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 Throughout the last 20 years, we have witnessed several attempts at standardizing home automation with some real (but mixed) results.  Primarily because the industry has been dominated with proprietary standards and platforms.  And to some degree, it still is. 

I’ve long been smitten with the smart home concept (both personally and professionally). But industry startups and failures have made me hesitant to recommend most of these systems. However in the last five years, we’ve witnessed the dawn of home automation standards based on internet protocol or the networked home.

I think we can all agree the internet standard may evolve, but it is never going away.  Just as the internet has changed most people’s lives, it has offered a paradigm shift in home automation.  It has spurred an explosion of exciting smart home products and solutions.  It’s no surprise a single standard can drive development and offer a comfort zone for manufacturers.  And the customer is the winner!

The concept of going to one screen, and controlling your entire home is exhilarating. This can be on your computer, a wireless touchscreen, your laptop (home and away)...or even your iPhone. It’s not always inexpensive, but today there are several companies offering products to accomplish this level of home integration, at unheard of prices 10 years ago, and all of the devices can talk to each other over your home network.

A “smart home” means many things to many people.  But a home automation system is simply a system that offers control of many areas of the house on one “simple-to-use” touch screen.  I’ll discuss some of the most popular categories or subsystems.

Whole House Audio/Video is arguably the most popular system to include in home automation.  Touch screens placed around the home allow control of various music and video sources throughout the home.  This makes it easier to activate your system and if it is easy and quick to use, you will tend to use it more frequently.  Turn on any zone from anywhere in the house.  Choose satellite radio, your iPod song library or FM radio and enjoy complete control of that music source.  Create playlists for special occasions such as parties, exercise routines or romantic evenings.

Security – Allows turning on/off the home alarm system from any control station in the home, as well as over the internet.  Some home automations systems allow tracking of the various zones of a system.  Wouldn’t you like to know if your teenager actually made curfew?

Security Cameras – The system I prefer allows multiple cameras placed anywhere around your home (assuming wires can be installed at each camera).  Remember these cameras can be viewed from any computer or touchscreen, home or away.  Motion within the camera’s field of view can trigger a recording event that is archived on a computer hard drive.  These recorded events can be viewed from the same home automation touch screen or interface.  On a recent business trip, I trusted my high school senior son to stay home alone.  Visions of large teenager parties (like the ones you see in the movies) crept into my head.  Before I left town, I reminded my son I’d periodically check the cameras all around the house and the recorded events (and you can bet I did).  I’m happy to report he was an exemplary house sitter and I came back to a spotless house.  I’m sure the home automation system had nothing to do with it!

Next month, Home Automation Part Two will discuss Lighting, Thermostat & Pool control as well as networked family digital photos & messaging.  Stay tuned!