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30A Smart Home

30A Smart Home

PROJECT DESCRIPTION / OVERVIEW

This custom home in the 30A of Florida’s Emerald Coast features a complete home automation system, a custom home theater featuring Samsung’s 140″ video wall, McIntosh, B&W, and Sonus Faber high-end audio throughout, plus Josh.AI voice control, motorized shades, and outdoor entertainment and sound.

INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS IN THIS PROJECT

  • Home Automation – Control4
  • Custome Home Theater
  • Whole Home Audio / Video
  • High-End Audio – Bowers & Wilkins
  • Voice Control – Josh.AI
  • Security
  • Outdoor TV
  • Outdoor Audio
CONNECT WITH US FOR YOUR NEXT PROJECT
Total Control of Your Space

Home Automation

SIMPLICITY

That’s what home automation is all about. Imagine adjusting the lights, the climate, even browsing your personal music library all from one simple to use remote.  Control4 offers the best home automation systems on the market in terms of cost and reliability.

FUNCTIONALITY

The idea behind automation is to make your life easier. See yourself arriving home, arms full of groceries and with the press of a button on your key chain you disarm the alarm, turn on the lights, even start your favorite TV show.

EFFICIENCY

Automation integrates all the independent systems in your house allowing for more efficient use of all the systems. And the best part is, we handle everything. We tailor a system to your specific lifestyle needs.

Tired of dealing with multiple remotes to control your home entertainment system or home theater?  We can integrate your audio video and home theater system into one simple-to-use remote or touchscreen device.  This makes watching your favorite movie or TV show as simple as the press of a single button.

Gone are the days of multiple pieces of electronics in each room.  We will be your one-stop audio visual consultant.

In addition to our home theater installation services, Innovative Sight & Sound specializes in implementing whole house audio video systems.

We design and build centralized systems that keep all of your equipment in one central location that is out of sight and easy to service.  These components are then distributed throughout the various rooms of your home.  This helps reduce the impact of electronics components on the decor of your home and also reduces the amount of equipment you need to own.  Your favorite recorded shows, movies, and music will be available in any room you like from the living room, to the gym, to the master bedroom.

Imagine easily listening to all of your favorite music from any room in your home.  Your CD’s, MP3’s and of course your favorite streaming sources such as Pandora and Rhapsody can be accessed from any remote, touchscreen, or smart device.  Enjoying your favorite music has never been easier.  It’s only the touch of a button away.

Want music in every room in the house?  No problem, simply select the rooms you want and the music you want to listen to and you’re ready to go.  Our systems are designed to enhance your enjoyment of your home.

Light plays a crucial role in our world. Nothing can impact the ambiance in a room as quickly as the lighting. Automated lighting systems have become an essential part of today’s high end homes. They deliver a wide range of benefits and conveniences that improve both the look and functionality of a home. Standard lighting requires banks of light switches that must be turned on and off manually.

An automated system replaces these banks of switches with a simple and elegant keypad. Not only does this cut down on wall clutter, but it also allows you to use your lighting to enhance the interior details and architectural features of your home. One keypad can control anything from a single light, to an entire room, to the whole house. In addition to simple “ON” and “OFF” functions, each keypad can be pre-programmed to carry out multiple “scenes”. Perhaps you’re entertaining tonight, simply press the “Entertainment” button and all the lights in the house can be set to a pre-determined level.

​Or perhaps you’re ready for bed? Press the “Sleep” button on the keypad next to your bed and all of the lights in the house will be turned off for you. You can even have a few lights stay on for security purposes.

Outdoor lighting can also be added to your system to enhance both the look and security of your home. And just like the interior lights they can be controlled from any keypad, remote, or smart device. We use both Control4 and Lutron lighting products.

Another popular feature of today’s smart home is automated shades and blinds.  Natural light can help enhance the look of any room but in the South it can also cause your energy costs to skyrocket.  Automated shades can lower and raise based on the time of day, keeping your cooling costs down in the summer.

Innovative Sight & Sound offers a full line of motorized shades and drapery to suit both your design needs and lifestyle.  Shades are simple to operate and are integrated into the same keypad as those used to control your lights.  This allows you to quickly and easily change the amount of natural light in any given room with the touch of a button.

