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Smart Home Automation Design Plan
Smart Home System Design Steps
The first step in designing a home automation system is to make a list of all the smart home products you would like to have installed. Also, you need to decide on your home theater equipment and how many zones of video and audio you will have.
Second step is to decide on the controller you would like to use. If you have just a few smart home items you would like to be controlled, an ADT Command system may work. But to control all systems in your home, a controller like Control4 will be what you need.
WARNING: Do not go out and buy a bunch of different smart home products if you want them to all work seamlessly under one control platform. Smart home controllers have certain products they are able to control and they can not manage every smart home product on the market today. Choose your controller first, then see what products are able to be managed by the controller you like.
It makes a lot of difference in smart home system design which locations you will be able to run wires too. In new construction, you can design from the beginning and install all necessary wiring for all home entertainment and smart home devices. When you are installing a smart home system in an existing home, you must decide where wires can be run to and when you will need to install wireless devices.
Here are some of the steps we use to help customers design their smart home:
- Plan home security solution: Products include security system, fire and carbon monoxide detectors, security cameras, video doorbells, motorized gates and door locks.
- Plan for audio/video: Products include home theater equipment and distributed audio. It starts with which rooms you would like to have video, where you would like surround sound and which zones you would prefer audio only. Also, what audio/video products are you interested in for the great outdoors. Next, what sources do you like for movies, TV shows and music? Do you watch Netflix, Hulu... do you have cable TV? What are your sources for music.... your new record player.... or digital streaming of Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, iTunes, Tidal, etc?
- What other smart home products would you like to control? Lighting, thermostat, garage door opener, blinds and shades, pool pumps, fountains, irrigation, intercom....? Would you like voice control with Amazon Alexa or Google Home...?
Based upon how many products you have installed, especially WiFi devices, you will need to have a solid network with adequate Wireless Access Points (WAPs) and high speed Internet service. When you start to have a large system, your smart home integrator will need to have management control of all devices on the network so they can help keep your system running smoothly. Many service calls for smart home automation systems can be done remotely with programming and software updates to your smart home controller and devices.
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Smart Home Automation Control
Control4 Products for Smart Home Automation
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Mobile Apps
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Lighting
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Touchscreens
Touchscreens
Control4 Product Catalog
Touchscreens
Smart Thermostat
Control4 Product Catalog
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Control4 Product Catalog
Complete Smart Home Automation
Control Your Smart Home Devices On Single Platform
There are thousands and thousands of smart home devices to control. ADT Command and Control is a good option for home security with some of the more popular smart home devices. But, when you want to control tens of thousands of smart home devices and growing Control4 is a fantastic option for you.
Here are some of the categories of smart home devices:
- Audio/Video
- Home Theater
- Distributed Audio
- Video Projectors
- Home Theater Motorized Screens
- Lighting
- Locks
- Thermostat
- Garage Door Opener
- Security System
- Security Camera
- Video Doorbell
- Blinds and Shades
- Smart Outlets
- Smart Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors
- Water Leak Detection
- Irrigation Sprinkler Control
- Swimming Pool Pump and Lights
- Decorative Fountains
- Intercom
- Motorized Gates
Here are some of the more popular name brands Control4 integrates with:
- Amazon
- Apple
- Sony
- Sonos
- Netflix
- Hulu
- Pandora
- Napster
- Tunein
- DirectTV
- Dish
- LG
- Pioneer
- Panasonic
- Honeywell
- Lilin
- Lutron
- Somfy
- Qmotion
- QNap
- Yale
- Kwikset
- Baldwin
Complete list of all Control4 Partners
With all the smart home products on the market, in can be quite overwhelming to plan to have all of them seamlessly work together. It is often the best to have a professional help you plan for smart home automation and make sure everything you have installed will work together.
Control4 Home Automation
Get a more comprehensive understanding of Control4 and plan for what smart home products you would like to install.
Smart Home Automation - Customer FAQs
What is smart home automation system?
A home automation system is a controller that gives you the ability to control and manage different electronic devices in your home. Some home automation systems can control a few smart home devices and other systems are very robust and can control 10,000+ devices.
How does smart home automation work?
The controller, sometimes called the smart home hub, uses different means of communicating to devices to create actions. Many of todays more simple systems, use WiFi to send signals to different WiFi smart home devices to send commands through your WiFi network to control the equipment.
More robust controllers use WiFi plus other communication like RS232 for wired communication to a device, Z-Wave, Zig-bee, Bluetooth, IR for audio equipment, control items on the network, etc.
Most smart home automation systems have multiple ways to control the devices on the system including: Mobile apps, web portal, system touchscreens, TV interface with remote control and voice commands. The home automation system can also be used to set schedules for smart home devices and trigger events based on what is happening within the home.
Is Home Automation worth the money?
If you have money to spend for convenience... then definitely. The ability to remotely be notified of things happening at home and be able to control devices is certainly worth it for people who travel for business or leisure. The schedules and programmed automations are very good for families on the go. Setup your system to manage the electrical devices in you home and worry less about things like managing your thermostat control.
Also, one touch button commands that control 10-100+ different devices is awesome. You do not need to go into ten different smart home mobile apps and have five remote controls for home home entertainment system.... everything is controller by one platform and one mobile app.
What is the best home automation hub?
This comes down to what you need and your budget. If you just need to control a couple of smart home devices then an ADT Command, Amazon Echo or a Google Home might be a good solution. However, once you start to add significant devices to a system or want to integrate your home theater, whole house music system, blinds and shades, pool pumps, irrigation, complete home lighting, intercoms..... you'll need a complete home automation system like Control4.
Control4 is the most popular smart home automation system among the top 100 home automation installation companies in the United states.
Learn More about Smart Home Trends
Download the Smart Home Magazine to learn more about the latest trends in the industry and get some ideas about the smart home solution that will meet your family's needs.