by Terry D ClarkNow for the LEGAL stuff: The information presented herein represents theview of the author as of the date of publication because of the rate with whicconditions change, the author reserves the right to alter and update hisopinion based on the new conditions This ebookinformation purposes(only) while every attemt has been made to verify the information providedin this ebook, neither the authors, nor affiliates or partners, assume anyresponsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions Any slights of people ororganizations are unintentional
If advice concerning legal or related mattersis needed, the services of a fully qualified expert or counselor should be seekedout This ebook is not intented for use as a sourse of legal or accountingadvice You should be aware of any laws which govern business transactionsor other business practices in your country and state Any referance to anypersons or business whether living or dead is purely coincidentaLCopyright 2014 TDC Enterprise, ceo; Terry D Clark, Chicago, IL 60619
It’ s ConvenientThe reason that many of the home automation products have been developed is thatof convenience People love being lazy, and in short, thats just fine when it comesto automation opDo you remember when you were younger not having a remote control for thenYes, there was a time when you actually did have to get up to turn thechannels, as difficult as that was the televis ion remote was one of the firstautomation tools and by far one of the most used automation tools todayConvenience with home automation goes farther than this, though You'll gain theability to do more, faster and easieror example, you can heat your home, run a bath, dim the lights, warm your bedbefore you make it up the stairs and so much more
a popular choice is that of thebathroom and shower models which will actually get your bathroom heater andshower running five minutes before your alarm clock goes off to wake you upYes no more cold showers and cold bathroom floorsConvenience is the reason most people do turn to home automation and even whysome bus inesses are using it for their needs, too What things do you do daily thatyou would love to avoid? What short cuts would make your life a bit better, even ifJust minimally?More than likely, there is a way to make that situation better with the use of homeautomationSafetyAlthough convenience may be why you are considering us ing home automation,there is likely to be some safety benefits availab le to you as well Depend ing on theypes of products that you purchase, you can secure your home, with or without the
help of an alarm systemConsider the options To help protect your home from predators, you can securemotion detecting lights to surround your home Not only will they turn on whenthey detect any type of movement in an area where there shouldnt be, but they canalert you to this toYou can set it up to alert you with an email to your work account or you can haveautomated recording call you to alertIf you work nights or dont like coming home to a dark house, you can configureyour lighting system to turn on as you are approaching Even from down the streetyour home is well light, comfortable and there's no way anything is lurking in theshadows without your knowledge of itSafety is important ins ide the home as well
If there is something thats gonewrong and theres water in the basement, an alert can be sent to you Or, if thetemperature of the home falls to a certain level, that too can be alerted to youHome automationuts you in charge of your homes safety Without muchcost and much trouble, you can set up your home to be safe from the moment youget up to the moment you fall asleep and beyondSet up alerts to contact the police if there's a glass break Set off warnings that willalert you, the police, the neighbors and even the other appliances in the home of aNot only do you want the home automation tool to alert you of the problem, butlights, alert you by email, and even contact the police if the home is violated n theyou want it to take it one step farther too You want it to detect motion, turnThis system of movements is not something that can easily be done without a higlend security system that is monitoring your home day in and day out, which comesat a very costly priceBhome automation elements like this are rather affordable and they can betalled in just a few hours Your home can be safe for you and the people
you love in minutes That is a worthwhile benefit and definitely a reason for you tobegin implementing this technology into your homeMoney savingsBelieve it or not, home automation can save you money as well there are severalays that it can, actually For example, by fine tuning the way that your appliancesthem only whe, et the most benefit from them, but you also get the benefit ofWhy should your home be heated to a perfect 72 degrees F when you arent homeenjoy it? Thats wasted energy You can use home automation to help with thisby programming it to turn on the heat or air conditioning a half hour before you getomeDont stop there, either with the same programming tools you can get your hotwater heating for your shower in the morning Preheat the oven for dinner(youvealready gotten it together in the refrigerator
By programming your home automation system to do the things that you want toonly when you need to use them, you can save yourself countless dollars along theway Your electric bills, gas bills and other costs can be considerably loweredwhen you harness the ability of automation to use programming benef its Whereare you wasting money without using it?What's more is that adding automation to your home is an excellent way toincrease the value of your home should you ever decide that it's time to sell itIt's just fun tooThere is no doubt that the techie in you wants to play with these tools It is fun tothem when others are around too you look like you have had your homedesigned around these needs, which is no small cost, of course Impress yourusing them