Drapes, shades and blinds can also be used to enhance security and energy efficiency.  If you’re away on vacation your system can be programmed to make it appear that someone is still at home all while reducing the amount of sunlight entering the home thereby lowering the ambient temperature.  Shades can also be used protect valuable furniture and artwork from damaging rays of the sun.

Integrating your heating and cooling system into your smart home system delivers convenience and significant energy savings.  Quickly and easily set the temperature for any room in your house using a smart phone, tablet, or touchscreen remote.  Our automated thermostats are completely programmable, allowing you to set the schedule for each climate zone in your home.

Since your entire home is accessible via your phone or tablet you can even control the temperature of your home while you are away.  Perhaps you left on vacation but forgot to turn down the air conditioning.  No problem, simply open your control app and set the system to vacation mode from wherever you are in the world.

Luna Surveillance Camera Mobile App

Who isn’t concerned about home security?  Our smart homes allow you to leverage your home’s security system to create even more peace of mind.  You can monitor your home from anywhere inside the house, or from anywhere in the world.  Need to disarm the system while you’re out of town to allow someone into the house?  No problem.  Simply hop on your smart phone or tablet and you can disarm the system in seconds.

You can even check your security cameras while you’re at it.

Integrating your security system also allows you to control lighting functions based on alarm events such as a fire or intruder.  If you’re system detects either, it can turn on the lights, potentially scaring off a burglar, or  giving you light to quickly and safely exit the house.

Let's Design Your Automation System

Let Innovative Sight & Sound turn your home into a Smart Home.

We’ve been designing and installing home automation systems for the last 15 years. From one-room systems to fully automated homes we can design and deliver a systems that meets all of your needs.

Use the form provided to give us information about your project and our local design team will connect with you.

Technology for Football Season

Discover the Best Technology to Experience the Football Season

An OLED Screen to See the Action

There's nothing like OLED technology in a large screen to bring the game to life! Click here to learn more!

Speakers to Feel The Energy

Experience dramatically clear sound for sports, movies, and shows.

Outdoor Entertainment

Our outdoor display solutions feature higher brightness and reduced glare for the best outdoor viewing.
LEARN ABOUT OLED TECHNOLOGY

Get an OLED TV to Enjoy the Game

If you want the best-looking TV image that money can buy, choose an OLED TV. With perfect blacks, superior viewing angles, infinite contrast ratios, and better motion quality than you can find on other TVs, OLED TVs are the best there is.

OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) enables displays to be brighter, more efficient, thinner, flexible and with higher contrast and faster refresh rates than LCD.

Flagship models from Sony, LG, and Samsung are all excellent options to experience the visuals of the game in life-like precision and clarity. Sizes ranging from 55″, 65″, 75″, and even 85″ make the experience of watching the big game completely immersive and intense.

Innovative Sight & Sound will help you determine which OLED TV is best suited for your space and uses! 

Find the Perfect OLED for Your Football Viewing
SCALABLE AND POWERFUL SPEAKERS

Feel the In-Game Action with Sonos Speakers and Subs

Video isn’t the only element in the football experience. Audio brings up the other half in a big way…especially with a customizable sound system for all of your sports and entertainment.

Experience dramatically clear sound for sports, movies, and shows. Plus, stream music, radio, podcasts, and more. Start with a soundbar and easily expand your system when you connect a subwoofer and rear surrounds over WiFi with Sonos.

Sonos speakers feature high-performance drivers for crisp highs, dynamic midranges, and powerful bass. Sonos has soundbars with slim profiles that can be discreetly mounted or placed on furniture and combined with multiple subwoofers to maximize your football experience.

Innovative’s design team will work with you to configure the perfect speaker setup to maximize your game day experience! 

Customize the Best Speaker Setup for the Action
TAKE THE ACTION OUTDOORS

Entertainment Solutions to Experience the Game Outdoors

Watching intense rivalries and the big game on an outdoor screen is an amazing experience. Our outdoor display solutions from Sunbrite feature higher brightness and reduced glare for the best outdoor viewing.

SunBriteTV’s premium 4K UHD HDR screen with direct LED backlight and is up to 50% brighter than indoor TVs to deliver a breathtaking, vivid picture in outdoor environments. They also feature durable aluminum case that protects against rain, snow, extreme temperatures, dust, salt, and insects; compared to the lightweight, vented plastic of typical indoor TV cases.

