Home automation is about building better, smarter homes, which is why they are often referred to as ‘smart homes’.  When architects design homes, they are giving thought primarily to spatial relationships and flow within a home.  When contractors build homes, they are giving thought primarily to standards and codes.  Low voltage systems integrators are the unsung heroes behind the design and construction of smart homes.  Home automation is a custom solution for making homes safer, simpler, and more intuitive.  ‘Dumb homes’, if you will, are static spaces and solid materials that require manual manipulation, but smart homes interact with the occupants and respond to them in the most perceptive ways.  A home automation system gives your home senses and a brain to know what to do about what it feels.

Home automation can take many forms.  We will discuss a complete home automation system or smart home.  The elegance of a home automation system is that it is responding to you before you arrive or when you are not even around.  A truly smart home can be monitored and operated remotely.  You can view the front door and grant access to the housekeeper while you are on vacation in Paris.  You can set back the temperature while you are away on business in Hong Kong.  Your home automation system texts you on your smart phone to alert you to a possible break-in and shows you a live stream of the activity captured by your cameras.  You can turn on the oven on your way home, and as you pull into the driveway, the driveway lights and path lights to the front door power on, illuminating your way home.  When you disarm the alarm system, the automation system knows you are home and who you are.  Preset lighting, temperature, audio, and video settings are automatically triggered.  As you move through the home, your lighting and music follow you.  At bedtime, the door locks are automatically triggered and the perimeter detection is armed.  Can’t remember if you closed the garage door?  No worries.  When you arm the system in night mode, the system checks the status of the garage door and closes it if you forgot.  When you arm the system away on your way out the door in the morning, the temperature is automatically set back and the lights you forgot to turn off are powered down.  All of these settings are tailored to your home and your personal preferences.  A smart home is a custom home, as unique as you and your family. Smart homes are where Fulkra eats and sleeps.  We breathe home automation.  We dream about it.  Designing and building smart homes is our specialty.  When we talk about balancing lifestyle and technology, this is it; this is what we are talking about, home automation. Call 877.738.5572 now to to learn more about home automation. Fulkra is California’s preferred home automation company.