Imagine thetell the voice recognition system to turn on themusic program that youve put together Or, you may be able to impress them withdimming the lights with a remote control followed by the televis ion turning on toplay the movie that everyone has come to watchYes, there is no doubt that one of the benefits of tapping into home automationcomes from the ability to have some fun with it you don t have to have anyonenear you to feel the satis faction that comes from using these unitsThere are many ways that you can program your home automation system to workfor you, in your way If you are concerned about the options you have, justconsider the various types of automation that are already at your fingertipsIn later chapters, we'l get into the ways that you really can dress up your homeyou can see, there are benef its to using a home automation program in yourome Although you thought this was something that was in the distant future, andalthough you thought it was too costly to do this, you may have been mistakeHome automation is here to stay
Use it to make your life more convenient Use itto make your life enjoyable Use it to increase the value of your home should youever decide to sell it still there's much more to realize with the use of these toolsIn theg chapters you'lIl see a number of different ways that you can addsome automation to your life Just try to stop yourself from enjoy ing all that it hasto offer to youReally, there is no reason not to consider investing in this type of automationNow, are you ready to learn about your options
Chapter 2: What will You Take Control of?The options are endless home automation is easy to benefit from for a wealth ofreasons, as youve seen, but what you may not realize is that there are plenty ofchoices forOU toadvantageWhat things in your home would you like to automate? There are plenty ofdecisions to make, and what will surprise you is just how affordable it can be tothis chapter, we'll take a look at some of the options that you have in homeautomation Later, we'll look into some of the most popular choices a bit more indepth so that you can see just how easy it can be to install them into your homeHeres an overview of some of the options that you can consider in homeautomation for your home Remember that each company offers their one uniquetake on them, but that the overall function is basically the sanSecurity SystemsSecurity today is one of the most important reasons to consider home automatioYour optionsmited otherwise
You could purchase a system that will make alot of noise if someone was to break in or violate itOr, you could spend a small fortune(maybe even a big fortune)ong a homemonitoring service that will alert you directly when someone violates the homeWith home automation, you get the best of both worlds You can easily invest in asecurity system that will monitor your home just like others do, even better most ofthe time that will also be programmed to alert you when something violates itor virtually a one time fee of purchasing the automation kit, you'll be able toyour home indefinitely with the most up to date technology Here's whacould happenYou set your homes automation system to use motion sensors, home security ofwindows and doors and even noise protection
When something is violated, like a door's glass is broken or it detects movementwhere there shouldn't be any, the alarm soundsYou get an email or a call at work or on your cell that alerts you to the possibleYou can even program the system to contact the local police department to checkout the homeIt did all of that and did it all without any cost Your home can be protected fromburglary or predators that could be lurking near your familyYou can also use these systems to provide protection in the way of fire hazardand even to alert you when there is a problem such as water in your basemenDepending on what you allow it to provide you; you can know whats happeninyour home no matter where you are, no matter what's happening thereIn fact, as an added bonus, you can even set up these security systems to provideyou with the ability to let someone into your home when you arent homeLets say that your child forgets his code or keys to be let into the home afterschool With a contact from you to the security system, you can allow them to gaccess to the home as they need to This can only happen when you okay it to dosO
thoughSecurity is an option that you have These kits usually provide you with countlessoptions Depending on the cost, the needs and the available tools to you, you cansafely set up your home to deliver for your needsYet another popular choice in home automation has to do with lighting In fact, inmany companies this is the most popular of all the products they offerighting is also one of the most inexpens ive of products to choose from Investingin these will cost as little as just $20 which will allethts in yo
home even if you havent ever been able to do that befoLighting home automation tools will allow you to control the amount of lightwhen the lights come on, go off and allow you to set up a vast number owonderful lighted displays that you designLighting automation allows for several benefits thatFor one there arebenefits in saving engery You can program lights to dim gradually over severalhours, or you can plan on the lights going on or off at a set timeights can be shut off from any location within the home one by one or you canhave a master switch which allows you to turn off all lights in the home(or thosethat you adjust) at one time going to bed at night, all the lights can be turned off
