How to Control your Home with One Remote
Did you know you can have full home control with just one remote? Find out how Structured Cable of VA can integrate, automate, and enhance your lifestyle or business. Click here to contact us or call us today at (888) 934-0110.
Control4 Adds iPad-Specific Home Automation App
Souce: CEPro.com
Control4 has introduced its Control4 My Home iPad App, which will allow users to control lighting, temperature, music, video, security systems, Web cameras and more.
Control4 says the Control4 My Home iPad App is different from the iPhone version of the application.
“It’s totally unique. We built it from the ground up,” says Control4 COO Glen Mella, who added that Control4 maintains the look of its Navigator GUI in all its interfaces. “There are lots of cool things on the iPad app that are not on the iPhone app.”
Mella cited, for example, the ability to access and control home lighting from the entertainment screen vs. having to jump to another screen.
The Control4 My Home iPad app can be downloaded for free. Users need to have the app authenticated to their system with a Mobile Navigator license, which can be obtained from a Control4 dealer.
Control4 says “later in the year” homeowners will be able to use the iPad app with a Control4 4Sight remote monitoring subscription “to turn lights on and off, lock or unlock doors, or access IP video cameras and security systems from the Internet.”
For full article click here.
Making Home Energy Monitoring Fun
Source: ElectronicHouse.com
Control4 Panel
Who says monitoring your home’s energy isn’t fun? A new breed of energy monitoring systems is embracing the power of entertainment and convenience. Call it Home Energy Monitoring 2.0—and it may leave boring old kilowatt-hour readings in the dust.
Take control company Control4’s EMS 100 energy monitoring system. Offered to consumers through electric utility smart grid trials, it can connect to a TV via a separate Control4 processor or a Control4 IQ-licensed product to provide a big-screen readout of your energy use. In other words, you can check your energy consumption during the commercial breaks of your favorite shows.
Control4 is also rolling out its own 4Store app store, which is bound to include on-screen buttons for advanced power management and automatic shut-offs of certain devices in the home. Via a software upgrade later this year, utilities can upload videos and public service announcements to the in-home systems.
GE’s Home Energy Panel takes a somewhat different tack. The readout device, which looks like a digital picture frame, will also connect with Internet news, sports, music, weather services, social networks like Facebook and instant messaging. According to GE, this multifunctionality helps make the panels a focal point for household information.
Combining energy and other information should increase the frequency of interactions with the device, says Dan Gittleman, CEO of OpenPeak, a partner of GE. And more frequent engagement means a greater number of opportunities to communicate energy information. Consumers who opt in to the social networking aspect of the panel will be able to compare their consumption to neighborhood and city averages. GE says the comparisons may inspire increased conservation for some households.
Not all energy monitoring mavens think the infotainment route is the road best taken. PowerHouse dynamics, which is rolling out its eMonitor system that can measure energy use at the circuit level, is counting instead on its system’s ability to process information, offer energy-efficiency recommendations and send alerts to homeowners.
“I’m not sure yet that people see energy and entertainment in the same light,” says PowerHouse dynamics CEO Martin Flusberg. “You can do so much more on a web display than an in-home display, in terms of the depth of information you can show.” Flusberg says eMonitor’s web-based display can show an energy-use history in weeks or months so homeowners can spot their consumption trends.
These new energy monitoring systems and their approaches may well be transitory. After all, just how entertaining can viewing your energy usage be? As Flusberg says, “The winning strategy in this space [may include a system with preprogrammed] preferences from consumers, local energy rates and weather input, and it gives you information but otherwise is automatic.”
How Much Can You Save?
Studies show that when people can see how much money they’re wasting on energy, they’re more apt to buckle down and save anywhere from 5 percent to 15 percent.
If you also base your energy use on time-of-use pricing, in which utilities charge higher rates for electricity use during peak load periods, your savings can increase to about 8 percent.
Add some home control features to that, such as automatically shutting off electronics or appliances at certain times, and experts say you can save upwards of 30 percent, in some instances.
For full article click here.
10 Electronics Tips to Spice Up Your Kitchen
Source: ElectricHouse.com
As a result, it’s one of the first places you should consider integrating electronic systems.
These add-ons needed be expensive. You can start with something as simple as a motion sensor that activates the lights in the pantry automatically when you open the door, or put in a more sophisticated system that can stream music to speakers in the kitchen … and elsewhere.
Go for lighting control, home control, even large touchpanels that double as TV screens.
Lighting Control
A lighting control system can adjust the intensity of the lights for any activity that take place in the kitchen. All you do is press a button labeled Dinner, Breakfast, Entertain or Clean, and the system will dim or brighten select fixtures.
Whole House Audio
A whole-house music system can stream audio from the family room entertainment system, the home office PC and other devices to speakers in the kitchen. The ceiling is usually the best spot to put them.
Touchpanel
A touchpanel can function as a TV, an interface for controlling the lights, thermostats, music and other devices, and an intercom system. It needs to be connected to a home control system in order to perform these tasks.
Motion Sensor
A motion sensor can turn on and off certain lights, like the fixtures in the pantry or broom closet. Not having to manually flip a light switch is a great convenience when your hands are full.
Central Vacuum
A central vacuum system can make kitchen clean-up a snap. An accessory offered with most systems is a kick plate. Installed on the baseboard, it sucks away any particles that are swept to it.
Water Sensor
A water sensor can alert you if your dishwasher or refrigerator leaks. This may never happen, but if it does, you’ll be happy you had the forethought to have a few of these sensors installed.
Articulating TV Mount
An articulating mount can twist the TV toward the kitchen so you can watch your favorite shows while cooking. Models that can be operated via remote are available.
Telephone System
A telephone system lets you speak with visitors at the front door—as well as with people inside your house—by pressing a few buttons on the kitchen phone.
Timer
A timer can turn off the lights, music and video at a preset time. Home control systems have this feature built-in, and you can also use it to activate devices at prescribed times (like right before breakfast).
Ethernet Jacks
Ethernet jacks can come in handy for computing at the kitchen table and to take advantage of energy management programs offered by a growing number of utilities. When plugged into a jack, your refrigerator, dishwasher and other appliances will be able to turn on/off depending on the current utility rates.
For full article click here.