SunBrite offers sizes from 43″ up to 75″ for various outdoor environments:

  • Full Shade (patios, porches, sunrooms)
  • Partial sun or high ambient light (pergolas, partially covered decks)
  • Full sun and active areas (poolside, outdoor seating areas)

And theres no better way to compliment an outdoor display than by adding an outdoor soundbar! SunBrite soundbars offer all-weather passive soundbar is designed to pair seamlessly with SunBriteTV outdoor TVs

  • Guards Against the Elements
  • Engineered for Outdoor Listening
  • Extreme Temperature Functionality
  • Multiple Mounting Options

Innovative Sight & Sound can evaluate your outdoor space to make the best recommendation on the best media setup for you. 

Move Your Football Viewing Outdoors

Experience the Game Like Never Before with Innovative's Solutions & Custom Installation

Together We Can Build Your Dream Media System

You won’t find another technology integrator that is more dedicated to the success of your project than Innovative Sight & Sound.  We look forward to connecting with you and learning how we can serve you through our expertise and experience.

NEXT STEPS
  • Use the Webform to Share About Your Project
  • Meet with our Design Team
  • Review Your Entertainment Needs and Space
  • Create an Amazing Entertainment System
  • Use Innovative’s Installation Services to Bring the Vision to Life
  • Now You’re Ready for Some Football! 
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Make Your Home a Smart Home

What is A Home Smart?

A true smart home is a home that features multiple technology systems all connected together by a central control platform. A smart home makes your life more convenient and your home safer, more comfortable, and easy to enjoy by integrating together your lighting, security system, climate/thermostats, window treatments such as blinds and shades, pool and spa, and of course your home entertainment system.

BENEFITS OF A SMART HOME

Home Automation
  • Simplicity – is what home automation is all about. Imagine adjusting the lights, the climate, even browsing your personal music library all from one simple to use remote.  Control4 offers the best home automation systems on the market in terms of cost and reliability.
  • Functionality – The idea behind home automation is to make your life easier. See yourself arriving home, arms full of groceries and with the press of a button on your key chain you disarm the alarm, turn on the lights, even start your favorite TV show.
  • Efficiency – Home automation integrates all the independent systems in your house allowing for more efficient use of all the systems. And the best part is, we handle everything. We tailor a system to your specific lifestyle needs.

Elements of A Home Smart

Charleston Smart Home Control4

Control Everything

A well-designed and implemented smart home system is nothing short of a digital concierge putting you in total control of nearly every aspect of your home.

A smart home also gives you multiple ways to control the technology systems in your home. A wall mounted touchscreen, a remote, a tablet, mobile phone, or voice assistant – any of these devices provide you access and control to all the connected elements in your home.

From anywhere, you can control audio/video, lighting, climate, security, and more.

Custom Lighting Keypad Control4

Smart Automation

A true Smart Home is programmed to automatically and intuitively sync with your lifestyle.

For example, if your home faces the sun rise, a smart home will know to lower the motorized shades of the east facing windows and make sure the thermostat has the temperature at the desired level. If you leave in the evening, a simple button press on a keypad will lock the doors, arm the security system, turn on exterior lights, and make sure garage doors are closed.

Automation is about aligning the technology systems of your home to your lifestyle.

Your Media, Available Everywhere

Tired of dealing with multiple remotes to control your home entertainment system or home theater?  We can integrate your audio video and home theater system into one simple-to-use remote or touchscreen device.  This makes watching your favorite movie or TV show as simple as the press of a single button.

Imagine easily listening to all of your favorite music from any room in your home. Apple Music, Spotify or your favorite podcast can be accessed from any remote, touchscreen, or smart device.

Enjoying your media has never been easier. It’s only the touch of a button away – simply select the rooms you want and the media you want, then you’re ready to go.

Custom Colorbeam Living Room Lighting Charleston

Lighting Control

A big element of a smart home is the lighting system that improves both the look and functionality of a home.

In a smart home, a banks of switches is replaced with a simple and elegant keypad. Not only does this cut down on wall clutter, but it also allows you to use your lighting to enhance the interior details and architectural features of your home. One keypad can control anything from a single light, to an entire room, to the whole house.

