The Incredibly Green Home Blog

Last Friday, I met with George Snyder of Home Technology Architects to discuss the various low voltage systems going into the latest custom home we are building here on Fairglen Lane. We are getting close to drywall, so some important decisions needed to be made by the owner.

From the outset, the customer made it clear that he wanted a "smart house", while not going overboard with costs. Towards that goal, we suggested he go with a Control4 system as the core of his home automation.

The client happens to be a fan of Mac gear, so when the iPad was introduced last week, the first question that came to mind was whether or not we could use it as a replacement for the Control4 7" Portable Touchscreen that was originally spec'ed. After speaking with George, it appears that it (most likely) will work just fine. Of course, there's always a chance of some trade-offs in, say, reliablity, but that's to be expected when you add a bunch of functionality to a given product. With the cost of a full blown iPad about half the Control4 touchscreen, the customer is going to get 2 iPads - one for the dedicated theater, and one for the main floor. 

The subsystems tied together by the Control4 system will consist of distributed audio, multiple video systems (two with surround systems), and security. We are going to hold off on the lighting systems for now, and if Control4 ever releases their EMS100, we'll tie in the energy monitoring. Because the Control4 thermostats don't currently deal with humidity sensing and control, we will be sticking with Honeywell thermostats.