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Central NE | While not always practical, I've been installing Control4 Systems (www.control4.com) the last several years for home automation. I enjoy listening to music and wanted something that I could control the audio in several different rooms and then my interest in this system took off. The big thing now is lighting control and scene-based lights (i.e. Cooking Scene, Cleaning Scene, Party Scene, etc). C4 just recently developed a Panelized Lighting solution that takes all your lighting loads and centrally locates them in a lighting panel so your walls aren't littered with light switches. Just one keypad to control the scene. The idea with a C4 system is you have one app to do everything - lighting, audo, video, security, climate, motorization, intercom, etc.
The programming is pretty straightforward which is why I picked up on it. It utilizes the IFTTT principal, If this than that. So for example, when the garage door open (the this), turn on the garage lights, light the fireplace (only when its cold), and turn on the entry way lights in the house (the that). You can also program in logical triggers such as time of day, temperature, cell phone in range, etc. It doesn't have to be a defined action. And since this is all happening inside one ecosystem, you're not using 10+ different apps to control your house.
My only gripe with Control4 is that its designed to be a Dealer Installed Only product, however, with some intuition, some good Googling and eBaying, you can piece something together. If anyone is interested in learning more about these systems, just let me know. I recently became a dealer (my "town" job) and can help you design a system. | |
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Home Automation System
