5 Ways Smart Control of Your Home Can Improve Your Life
Much has been written recently on the topic of smart control homes. At Watt Integration we use this term to refer to technology designed to increase security and energy efficiency. This can dramatically improve the lives of homeowners. This can be anything from a camera set up for security that you view remotely though your phone, to remote control blinds and lighting as well as fully integrated homes that can literally make coffee and let out the dog. Smart home solutions are not only widely available, they’re easy to use, and in many cases easy to install and more affordable than ever before.
The confusion for many people comes into play with understanding the technology and putting it into practical use in your own home. At Watt our primary concern is addressing how you live as well as how much and what kind of technology will benefit your family the most.
If you are interested primarily in lighting control, there are many solutions available that will give you what you want right now and allow you to expand in the future as well. For price, performance and ease of use Watt Integration likes the Lutron’s Caséta Wireless line of products, which includes, switches and dimmers, lamp dimmers, remote controls, as well as control of shades and even thermostats. You can control all of these solutions through an app on both Apple and Android devices. The Lutron Caséta app allows you to preset various user settings, or control any part of your house at will, both at home and remotely. Can you imagine how nice it would be to be able to have your kid’s lights go off at a specified time?
From a single wall dimmer to make one room more enjoyable, to multiple controls in one room or a complete home integration system, managing the amount and quality of your light can definitely help save energy and enhance your environment at the same time. The larger your home and/or family the greater the benefit.
Here are five things lighting control can give you
1. Security A well-lit house is a secure house. If you are away from home having lights go on at a specified time or being able to turn them on remotely is a great security measure. Lights that turn on automatically using occupancy sensors are particularly helpful navigating home entry at night. A lighting control system allows homeowners to easily manage lights and shades throughout the house using wireless controllers or wall-mounted keypads as well as their Apple or Android mobile device.
2. Energy Savings Dimmers are more efficient than ever and can reduce energy consumption by about 20 percent, but beyond that nothing can set a mood quite like dimming the lights! When purchasing a dimmer don’t forget to check the specifications to make sure it can control whatever bulb variety is in your fixture, whether it’s incandescent, compact fluorescent, halogen, and/or LED dimmable bulbs.
3. A Personalized System When you choose what goes into your lighting system, based on how you live, and can easily control or make changes it can greatly enhance daily life. Specific applications, such as lighting a safe pathway up to the home from the sidewalk or driveway or dimming the lights to the perfect level for entertaining guests can all be done automatically at specific times or with a button push.
4. Turn Off That Light! There are two things wrong with light switches, people have to use them to turn lights on, and people don’t use them to turn lights off. Occupancy sensors turn lights on when you enter a room or area and turn them off when no activity is detected after a specified amount of time. They are particularly useful for areas like bathrooms, pantries, laundry rooms and garages. They can be a serious boon to homes with lots of children. Energy savings AND no fingerprints!
5. The Ability to Harvest Daylight When you decide to combine light control with shade control you’ll be able to harvest daylight year round. You can program blinds or shades to raise and lower at specific times to not only reduce the load on your HVAC system, but also minimize the need for electric light.