Leaving the home, all lights can be turned off Better yet, think you hear somethingdownstairs in the middle of the night, turn all the lights in the house on at onceLighting automation can be done with the help of a remote control or you can usemodules that simply screw into the lighting fixture, which makes any lightingfixture turn into a dimming unit Or, you can purchase a more advanced lightingoption such as those that work with voice recognitioAlthough you may think that it will take rewiring the who le home to make thatappen, thats not the case Instead, you wil
Table of contentsntrolChapter 1: What Is Home AutomationChapter 2: The Benefits Of Home AutomationChapter 3: What Will You Take Control ofChapter 4: Methods Of Home Automation ControlChapter 5: Just what Is X10 TechnChapter 6: Build ing An Automated HomeTips for when automation doesnt Go as plannedIntroductionThe home of the future can be the home you live in todup you probably remember cartoons, movies and televis ion that forecasted a homethat would make your food, walk your dog, and instantly greet you when you cameWhile we havent gotten quite to that point, home automation has taken the homeinto a new dimens ion
Today, you can control virtually anything in your home with
a remote or even voice recognitioYthink that thard to do or that it's too technologically advancedfor you Theres nothing to worry about because home automation has becomeeasy and affordable In most cases, you can make significant changes for underAre you ready to step into a world that offers you the ability to take control? HomeAutomation 101 will prepare you to do just that Learn what yourdifferent methods of control and just how to get these benefits into your homeday Yes, todayChapter 1: What Is Home automation?As a very basic definition of home automation you could consider it to be anythingthat is able to be controlled in your home If you hautomatic control over the function within your home, you have home automationTodays standards are high
There are actually a number of different ways that youcan install this type of automation into your home, which you will see in laterhapters What's important to know is that most of the automation that you will dowill not require hard work It won't require tearing apart your home or spendingthousands of dollars on a simple systemHome automation is something that the average person can do Most of theproducts that you will find are simp le to install and they dont have to be more thanfew hours worth of a projecWhat you need to know now, though, is what's available to you, why you shouldbe considering this, how to get started and where and what to purchase to make itappen
First, determine your needs, wants, and budget It's important for you to take intconsideration the vast number of tools that you have at your hands Depending ofwhat your goals are, you could trans form your home into something truly amazingUnderstanding AutomationHome automation can allow you, and your computer, to make the things that youed and dosecurity system? Or, perhaps you want to voice automate the lights in your homeo that you can get into bed and then turn the lights out Or, perhaps you want to beable to control your sound system from anyplace in your homeNo matter whatlooking to accomplish, home auprobably available to help you to make it happenThe technology that you need to make this happen is quite accessible to mostindividuals One way to purchase it is through kits that are already designed toinchude everything you need to set up the home automation and to get it runningThis will inc lude the hardware and software you need from things like timers to thewire less devices vYou can and you should consider the purchase of these kits
They arent your onlyoption though You can do all of the hardware work yourself and simp ly purchasethe software to set it up You can configure your own system completely using thetools that are available on the markerut, when you take advantage of the automation kits, you are likely to get a moreaffordable price and its just simpler to make happen since most kits can confoto your specific needs, theres little to worry about Of course, there are severaloptions availab le for each individual, which allows you to select what's right foryou and your home
A Quick Look At OptionHome automation tools can truly range the gamut Some of the leaders in thistechnology offer choices so that you as the homeowner can select the pieces thatnake the most sense for your needs packages are availab le forSimple remote control units that work no differently than your televis ion remoteMotion sensors that work with security systems to detect movementVideo surveillance equipment that allows you to monitor virtually anything youhemostat controls to allow you to control how warm or cold you wantHow Do These kits work?Most of the home automation kits will work in a similar fashion While some ofthe latest techno logy takes you farther, most installing home automation featurefor the first time should consider what the kits have to provide to you But, first,let's take a quick look at the technology that is involved in making these homeautomation kits work for youThe two main types of automation technologies used currently including X10 andremote control unitsX10: Your Communication TooX10 is a communications protocol
It allows your app liances to talk to each other,which means that they can communicate your needs between each other They dois by using the standard electrical lines you have in your home X10, which isnamed after the company that created it is a technology that has the most talkingAlthough it was designed some twenty years ago, today's packages are more likely
Take into consideration, for example, the X10,'s Active Home Pro, which is a homautomation system that is one of the very best selling on the market today Whatmakes it even more amazing is that its about $100 ThatsIf you look into this product, you'll likely get all that you need Heres what comeswith the purchase, at the time of this writingAdapters, oradapters will be atransceiver These modules simply plug right into your walls outlet Dependinghich appliance you want to automate, thats the outlet you would use for themodule There are different modules for the various types of appliances that youhave
