Mention home automation and thoughts of the Jetsons and their robot maid āRosieā comes to mind for many of us. We are not quite there yet, but there is automation out there that you can implement in your home today.
You are already using some automation: a thermostat controls your furnace and air conditioner to maintain the desired temperature, the timer in your washing machine controls the different cycles to wash your clothes, and you can set the cook time and power level on your microwave oven. These real examples of our daily use have become accepted forms of automation; now itās time to take it a step further.
You can buy timers to control lights in your house, but they must be adjusted periodically for sunrise/sunset changes. Why not let automation take care of this for you? You can simply set the lights to go on at dusk, or dusk plus ten minutes as you choose, and the system will calculate dusk periodically and adjust the āon timeā function accordingly.
There are quite a few competing technologies, but one of the simplest comes from a company named X10. This is one of the oldest tested technologies that still works well and is one of the least expensive. Their āActivehomeā starter system can be purchased (online only www.x10.com) for less than $100, is easy to set up, and there are no monthly fees.
Some available systems implementations require the use of a computer, but there are others that do not. These no-computer-required solutions would use a device that looks much like a clock radio where times would be set for on/off or dusk/dawn, and it would control lights as well as other devices around the house. Lights can also be controlled by motion sensors or hand-held remote control devices. You never have to come home to a dark house, and you donāt have to leave the lights on all day. An automation system gives your house the appearance that someone is home. Additional devices such as security systems and cameras can be added as well.
If youāre tired of using three different remote controls to watch TV, Logitech (www.logitech.com) has a device that can be programmed to do it all with only one remote. It does require some initial setup with a computer, but once it is configured for your devices, all you do is simply press the āWatch TVā button to turn on your TV, audio system, and cable (or satellite) box, and it will set all the correct inputs/outputs on each device. If you decide to watch a movie instead, press āWatch a Movieā button to turn off the cable box, turn on the DVD player, and change the devices to the correct settings. There is another button for āListen to Music.” It makes using the entertainment center a pleasure.
What if you could press a button on your nightstand when you wake up to start your morning coffee so itās ready when you get to the kitchen? Home automation can make our lives much more convenient by performing tasks that we may now do manually every day. Learn more by visiting the above websites or simply type āhome automationā into Google or your favorite browser for a wide selection of these systems.