Perhaps you’re entertaining tonight, simply press the “Entertainment” button and all the lights in the house can be set to a pre-determined level. Ready for bed? Press the “Sleep” button on the keypad next to your bed and all of the lights in the house will be turned off for you.

Outdoor lighting can also be added to your system to enhance both the look and security of your home. And just like the interior lights they can be controlled from any keypad, remote, or smart device.

Motorized Window Coverings

Another popular feature of today’s smart home is automated shades and blinds. Automated shades can lower and raise based on the time of day, keeping your cooling costs down in the summer.

Innovative Sight & Sound offers a full line of motorized shades to suit both your design needs and lifestyle.  Shades are simple to operate and are integrated into the same keypad as those used to control your lights.  This allows you to quickly and easily change the amount of natural light in any given room with the touch of a button.

Drapes, shades and blinds can also be used to enhance security and energy efficiency.  If you’re away on vacation your system can be programmed to make it appear that someone is still at home all while reducing the amount of sunlight entering the home thereby lowering the ambient temperature.  Shades can also be used protect valuable furniture and artwork from damaging rays of the sun.

Learn More About our Motorized Shade Solutions HERE

Climate & Comfort Control

The battle of the thermostat can finally be won. Cozy up with climate control the entire family can agree on! Smart scheduling, voice control capabilities, even integrations with shades and fans. It’s your home, only more comfortable.

Integrating your heating and cooling system into your smart home system delivers convenience and significant energy savings.  Quickly and easily set the temperature for any room in your house using a smart phone, tablet, or touchscreen remote. Our automated thermostats are completely programmable, allowing you to set the schedule for each climate zone in your home.

Since your entire home is accessible via your phone or tablet you can even control the temperature of your home while you are away.  Perhaps you left on vacation but forgot to turn down the air conditioning.  No problem, simply open your control app and set the system to vacation mode from wherever you are in the world.

Smart Home Control and Security

Security Integration

Imagine how secure you’d feel if your home sent you real-time notifications, alerted you to guests at the door, and even turned on lights and TVs while you’re away to deter home invasions.

Our smart homes allow you to leverage your home’s security system to create even more peace of mind.  You can monitor your home from anywhere inside the house, or from anywhere in the world.  Need to disarm the system while you’re out of town to allow someone into the house?  No problem.  Simply hop on your smart phone or tablet and you can disarm the system in seconds.

You can even check your security cameras while you’re at it.

Integrating your security system also allows you to control lighting functions based on alarm events such as a fire or intruder.  If your system detects either, it can turn on the lights, potentially scaring off a burglar, or giving you light quickly.

Voice Control

Voice Control has become a staple of everyday life. But the depth of that integration has been lacking…until now.

Innovative uses Josh.AI connects you with all the smart devices in your home. Using your voice, Josh can turn on and off your lights, change the temperature, play music, and more, whether you’re home or away. Josh is built to understand natural language and learn from you as time goes on.

Josh is also big on privacy and will never use client information for marketing purposes or sell user data to third parties. Unlike the mass-market voice assistants, Josh’s sole focus is on providing the best smart home experience possible.

How to Create A Home Smart

DESIGN

The biggest step in the process is designing the right system to fit the unique space, lifestyle, and needs of a client. Innovative's design process custom configures a system based around a client's interests, life rhythms, home atmosphere, and desires. We work with clients to design, engineer, and plan a complete technology system as well as interface with architects, builders, and designers.

INTEGRATION

Our team of industry experts will install all the elements of your technology system with attention to detail, excellence, and professionalism. We are on site through all phases of your project : Pre-Wire • Device Install • Display Mounting • Rack Building - all to ensure every aspect or your system is installed and integrated for you to have the absolute best user experience.

PROGRAMMING

Once the devices and components are installed, our next phase of service is to program the system to connect all devices to control your space. This is the culmination of the intentional design and integration process. And where our programming technician syncs your connected technology to your lifestyle to make sure your smart home is working for your across every system you depend on and enjoy.

Let's Make Your Home, A Smart Home

Connect Today & Experience a Smart Home From Innovative

Innovative Sight & Sound has been successfully serving clients for over 15 years with excellence, integrity, and reliability. As a partner you can trust, Innovative is involved at every phase of a project from design to install to final programming and service. Our team of experts is with you every step of the way to make sure your technology integration experience is amazing.

