Control4 Makes Home Automation Effortless

The phrase “home automation” sounds great, but for many people, it is difficult to envision all that the phrase can include.  The following is short and simple list to give you an idea of what home automation can do for you:

—Control your home theater system
—Pipe music, your TV’s audio or your voice into different rooms
—Control your air conditioning and heating
—Access video cameras inside and outside your house
—Control your lights
—Open doors, windows, blinds, curtains, and other motorized entry/exit components, like your garage door
—Interface with your home’s security system
—Turn on and off any appliance

Amazingly, this can be done easily,
—From a computer
—From touchscreen panels or fancy light switches or iPads
—From outside your house
—Automatically, based on a schedule
—Automatically, based on other “events” that happen, like doors opening, or motion sensors being set off
—One at a time, or all together

The basic idea behind home automation is that one thing needs to tell another thing to do something (turn on, turn off, open door, turn lights on or off, and so on), usually without someone physically going over to that second thing.  One day, home automation may be as simple as calling out commands from anywhere in your home, in order for a system of microphones to pick up your words and translate them into actions.  For now, home automation is not quite that easy.

Today, these pieces need to talk over some sort of network, using some type of protocol.  Communication protocol can be through Bluetooth or it can be through your electrical system (existing power lines), over your home’s Wi-Fi network or the via your cellular network.  Communication can also be through proprietary protocols that equipment manufacturers have established so that their equipment can talk with other companies’ equipment.

So the question is this: what do you want to have automated in your home and what protocols are available?   Replacing a house full of switches and dials with a single remote seems like a great idea, but setting it all up is not easy and there are fees that can be fairly substantial.  Like other home automation system manufacturers, Control4 has a number of different offerings to consider.  If you’re looking to adjust audio and video in your family room or home theater, the new Control4 Starter Kit should get you going; it includes a HC-250 Controller, which delivers IR control for up to eight components (via splitters connected to the four IR ports on the rear), serial control for up to two receivers or other systems and IP control for an unlimited number of devices.  There’s also an SR-250 Zigbee remote in the box, which offers full control through a television interface (HDMI and component outputs can be found on the back of the HC-250 Controller).  You can also have full access through a variety of add-ons, including a 7-inch in-wall touchscreen with camera, a portable version, or a license for any Android, iOS or Mac device, including smartphones, tablets and computers.

The Starter Kit can enable control of a single room, which may be fine for some users, however it is possible to add additional home theater setups, by adding additional HC-250s.  You also have an option to add ZigBee lighting controls, ZigBee door locks or even a door intercom unit with camera included.  While installing automation in a large home can be rather expensive, the Control4 Starter Kit is designed to help homeowners start the process, rather than to deliver a complete solution.  Once you have the Starter Kit in place, additional components can be added at any time.

Can you imagine this kind of smart technology and control in your home?