For example, you may get one that works for your lightingYou may also get a key chain style of a remote to use regularlyA PalmPad remote control to control the appliances as you seeA motion sensor which can help you to really automate your homes functionThe process is very simp le, actually As with this examp le, you simply will use themodules to turn your appliances on and off The modules that work with lightingalso have the abdim as per your control You'l be able to do all of this byusing the downloadable software that you'll get from the companys websiteBut, don't worry; you don't have to have your computerof theInact, you only need it to install the software and then to adjust your settings as timegoes on and you want to make changes To use the automation devices, you'll useyour two remotes, the PalmPad and the key chain deviceIt's that easyReally, it is To get started, you' ll need to purchase the automation tools that youwant to use Then, download the software that s required to use them this ismp le too, and doesn t usually take much time or space Once you get it on yourscreen, you will then be able to assign each of your appliances to the modi
To do this, you simply label the icons that appear in the software to the appliancesthat you have in the home Yokeep them organized, too Just click and drag them into the room on the screen thatthey are located in Its easy to do and keeps each item completely organizedNow, when you get the modules installed, yomp ly plug thethat your appliances plug into These modules allow the computer software tocommunicate with the appliance through an interface unitThis unit generally connects to your computer through a USB cable The unit getsinformation from your actions on the computerFrom there, it tells the appliance what to do through the electrical wires in yourome
The final set will be testing the remotethat thecorrectly, which generally speaking will be As simple as this sounds, it doesbecome a whole lot of fun toYou’ re Not limited!You mayurious aabout those app liances that don' t have an outlet plug Take forexamp le, the ceiling fan in your bedroom Dont worry, its easy to automate thistoo In this case, you will simply remove the light bulb, insert the appromodule into the ceiling fan's light bulb socket and then screw the light bulb intothe moduleThis makes it easy to use automation specifically that of x10 any where you wantIt gets better thouNow, just this type of automation would be okay, but once you get it installedith the m
that are linked With the use of macros, you can make one button on your remotedo several things in a series of actions the best part is that you design how itworks and what you want it to doThere are several ways that this techno logy can work for you For example, youcan set up your outdoor lighting with the use of macros You could program it tofollow a specific set of instructions It may turn on your outdoor likes when the sigoes down and then an hour later can dim themwould finally turn off at the time you set But, you can configure into this mixthe ability to turn back on if the lights detect any motion in their range, creatingsafety and securityOr, you can use macros to help you to set up a series of function within the home
Lets say you are coming in the door and want to relax By setting up macros toIn on the lights to the appropriate level, to turn on your favorite cdand even to getthe bathtub running, you could easily enjoy thathat life has to offer toNow, remember that X10,s home automation system that we are us ing as anexamp le here isn t your only choice There are other companies and products thatBut, you can clearly see just how simp le it can be to set up and take full advantageof a home automation system While some of these systems do have a few quirksto them, you are never going to reach for that toggle switch to turn off the lightsoday's automation for the home can be done in numerous ways What you areng to learn in the next chapters inc ludes your options and the vast number ofbenefits that come from automating your homeWhile you may be a couch potato that is looking for a way to just make lifesimp ler, you may also have other needs to address, too Home automation has beencredited with help ing countless individuals make life livable by helping to reduce
stress, increase the amount of movement they can do and it can save you times with the X10 system we talked about, you' ll find that most of the homeoptions that you have Consider what works best for you and then implement/i oautomation that you are able to do is quite affordable to do Just take a look at themportant to realize that home automation also alloto make life fitbit better But, dont think that there is just one product on the market to serve theneed that you have
Youll find many to choose from Since home automatilarge and growing field there are many brands styles and various technologies atplay You are likely to find yourself comparing models to determine which offershat you are looking for in the best possible mannerThis makes home automation that much more en jo yable and beneficial tooNow, that you know the basics about this system, consider how it will enhanceChapter 2: The Benefits Of Home AutomationNow that you are dazzled by all of the possibilities of what can happen with homeautomation, you may be wondering, why should you do this in the first place?The benefits of home automat ion expand well bevond the fun factor of courseou could make a case for this being the way of the future too But, realisticspeaking, there are key reasons why you need to make the decision to install thesesystems into your homeYou may have your own benefits and desires when it comes to home automationownLet's break down some of the obvious benefits that auto mation offers to you