How Connected is Your Home?

Have you and your family ever taken the time to count the number of devices in your home? Not just the smart ones, but every device including speakers, lights, door locks, security cameras, window blinds, and appliances. Now imagine for a moment if all of those devices could communicate, each sending you information and taking your directives. This is not the realm of science fiction, but rather the land of smart home control.

Westchester County, New York residents who want greater control over the devices in their home need not look any further than the automation experts at Phoenix Audio Video & System Integration. Over the next several months, we’ll be feature an array of articles to help you discover some of the coolest capabilities of a smart home. Read on to learn more about the basics of automation.

Where to Start with Smart Home Control

Take a moment to consider which rooms in your home you spend the most time in and the type of activities that take place there. Perhaps it’s the living room where the family gathers to watch television or relax with a favorite book or smart device. If your family is like most others, the kitchen is probably the hub of the home. Whether you are preparing meals, helping the kids with homework, or sharing a glass of wine with your significant other, the kitchen is a multi-purpose space.

Home automation gives you the ability to transform the space to meet your needs depending on the specific activity within it. Lower the shades and dim the lights to ready the living room for movie night. Control the TV and Blu-ray player at the press of a single button on a hand-held remote or your smartphone.

What Features of Your Home Do You Use Most?

Do you often listen to music, podcasts, or the radio? Do you have a pool or spa that you like to enjoy? Do you host get-togethers with family and friends? By combining a variety of subsystems, you create a smart home that better fits your lifestyle and needs. Some common elements of home automation include:

Audio

• Control all the speakers in your home and listen to your preferred playlist throughout the home
• Set your favorite Sirius XM jazz channel to play at 6 p.m. every day when you arrive home from the office

Lighting

• Easily turn on just one light or a group of lights in a particular room
• Set individual lights to the desired brightness level in each room
• Creating a lighting scene that can be recalled with a single button press

Shades

• Swap your manual shades for those with motors and easily adjust the amount of light entering a particular room
• Cut down on harsh screen glare by programming your shades to lower at a set time each day

Pool/Spa

• Take the work out of owning a pool and be notified if the pump fails
• Preheat the water before you arrive home so the temperature is just the way you like it

This is just the tip of the home automation iceberg. One of the best ways to explore the possibilities of smart home control is to visit our showroom in Fairfield. This is the perfect setting to immerse yourself in smart technology and learn what’s possible for your home.