Smart Homes – The Future of Home Automation by George Gauglitz

When you hear the term “smart home” you may visualize a futuristic house or brand new mansion. However, with today’s new technologies and innovations, any homeowner can take advantage of either a few or multiple home automation services. Whether you are building a new house or looking to simplify daily life in your current home, with smart home integration, your options are nearly limitless. Once your new system is installed, you can relax knowing your security system, lighting, heating, and entertainment features will run like clockwork.

How does it work? You choose the areas you wish to be “smart” and the automation service will equip the systems with timers, settings, and control panels, conveniently located throughout your home. For example, you may have your lighting automated so that with one remote control you can turn on, off, and dim any light fixture inside or outside. Also, you may set timers on the house’s lighting so that porch or living room lights turn on at a specific time and you walk into a safe, welcoming home. No longer will you get up out of bed to turn off lights that were forgotten. Similarly, your security system and heating and cooling can all be controlled from one location, making your family comfortable, safe, and energy efficient.

What choices are there for controlling the automation? You can select touch screens, remote controls, and online options. Want to change the heat setting while you are out of town? There are options for controlling your home automation system from a mobile phone or laptop. Prefer one central location that stays out of the reach of children? Have a touch screen installed for easy access.

What about customizing? When you take a look at today’s smart homes, you will find an entire house personalized to the family’s needs and wants. It may sound complex, but it is as simple as choosing a few custom settings. Name your 6 am settings “Good Morning” and the air conditioner will turn off, the lights will turn on, the alarm will turn off, and your coffee will brew. All before you’ve gotten out of bed.

Entertainment systems also fall under the list of items that can be controlled with a home automation system. You can also have home theatres complete with surround sound and multi-room speakers installed at the same time. Once your house is automated for practicality, you can look into investing in high quality entertainment and sound systems.

Take some time to look into home automation options. You are sure to find at least one feature that will make your family’s life simpler and safer. Customize your home to fit you and your family.

George Gauglitz is a partner at Scena Systems, a Florida home automation company. With experience installing custom home theaters, security systems and more, Scena Systems is a qualified Florida smart homes system installer.

Article Source: ArticleRich.com

     Smart homes are becoming increasingly more popular as automated meter reading has installed smart meters. A typical smart home begins at the meter and breaker panel and the wiring or control for each appliance is seperated at that point.

Smart Home Systems Can Be Money Savers
By Wayne Hemrick

If you live in an older home that you are remodeling and renovating or building one from scratch, you owe it to yourself to consider the money-saving benefits of smart home systems. Home automation systems mean there is less that you need to worry about - such as lights on in an empty room, or even emergency warning systems. With home automation, you can even keep an eye on things when you're away at work of traveling. Not only do automated home control systems save money, they help to avoid stress and worry.

What's In Home Control Systems?

That is up to you; home automation can be as extensive or as limited as you like. Smart home systems can be used to control lighting and security systems (including surveillance camera systems) a home media room and theater, intercom systems and climate control. The best thing is that thanks to modern wireless technology such as Bluetooth, every component of home automation can be controlled with a single remote control.

The home theater is one example of an automation system that is very popular with homeowners that have families. Consider the expense of a family night out at the movies - including gasoline, parking, movie tickets and snacks - and it's easy to see how a home theater can pay for itself in short order.

A Great Investment

One of the most important home control systems you can invest in is a comprehensive security system that provides surveillance, lighting and monitored alarm systems for both fire and intruder situations. This is an investment in real peace of mind, particularly since you can monitor such a system over the Internet. In fact, if you forget to set an alarm before leaving the house, you can simply log on to the nearest Internet connection, call up your system and set the alarm system from virtually anywhere.

Of course, we have barely touched on how home automation can save you a great deal on power bills. Imagine home control systems that shut off lights automatically whenever people leave the room - and turn them on when someone walks in. Smart home systems can even be set to control which rooms of the house are heated or cooled, and shut down climate control for empty rooms!

Although they may seem expensive, the fact is that between the drop in price of wireless technology and the savings you can experience, Smart Home systems are actually a great deal.

Wayne Hemrick--writes about Smart Home Systems

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Electric Smart Meters - What They Are & How They Save Customers Like You Money
By Samuel Jenkinson

From smart phones that can store your whole life, to smart cars that can map your ride across country, there has been practically no part of our lives that haven't been affected by technology. So it should come as no surprise that your electric company has a "smart" device of its own - the smart meter.

One state that uses them is Texas. It's a leader in the deregulated electricity market, championing changes like this new technology that offer savings to so many customers.

Here, we'll discuss exactly what smarter meters are they are and how they can help you save on energy costs.

Out with the Old, In with the New... Smart Meter That Is

In the past, every private and commercial residence was required to have an electric meter installed on its premises. This was necessary so that energy companies could calculate monthly electric use and properly bill for it. The way they did it was by sending meter readers to the property.

Many of us have looked out the window and been startled by "a strange man" walking onto our property. On closer inspection, we see that it's the meter man from the electric company, so we go back to minding our own business.

Now, you don't ever have to be startled again because with smart meters, energy companies don't have a need for meter readers. The reason is, these meters calculate your energy usage - much the same way that older meters did - but with a twist. They transport the data back to the energy company electronically.

3 Ways Smart Meters Save Consumers Money

Meter Readers: This the first way customers save money with these meters. There is no need for them anymore, as well as the vehicles they drive and the licensing, insurance, maintenance, etc., that came along with them.

States like Texas with deregulated energy markets pass these savings on to consumers.

Record of Use: Another way smart meters save consumers money has to do with how they record energy use. Using these meters, your energy usage is recorded every 15 minute. This is practically real time. Not only that, the smart meter even analyzes a history of your electricity use.

With raw data like this at your disposal, you can better manage your energy consumption month in and month out.

Comparative Shopping: The final way smart meters save customers money is that it gives them real numbers to deal with. That way, they can do some comparison shopping to find out who really has the best electric rates.

The idiomatic expression, "Knowledge is power" has never been more true than in states where consumers can choose their energy provider, eg, the Texas electricity market. Smart meters give consumers the information they need to make "smart" choices to lower their monthly energy bill.

About the Author: The author is a writer for Electricity Bid and has expertise in energy and electricity service-related topics. He writes about electricity service in Texas, California, Maryland, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. You may visit the main Electricity Bid website at ElectricityBid.com. Learn more about Texas electric smart meters and other ways to save on your monthly energy bill.

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