You won’t find another technology integrator that is more dedicated to the success of your project than Innovative Sight & Sound.  We look forward to connecting with you and learning how we can serve you through our expertise and experience.

Next Steps

  • Use the Webform to Share About Your Project
  • Meet with our Design Team
  • Review Your Needs and Space
  • Create a Smart Home System Design for Your Environment & Lifestyle
  • Use Innovative’s Installation and Programming Services
  • Enjoy More Comfort and Convenience in Your Life
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New Technology

Lutron Ketra

Beautiful, tunable, and customizable, Ketra is a revolution in LED lighting. Ketra solutions provide the highest-quality light — light that seamlessly emulates daylight in interior spaces. And it’s scalable lighting system that can be implemented into a new project or available for retrofit into your existing property.

Learn More About Ketra

Josh.AI

By utilizing advanced AI technologies, including natural interfaces like voice and touch, Josh orchestrates the technology in all aspects of your home to deliver an exciting and effortless living experience.

PATTERN RECOGNITION
Josh learns without being intrusive or obnoxious. If you like the shades closed on a hot afternoon, Josh will take note of that preference.
SECURE & PRIVATE
Privacy is our number one concern. Your data will never be sold or used for advertising—we use it to make your home experience better.
IMPROVING EVERY DAY
Josh is always learning and growing. The more you interact with your home, the more it will become a true smart home.
Learn More About Josh.AI

Coastal Source Outdoor Speakers

QUALITY SOUND is much different than just sound. Why should beautiful sound be confined to your home? Whether controlled from your smartphone or integrated into your existing home audio system, Coastal Source Outdoor Audio products can be tailored to fit your outdoor environment by Innovative Sight & Sound.

Learn More

Gauzy Smart Glass

Smart Glass enhances your home design with a unique upgrade that brings luxury and modern edge to diverse decorative styles. Smart glass makes the glass in a home an experience, providing a contemporary and sophisticated privacy solution homeowners use and appreciate.

Privacy on Demand
Allow your home to be an open haven when shared space is desired, while having the option for privacy when needed

Dynamic Design
Let the interior design of your own home display your creativity with unpredictable design features for unique living spaces

Eco-friendly
Mitigate heating, cooling, and lighting costs with low energy consuming LCG®, helping your home be more eco-friendly

Learn More About Smart Glass

Integrate New Technology Into Your Space

NEXT STEPS

Tell us about you, your project type, location, and how best to contact you. If you have plan drawings or designs to share about your project, go ahead and include those too.

CONNECT WITH A LOCAL TEAM

Your information and project details will be sent to the local design team who will contact you to learn more about how Innovative can help in your project.

Lifestyle Convenience

Control4 Touch Panel
Control4 Touch Panel

Lifestyle Convenience

What is Lifestyle Convenience?

Headed towards bed, what do you do?

✅  Make sure inside lights are off

✅  Make sure outside lights are on

✅  Turn thermostat to desired temp

Get in bed…then wonder…

❔Did I lock the front door? Back door?

❔Is the alarm turned on?

❔Did I shut the garage door?

And the list could go on. And this is the routine that many people close every day with.

With a smart home automation system, all these various home systems are now connected.

This gives you total control over these home systems from a tablet, smart phone, or keypad.

But beyond this centralized access, is the ability to custom program these systems to work in concert with each other to suite your lifestyle patterns.

Now a simple press of a custom button like “Home Off” can automatically arm your alarm system, lock your doors, turn on outside flood lights, turn off interior lights and electrical components, and set the temperature at the desired level.

This just one of so many possibilities, both manual and completely automated, that our systems provide clients in their lifestyles.

Lifestyle Convenience…it is about practicality and simplicity.

📸  Innovative Sight & Sound Charleston

🔨 Home by @sheltercustombuiltliving

Get Smart Home Automation for Your Lifestyle

We’ve been designing and installing home automation systems for the last 15 years. From one-room systems to fully automated homes we can design and deliver a systems that meets all of your needs.

Please use the form provided to give us information about your project and our local design team will connect with you.

