Why do I need an integrated control system in my exclusive home?

There are many reasons to have one control system integrate (tie together) all the other systems and control the individual features in an exclusive home.

The main reason is simplicity of use. You have many complex systems in your new home today such as distributed audio/video, architectural lighting, Climate, security, pool and spa controls, and many motorized devices like draperies, furniture lifts, or skylights. An integrated control system can provide very simple one touch control of all of these systems. In addition, an integrated control system can provide one touch control across several systems. The following are several typical examples:

Your typical audio/video system today can have up to ten remote controls, and you may have to press up to 40 buttons in the right order (depending on the complexity of your A/V equipment) to watch a video disk in surround sound on your big screen or projection television. With an integrated control system all that can be done with one touch of a button and additionally the control system will set the proper volume, dim the lights, close the drapes, and start up the air conditioning!

Today when leaving your house you have to walk the house, close drapes, turn down the Climate controls, lock the doors, turn off music, turn off lights, then arm the security system before you can leave. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to go to any control point in your home, push only one button and have the many subsystems perform their individual jobs? For example: with an integrated control system you can push one button to tell the house you are leaving. The control system will then tell the security system to arm, the motorized draperies to close, the doors to lock, the distributed audio video system to turn off, the Climate control system to go to setback mode, the fountain and hot tub to turn off, and all unnecessary lights to turn off. If it is dark before you return the house would automatically turn on outdoor safety lighting. When you return a driveway sensor will turn on driveway lights and light the entry way and any other requested areas before you get out of your car, if desired it could even play soothing music for you in desired areas of the house. With a more complex driveway sensor the system could open the proper garage door for you! Compare that to coming home to dark house, opening a door into a dark hallway and then disarming your security system.

Another reason is the aesthetics of your home. Instead of having several differently designed and slightly color mismatched (if even available) control stations for different systems next to each other on a wall, all your controls stations can match perfectly with the decor of your home. With an integrated control system you can have tastefully designed control stations or lighting system control stations that can send signals to your control system. In areas where you want many different types of control we can group the very necessary controls on one single gang station and have another hidden or less visible station provide the additional controls. For the ultimate in aesthetics we can design a system with voice activated control. You would then have unobtrusive microphones listening for key words to activate and control your home's systems.

Another reason is remote location control and automated control. Today when you return home from a hard day at work, or if you have a vacation home that you are traveling to, you have a lot of work to do to make the house comfortable. You have to unlock the house, disarm the security system, turn up the Climate controls, open draperies, start up the spa, turn on music, and if it is after dark turn on lights. With an integrated control system you can call your house from any touch-tone or cellular telephone anywhere in the world, enter a simple passcode and your home will be ready for you to relax in when you arrive. You could even tell your home to go into a preset mode such as evening party, normal evening, romantic evening, whatever combination of lighting, A/V, Climate, and other features you may desire.

You can call your home to allow entry of a service person, or just to check on the status of your home. Your home can tell you the inside temperature, the outside temperature, even if the house is in a preset mode.

Many features of your home can be automated so that simple tasks can be controlled automatically by the house. A sprinkler system can integrated to the control system so that if it is raining or the soil has enough water the sprinklers will not be allowed to run and waste water. If you have motorized awnings or skylights, the skylights can be programmed to close automatically if it were to start raining, motorized awnings can deploy themselves on the sunny side of a house and roll themselves up if a sudden storm's high winds should threaten to damage them. Many features of this nature can be automated so that you will never be burdened by wondering if your home will be damaged or flooded by an act of nature while you are away.

Another is safety and security. Interior safety and security features can include automatic low level lighting of stairways and other hazardous areas if you approach them after dark. How about automatically turning on bathroom lights at a very low level as you approach the bathroom door at night. Providing security and safety control over areas like offices, wine cellars, shops, garages, hobby areas, etc. These areas can have electricity controlled to them to prevent injuries, as well as making them secured areas as a separate part of the security system.

Exterior safety and security features can include automatic ice and snow detection (in snow belt areas) and activation of gutter, sidewalk, and driveway snow melting systems. Automated outdoor lighting can be set to turn on as someone approaches your home. Your distributed audio/video system can tell you when someone approaches your home as well as displaying their image on television sets throughout your home. You can answer the door or control gate access from any telephone in your home. In addition your door bell system can call you remotely and allow you to talk to someone at your front door from anywhere in the world.

Features for the physically challenged. An integrated control system can restore the freedom and dignity of a physically challenged person by allowing them the full control and mobility of an unchallenged person. This has been accomplished by using voice and handheld remote activation of telephone systems, elevator call systems, remote vehicle starters, motorized doors, and all of the features mentioned above and discussed below.

Another reason is energy conservation and environmental controls. When building a home of this type all owners are concerned with the amount of energy that their home will use as well as the cost of repairs to the more complex environmental systems installed. An integrated control system can both save energy and wear on these systems by detecting when areas of the home are vacant and through a combination of features reducing the environmental control effort needed in those areas.

Then there are convenience features, or the catch-all. These are features like custom furniture lifts, special interfaces to unusual equipment, fog systems, automatic disco lighting, spoken responses (when your house talks to you!) and all the other Jetson and Star Trek type features that clients ask for.

Two quick examples come to mind. One involves a vacation cabin in the woods with frequent power failures. We assisted in the design of a low current battery backed control system that would control a diesel generator. This generator would typically start up when the power failed and run until the fuel was exhausted. The Climate system would then fail and allow the house to freeze up. The integrated control system would monitor the Climate control system and during a power failure it would allow the generator to run long enough to warm the cabin past it's normal setpoint. Once the cabin was warm the generator and Climate control system would be shut down and the control system would then monitor the cabin temperature. It would restart the generator and repeat the process as needed, resulting in a dramatically longer generator standby time. In addition, a cellular security dialer was installed to automatically call for assistance.

The second was a library that with one press of a button became a THX home theater. We designed motorized systems that lifted speaker columns from the floor, rotated a false bookcase to reveal the audio/video source, control, and amplification equipment, and raised a painting to reveal a large screen projection television; this was in addition to the normal lighting, window treatments, and Climate control changes.

This document is not meant to act as a catalog of the possible features you can have in your home, it is meant as a starting point to allow you to expand your expectations. Just as in purchasing a new vehicle, the investment you make in an integrated control system can be considerable.

Our job is to be sure that you get the system you want and are investing in.

See more information on the next page entitled...
Integrated System Benefits