designed to fit your needs and desires where as reworking it later will be much more difficult.

In addition to a home theater consideration, you should also take into account multi room Hi Fi, among other things.  If there is a high tech new device or system you are considering, talking with your builder about it will help you to ultimately make the right decision regarding the home’s automation needs.

Other options to consider include wall speaker units and control units for each room.  You should be looking for a high quality installation process of each of these elements as well, especially in a well advanced house.

By working with the builder now, before the home has gone up, you get the ability to design your home with ever facet of home automation that you would like to use.

The best way to know what’s out there is actually to research home automation yourself.  You can purchase these products easily on the web, but before you invest in that, take the time to really look at your options.  Make a list of those that you want to consider to talk with your home’s builder and designer about.

In most cases, you’ll find that adding these home automation tools into your home doesn’t take much time or money to make happen, if you ask and if you make the commitment to do so.

Building a home with home automation is something most can only dream about.  If you are one of the lucky ones that got to do this, it is still quite important to consider your options.  Don’t assume that you can have it all or that one product, because it’s the one you’ve seen advertised, is the best one for you.

No matter if you are building your home from scratch or not, home automation is still something that you should be planning for every day.

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