Home Media Upgrades

Upgrade Opportunities for Your Home Media

With us all spending more and more time at home than ever before, its a great time to look at upgrade opportunities for your home media to enhance your enjoyment while at home.

Technology upgrades are a great investment in your home fun, home efficiency, home security and home value.

  • Home Fun – large flatscreen TVs and soundbars make an amazing combo to upgrade in any room for movies, music, and video games.
  • Home Efficiency – adding a home automation system to control your climate, lighting and other home systems increase convenience and save dollars on energy efficiency
  • Home Security – adding security cameras around your property and integrating an alarm system gives you peace of mind and increases the safety of your home.
  • Home Value – integrating technology systems like home automation, security, lighting and climate control to your home increases the desirability of your property in todays age of smart homes.

Elements of a Home Theater

Elements of a Home Theater

There’s nothing like a high performance theater system to make your favorite movies as life-like as possible. Our team will design and implement of a state of the art home theater system tailored to your specific needs. We carry the best high performance brands in the world. Whether you’re looking to build the home theater room of your dreams or need to stick to a more down to earth budget, our systems deliver both high performance and high value.

What Makes a Home Theater?

A Dedicated Space

A dedicated space that takes into account size, sound, lighting to maximize the home theater experience.

Visuals

A 4K projector and custom screen or a top of the line flatscreen delivers premium picture quality.

Audio

Surround sound speakers and subwoofers provide the highs and lows of sound to immerse you in media.

Seating

Home Theater seating ranges from recliners to couches...whatever you want for your environment. Your comfort in the home theater experience is a priority.

Control

Controlling your media, climate, lighting and all aspects of your space makes the home theater experience complete.

Why NOW is the Perfect Time for a Home Theater

Why NOW is the Perfect Time for a Home Theater

We are all spending more time at home than ever before. Working from home, schooling from home, getting food delivered to our homes. This makes home entertainment a big priority…especially since local theaters are less and less of an option.

So, what’s the best solution? A Home Theater! 

Its a cinema experience so immersive you won’t ever want to step into a theater again. With total control of the lights, temperature, speakers, and all entertainment gear, your home theater just became a box office hit. There’s nothing like a high performance theater system to make your favorite movies as life-like as possible.

Here’s 3 reasons why you should start your home theater project today:

1

You're Home More Than Ever

Being home more than ever, means how you enjoy entertainment at home is a big priority. With more of a home focus for your lifestyle, its the best time to think about how you consume media content. If you're going to be at home, why not create a space where the cinematic feel of a movie or the roar of the big game can come to life?
2

A Custom Designed Solution

A home theater from Innovative Sight & Sound is a custom designed and integrated solution. That means that whatever your space and budget is, we work to design a home media experience that you will love to enjoy without leaving the house.
3

More Content Available Than Ever

With the prominence of streaming media services from Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Disney, HBO and more...there is more content available than ever before in gorgeous 4K HDR picture quality and digital surround sound. And, because of cultural trends, more and more major media players are moving fast to develop and release their own original content for distribution.

The Benefits of Motorized Window Treatments

Saving Energy

Motorized shades, when properly integrated with a smart home control system, can help you to save a significant amount of money on your monthly energy bill.  In Southern states such as Florida, and South Carolina, it’s possible to save as much as ten percent.

How does this work exactly?

By closing and opening shades at the appropriate time you can change the rate at which your house stores and releases heat.  During the summer months closing shades during the brightest parts of the day reduces the amount of solar energy entering through your windows.  It also reduces heat transfer through the windows themselves.  This can have a dramatic impact on the internal temperature of your home.  The result is that the air inside the house remains cooler with having to run the air conditioning as often.

In the winter months the shades can trap heat in your home during the night, and open to allow more sunlight in during daylight hours.  The result is a significant energy savings.

Entertainment Purposes

Coastal homes in the Southeast get lots of sunshine.  This is great when you want it, but it can be a nuisance when you’re trying to watch a movie or your favorite TV show.  Integrating your motorized shades or blinds with your home entertainment system means that with the press of a button your TV turns on, the lights go down, and so do the shades.

This helps to reduce glare making your experience more enjoyable.  This is especially important in home theaters where projectors and large screens can be significantly impacted by ambient light.

