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2/27/2012 3:32:00 PM by Homelife Technology
The Importance of Proper Structured Wiring
It's hard to imagine, but we go into nearly brand new homes that were completely under wired. In fact, many homes built today have the same basic wiring we'd expect to see in homes that were constructed over a decade ago.
Can we still make things work? Sure, but we have to rely on wireless technology or are forced to run new wiring through nearly brand new structures. The cost of these wireless products or labor associated with retrofitting wires is often 10x what it would have cost to run the wiring when the walls were open.
In the majority of cases, homeowners had no idea of the importance of a proper pre-wire and are often angered by the fact that a choice to future proof their home wasn't presented to them.
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| Pre-wired for the Future |
Need new brakes on your car? Have your Dentist change them.
Your Dentist and Mechanic both use hand tools, but you wouldn't want them to do each others jobs, would you? So why expect that another trade is capable of designing, spec'ing and installing the proper low voltage wiring in a home? We follow exacting specifications and know what wiring is needed to take care of today's technology as well as tomorrow's needs.
Want to see some Smart Homes in action?
Simply go to www.HomeLifeTechnology.com or click on the image below and check out the Smart Home tour featuring 6 Smart Homes.
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2/27/2012 3:33:00 PM by Homelife Technology
Modern Whole House Audio
Unlike outdated audio systems where the extent of the controls available to the homeowner was a knob on the wall for the volume, our systems are fully integrated, providing two-way feedback and can be controlled through a keypad, touch screen, remote control, mobile device, Mac, PC or television.
Audio sources can consist of just about anything including CD's, iTunes, AM/FM/XM, cable boxes, iDevices or the internet. We give homeowner the ability to listen to what they want, wherever they want. It's simple to sync up the entire home or listen to different audio sources in each zone.
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Effortlessly control audio zone sources, volume
and which rooms are listening to what |
Never buy another CD
We fully integrate with Rhapsody, an online music service. For $10 a month, Rhapsody is a great value and provides over 14 million songs. Easily choose artists, albums or songs to create a virtual library of music. It couldn't be easier.
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| Easily navigate your music collection |
Want to see some Smart Homes in action?
Simply go to www.HomeLifeTechnology.com or click on the image below and check out the Smart Home tour featuring 6 Smart Homes.
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2/27/2012 3:34:00 PM by Homelife Technology
What is lighting control?
Intelligent lighting control is the ability to control lights individually or in a group (known as a lighting scene) with a keypad, touch screen, remote control, mobile device, Mac, PC or through the internet. Lighting control conserves energy by making it easy to ensure that lights are turned on or off in individual rooms, floors or even the entire home with little or no effort.
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Example of the lighting control interface on a Touch Screen
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Eliminate clutter.
Lights need to be controlled, but the controls don't need to be seen. For example, kitchens have a mixture of task, general and accent lighting such as:
- Island pendants
- Over cabinet
- Toe kick
- Under cabinet
- General purpose cans
- In cabinet
- Bookshelf
- Cook top
- and more
In a traditional home, each light load in the kitchen would need a switch on the wall. With all these switches, how do you know which switch controls what light? Expecting all of these switches to make sense to a homeowner when standing in front of them is no easy task. Each additional switch creates more of an eyesore on the wall. Add in 3 & 4 way switches at other entrances to the kitchen and you've created an unsightly mega-gang switch box.
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| How many times have you seen the dreaded Mega-Gang? |
Electricians try to eliminate mega-gang switch locations by breaking up where each light is operated from, but this often makes things even more confusing to the end user. For example, to get the proper lights turned on to cook a meal might require the homeowner to go around to 3 or 4 different switch locations. For this reason, many of the lights that can create a dramatic effect & were so thought out in the lighting plan sit idle, and are never used.
