Back to Basics – Why Should I Automate

When you work in an industry like ours, it’s sometimes easy to make the assumption that everyone knows the value of what we do. I was at a business breakfast last month and one of the guests at my table honestly said, I’ve been living in my house for twenty years and it seems to work fine. Why should I spend a lot of money on something I’ve never had and I don’t think I need?

We can’t think that everyone knows how great an automated home is. We need to face the fact that when any new technology comes along, it usually replaces something that is already there and usually working pretty well. Electric lights replaced gas lamps, cars replaced the horse and buggy.

But those old technologies never stopped working, and you can go to parts of Pennsylvania where gas lamps and horses and buggies are still in use every day. If we want people to experience all the benefits of home automation, we have to be able to tell them in a few words why they should part with their hard-earned money for something they never had before and aren’t sure they need. Let’s see if we can state our case:

It’s always best to lead with the strongest reason. You may have never had this technology before, but there is a lot of other technology already in your house that you never had before, and home automation is the way you get it under control.

Unless you want to join the Amish in Pennsylvania, you will be dealing with a houseful of new gadgets with new ones appearing every year. High efficiency furnaces, LCD screens, blu-rays, satellite television, streaming audio, streaming video, your kids’ video games, energy efficient dimmable LED lighting – there’s always something new coming.

Do you really want to spend your leisure time becoming an expert in how to integrate and control all of this? Wouldn’t you rather live in a home where all these things respond simply and easily to your needs, not theirs?

Push one button to close all the shades or all the lights. Uses simple convenient controls for the rapidly growing selection of home entertainment.

You didn’t have home automation twenty years ago, but you also didn’t have six or seven remote controls you don’t understand on the coffee table in the family room. New technology has amazing benefits, but only if you can control it. We make that easy.

Home automation is one way you can show that you are prepared to do your part to help the planet.

We have become painfully aware that we have been making a mess of the Earth and leaving it for our kids to clean up. We are also aware that it isn’t right. But we have an opportunity to go in a different direction. With well-designed home automation, you can add the new technology you want to your home, and actually use less resources than you’re using now.

Sophisticated thermostat control that minimizes the use of heat and air conditioning is just the start. High efficiency lights that dim when they are not needed and shut off if the room isn’t used: Appliances that can be programmed to respond to variable electrical rates, so your dishwasher goes on when the rates are low, saving peak time load on the electrical grid (and also saving you money): Motorized shades that react to the season and the time of day to give you the best home comfort with the least energy.

If you still think why should I automate? Because it’s not only convenient, or helping the planet Earth, it also saves you money!

We’ve talked about the obvious aspects of security before. Things like alarms and video door phones are becoming common. But we can do even better. How about an alarm system that not only sets off an alarm if it detects and intruder, but also turns on every light in the house and even makes the lights outside your house flash on and off?

How about a fire alarm system that not only sounds an alarm, but also automatically shuts off the heating or air conditioning to help stop the fire from spreading, then lights an exit path out of the house? How about a doorbell that takes a picture or video of every person who comes to your door and e-mails it to a secure place in the cloud?

If you are not convinced yet that why should I automate my home, how about a system that sends you an e-mail if your latch-key kid hasn’t checked in at home after school?

Everyone wants to live in a safer home. Home automation is one way to make it happen. Today’s smart home is almost like a auto pilot feature in a car. You can setup your smart home by yourself, setup or change schedule or make changes to your selections without an outside programmer’s help.

How about a system that warns you if an elderly parents forgets to lock the front door, close the garage door or lets the bath overflow?

At OneTouch AV, our passion is to work with you and make sure that total control of your home will enhance your convenience, improve your safety and make your home greener.

We can tell you the why’s and how’s of this exciting technology, and you can tell us when you want to start experiencing your home in a whole new way. We can show you the benefits of ‘why should I automate’ – not only for luxury but how you can help planet Earth while saving money.

Why Should I automate? If you need to know more case studies or if you need any help designing your audio visual or home automation systems please feel free to contact us.

To learn the process of designing a smart home or Can You Do This Yourself – you may be interested reading some of our blog post.