Smart Home vs. Whole Home Automation

A lot of builders will install a couple of Nest thermostats and electronic door locks and call that “smart home technology.”

That’s just one tiny element of the potential behind whole home automation, which truly integrates smart home technology, machine learning, wifi-enabled devices and voice command controls that can work together to make your home support your unique lifestyle.

Depending on how sophisticated our clients want to get, we can automate as much or as little of the functionality of the home that they desire.

We typically use a dedicated server in the home to control HVAC, security alarms, cameras, door locks, security and access control, speakers and other audio/visual systems, lighting, electronic window shades or curtains, garage doors, and even the sprinkler system.

We can create unique profiles for each member of the family — and other helpers such as a nanny, housekeeper or dog walker — and have the home adjust its settings to fit that person’s preferences.

For example, if a mother approaches the home with children in the car and bags of groceries in the trunk, the system can recognize her vehicle, automatically open the garage door and unlock the side entrance door, turn on her favorite music, brighten the lights, lower the temperature of air conditioning in the kitchen, begin preheating the oven, and then automatically lock the door behind her.

A teenager may come home mid-afternoon from sports practice with friends in tow. With a simple voice command, he can dim the lights, drop a large screen television from the ceiling in the game room, sync his game console, and send his parents a message confirming that he is home.

Smart home technology can also be used to lower energy bills and reduce other utilities costs.

If the home has electronic window shades or curtains, they can be programmed to automatically dim or lower when the sun shines brightly or when the temperature gets too hot.

Water heaters can be set to automatically reduce their temperatures during periods when the entire family is usually gone, and they can be programmed to automatically increase their temperatures when someone comes home early or at an unexpected time.

Sprinklers can be programmed to pause for 5 minutes if someone rings a doorbell or opens a basement door to let the dog out.

Washing machines can remind us to put loads of clean laundry into the dryer, and refrigerators can add essentials like milk and eggs to our grocery apps when we run low.

We’re excited about the future of whole home automation as the Internet of Things (IoT) era becomes more prevalent and manufacturers think of new features that will make our lives more comfortable.