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ou're on your way to work when you suddenly have the horrible feeling you might have left the oven on. No problem-you dial it with your cell phone and shut it off. From work, one click on the Internet unlocks your front door for the plumber. A scene from The Jetsons? No, reality: a new reality being brought to life by innovations in home automation. Welcome to the "smart home" "Smart home" is the term commonly used to define a residence that uses a central controller to integrate the home's various systems. For example, you might have a preprogrammed setting called "I'm Home" that you can trigger from a remote control when you approach your driveway. In response, the system might turn on the driveway and garage lights, disarm the security system, open the garage door, turn up the thermostat, and turn the TV on to the evening news.
"Smart home" products were once marketed solely on the basis of convenience. But today, home automation is finding a new market among the energy-conscious because of both cost and environmental considerations. Some of the most popular trends are in the areas of lighting and automation controls, home entertainment, security systems and home healthcare monitoring systems.
Just about everything you plug in can be networked into a centralized home automation system. You can set a group of actions to happen at pre-set times, to activate when certain events occur, or to start with the touch of a remote or a cue from a cell phone. So, for instance, you can press one button to automatically start cooking the lasagna that's been refrigerating in your oven, draw the shades, dim the living room lights and turn on your favorite music. Going on vacation? New systems can even protect your home while you're away by taking a snapshot of light usage in the house over the past two weeks, then mimicking the series. The industry still has a way to go in terms of a unified standard format and ease of use, but the promise is there. And the hope for energy savings as well, with programs that help you monitor your entire home's energy usage and fine-tune it to eliminate waste. Let the show begin The concept of a "digital hearth" is taking hold in , with electronic entertainment replacing the fireplace as a place to socialize with family and friends. |
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Anonymous
Home automation and ip video surveillance should combine together. Both them are relying on in-bound connection, mean people use internet to connect device behine firewall.
It is still long way to go to enable end user to configurate the device through dynamic IP and port forwarding.
Jun 13, 2008 12:04 PM
#1
Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA
Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA
Joe: I find the concept of everything being connected a little scary. I am afraid that if one thing goes down it will pull down the rest with it. Your blog was very interesting and put some of my fears to rest. Thanks for all this useful information which helped allay some of my fears. It would be nice to be able to check on the house when we are away. We stage a lot of higher end homes that have these super systems installed. I think we will begin to see this in all new construction in the not too distant future.
Jun 21, 2008 10:17 AM
Rainmaker
66,571
66,571
Joe Zapata
Your Burbank Real Estate Expert
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