Home Automation

   Set the scene                Control lights & shades from your bedside

• Automation allows you to make your house an active partner in managing your busy life. Your automated home is no longer a passive structure. Instead, it becomes a tool in helping you make the most of your time, enhancing your safety and security, even saving you money on your energy bills! How does it work? A central microprocessor (computer) receives signals from controlling devices, then forwards those signals to the appliances and systems in the house you want controlled.The central processor serves as a traffic cop by initiating and/or routing communication signals throughout the house. As the user, you can interface with the system via keypads, touchscreens, panic buttons, TV screens, computers, telephones, handheld remotes or other devices.
• You can integrate lighting control with other functions of your home electronics system, like having the lights dim automatically when you start a movie, or having them turn on when you come into the house. You can monitor and control lights in other rooms, for instance from your bedside table. So when you hear that 'bump in the night', you can turn on exactly the lights you want, before you even go downstairs. Your lighting system can be integrated with other systems, like security or home theater. Pressing a button to start a movie, for instance, could also send a command to dim the lights in an area.
• You can coordinate the operation of your window coverings with your security or Home Management System, so that shades are opened or closed to create a 'lived in' look when you're away. Shades and drapery operation can be linked to your Home Theater controls so that unwanted light can be eliminated. With motorized shades, you can easily operate window treatments that very large or are located in difficult to reach places.

Remote Control Systems     

• Remote control systems can make operating any of your home electronics much simpler. The functions of several individual remote controls can be combined into a single, easy to use touch screen. Remote control commands can be combined into 'macros' so that with the touch of just a single button, a series of commands can be sent to your system. With a remote control system, you can hide your equipment in closets or cabinets and still control it — even from another room! Most systems work on either infrared (like your VCR remote) or RF (radio frequency, like your portable phone). 

• In both systems, control functions for your equipment is programmed into or learned by the controller. In this way a single controller can replace several controllers. Controls can be handheld, tabletop, or wall mounted and can be keypads with buttons or touch screens. In infrared systems, tiny receivers placed near your TV (or other convenient location) relay the IR signals to equipment hidden in cabinets or located in other rooms.