Wake Up Naturally

So many of us are used to waking up with an alarm clock.  But our bodies are naturally designed to awaken with the appearance of daylight.  An automated home can raise your shades at sunrise, or any time of your choosing.  This means you can ditch the alarm clock and wake up the way nature intended.

Increase Your Home’s Security

Motorized blinds can be programmed to operate as though you are home, even when you’re on vacation or out of town on business.  This can be a powerful deterrent to burglars looking for easy prey.  Further integrating your shades and lighting system makes it even more convincing.  Your home will emulate your routine even though you may be 1,000 miles away.

Enhance Privacy

Lot’s of windows are great when you want to look out and see the beach.  But what about when you would like more privacy?  Those same windows offer strangers and neighbors a view right into your home.  With an automated shading solution you can press a single button and create a more private space for you and your family.

If you’d like to learn more about how motorized shades and blinds can enhance your lifestyle, contact us today.

5 Ways Home Automation Can Reduce Energy Costs

Smart Home Control and Security

The convenience of home technologies such as interior lighting control, motorized window shades, and other such innovations is obvious. What we’ve found over the years, however, is that many people aren’t aware of just how easy it is to save money by installing these products.

Intelligently designed home automation systems can help lower your home’s energy consumption, thus reducing your household expenses and your carbon footprint. There are several key ways in which lighting control, motorized shades, and other technologies can help you to save money.

Motorized Shades Help Reduce Heating and Cooling Costs

By automatically regulating the amount of heat which is able to enter and escape from your house, through the use of motorized shades, you can dramatically reduce your heating and air conditioning bills throughout the year.

Normally, changing shades on up to fifteen windows or more throughout the average two-story house, several times per day, would be a chore… and if you want it done while you’re not around, it would literally require someone coming to your house to do it for you.

Motorized shades remove the hassle, allowing you to program a series of actions in advance – or to remotely adjust your shades individually, from anywhere in the world if you like. Keeping your home cool has never been easier or more efficient.  When properly integrated into a smart home system, motorized shades can help keep your house several degrees warmer or cooler than normal, towards your advantage, and all while saving money on heat and AC.

Automated Climate Control Monitors Your Activity

Climate control – the heating and cooling of your house – can be automated, even on a room-by-room basis. Heating and cooling can be turned on and off, or raised and lowered as needed, depending upon whether or not there is activity within a room.  If there’s nobody around, why pay to heat or cool empty rooms?

This type automation is the hallmark of the equipment offered by Control4 and Savant. Over the course of months, the simple savings accumulated through the addition of automated climate control can add up to a significant amount of money.  Combined with other aspects of an automated home, this functionality can have  a significant impact on your overall energy usage.

Reduce Power Usage through Lighting Control

How many times have you climbed into bed only to realize you left a light on in another room? With lighting control you don’t have to get up to go turn it off.  It’s as simple as pressing a single button to turn off all the lights in your house.

You can program settings in advance, or use a mobile device to change your house’s lighting mode from anywhere in the world. Lights can be automatically dimmed, or programmed to turn off at key times of the day – such as when you’re going to bed. The need to remember to turn off the lights after leaving a room – a particular concern in a house with children – is gone; now, you can do that from anywhere. All of this combines to significant savings on your electric bill.

Reduce Phantom Energy Use

The term “phantom energy” is an increasingly common one. It refers to the power drain through appliances which are left in “energy friendly” modes, idling or dormant. The term “energy friendly” is something of a misnomer, since it refers to a mode in which the appliance – such as a computer, or a television set – isn’t actually serving any purpose, but is still drawing power.

Many appliances draw a surprising amount of power, even while they’re turned off: on average, this represents up to ten percent of your monthly electric bill. Traditionally, the only solution to this is to unplug appliances while they’re not in use – right down to your microwave, and your washing machine. Now there are devices that can tie into your energy management system allowing you to negate these appliances’ “standby” modes in a much more convenient fashion.

Integrate Energy Management Systems for Personal Monitoring

Energy management systems, such as solar panels, can be integrated into your smart home system as well.  This allows you to monitor electrical production, usage, and even chedule functions which draw the most power accordingly.

Much of this can even be handled automatically, allowing you to augment the savings provided by your solar panels – without having to worry about changing settings manually from one day to the next.