Do-it-yourself home security is all the rage. For best results, however, consider a comprehensive, professionally monitored alarm system that ensures emergency crews will reach your residence fast. This will also help you save on your homeowner’s insurance. Here’s a look at the key elements of a home security system, and what each entails.
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How to Integrate Subsystems With a Home Automation System
On its own, a home automation system has the dexterity to juggle a variety of different tasks. Meticulously engineered and designed by the manufacturer and installed by a home systems integrator, it’s able to dim and brighten light fixtures, adjust the settings of thermostats, provide status reports of household electricity usage, and choreograph the operation […]
Get the Guide10 Smart Home Security System Add-ons
Electronic door locks, more sensors, lighting options and more ways to beef up home security systems.
Imagine using your smartphone to see who’s at your front door while you’re thousands of miles away. Or hearing a unique beep when a door or a pool gate opens. Or having your home’s lights turn off automatically when you leave. Many of these “smart” home features are possible with security systems. They aren’t just […]
Get the Guide9 Top Home Theater Receivers for Under $1,000
The AV receiver (also known as the AVR or home theater receiver) isn’t the prettiest piece of a home theater system, but it’s certainly the most important. It’s a magical place where all of the audio meets all of the video and sends music and soundtracks to your home theater speakers.
Get the GuideEli Manning Has the Coolest Automated Condo
In 2008 EH visited the home of Giants’ QB Eli Manning. Now with a repeat match up, we revisit this story about his Crestron-controlled home.
Get the GuideSmart Home Gallery: Fast Reaction
There’s this annoying glitch that happens sometimes in an automated home called “latency.” It occurs when you press a button to, say, activate all the lights in the house, and you’re left standing at the threshold tapping your foot waiting for the lights to turn on. Those few seconds of lag time might seem inconsequential, […]
Get the GuideUser Interfaces: The Human Link to a Home Automation System
Automation occurs when the state of a device, product, or system changes based on certain predefined conditions. It happens when your home environment is able to adapt to your needs all by itself—no tap of a button or a flip of a switch is required. While home automation systems are perfectly capable of running a […]
Get the GuideOne for the History Books: Before and After Gold
OWNING AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF HISTORY brings with it a unique set of responsibilities. Be it a coin handed down from your great-great-grandfather, a book autographed by a literary icon, or an approximately 6,000-square-foot structure on New York City’s Upper East Side with a prolific past life, preservation is paramount. The owners of this award-winning […]
Get the Guide10 Years of HOTY: The More Things Change the More they Stay the Same
TEN YEARS AGO, we conceived the idea of honoring home systems integration firms for their stellar smart home projects. As was the industry back then, the awards-program started out small, with most companies submitting information about and photos of home theaters. Very few homes with comprehensive control and automation systems ended up in my inbox. […]
Get the GuideSmart Home Automation FAQs for Beginners
Understanding the basics of smart home automation technology. What are the most popular home automation technology systems that consumers install in their homes? Are these systems affordable for the average homeowner? Are they realistic, which are the most practical?
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