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These are examples of easy to use keypads that provide a much cleaner look
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Lighting control is a different mind set. Lighting control gives you lighting scenes, which make it easy to control a group of lights when setting the mood. Lighting scenes eliminate the need to chase down and turn on/off individual light switches. When a lighting scene in the Kitchen such as "Cook" or "Relax" executes, the lights that are part of that scene are automatically set to a pre-chosen light level automatically and in unison.
Look ma, no hands!
Lighting systems can incorporate sensors which allow for a completely hands free experience. Simply walk into a room or down a hallway & the lights turn on automatically at the right light levels based on the time of day or ambient light.
We utilize micro sensors that are so small they're hard to spot and through predictive logic, even the most complex floor plans can take advantage of this amazing and green technology.
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For comparison, here is a micro sensor
near a slim line smoke detector. |
Want to see some Smart Homes in action?
Simply go to www.HomeLifeTechnology.com or click on the image below and check out the Smart Home tour featuring 6 Smart Homes.
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2/27/2012 3:35:00 PM by Homelife Technology
The Great Outdoors
Why not bring the indoors outside? Outdoor rooms are here to stay and in addition to outdoor speakers disguised a rocks & planters, outdoor TVs have become incredibly popular. We install TVs that are specifically designed to weather the elements and stay outside year round.
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Outdoor TVs are a great addition to any outdoor space, under roof or out in the open
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Properly Designing for the Outdoors
Bolting a set of wall mount outdoor speakers to the back side of a house is what most people think of when you're talking about outdoor audio. If you're in the yard, to hear anything playing over those speakers you need to crank the volume way up. This not only annoys the neighbors, but also drowns out any conversation for those sitting on the deck or patio. Obviously, this is not a good solution.
Ever been to Vegas? You're surrounded by outdoor music everywhere you go, but you don't see where it's coming from and it's never to loud. This is achieved with the right number of speakers and proper placement. Outdoor audio is one of those times when more is defiantly better. The more speakers spread around means that the overall volume can be lower, thus creating a proper place to entertain and relax.
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| Planter Speakers act as real planters, look great and you'd never know they were speakers |
Want to see some Smart Homes in action?
Simply go to www.HomeLifeTechnology.com or click on the image below and check out the Smart Home tour featuring 6 Smart Homes.
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2/27/2012 3:35:00 PM by Homelife Technology
Life's Better When Everything Works Together
Smart Homes offer fully integrated systems which can really change the ease of which homeowners interact with their homes. Lighting, Audio, Video, Security, Climate and just about anything else from Pools to Gates and Garage Doors can be brought under one elegant umbrella of control for a truly Smart Home.
Essentially, if it's electrical, we can control it.
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We integrate separate systems for a truly Smart Home
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What's scarier, the movie or getting it to play?
It's movie night! Almost... Just as soon as you figure out which devices to turn on, using the right remote controls and pressing the correct buttons in the proper sequence. Getting all that right can be scarier than the movie!
So often, we see homes where thousands of dollars in AV equipment sits idle because no one remembers how to use it. Eliminate this nightmare and control all these devices from one smart and easy to use remote control.
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| Which remote does what? |
Next time it's movie night, simply grab the remote control and select the Blu-ray player, then sit back and relax as everything else happens automagically.
The TV turns on and switches to the correct input, the Surround Sound receiver powers up and changes to the right surround sound mode. When you press play on the remote control, that command is sent to the Blu-ray player. When you press volume up, that command is sent to the Surround Sound receiver. All of this is done behind the scenes and using one remote control for the simplest movie watching experience you could image.
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| One remote to control them all |
Home Smart Home
Today's home buyers expect high-tech amenities like whole home audio, distributed video, lighting control and surround sound equipped media rooms to be standard in new construction or remodeling projects. They want technology, but don't want to see it. We offer fully integrated, out of sight solutions which make these complex systems easy to use.
Want to see some Smart Homes in action?
Simply go to www.HomeLifeTechnology.com or click on the image below and check out the Smart Home tour featuring 6 Smart Homes.
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