Buying local series: Electronics
When building a new home it is always best to buy from the local businesses in the area or community that you are constructing the home. No matter if it’s your summer home or a second home buying locally always makes more sense. This time I’m writing about the reason you should be buying your electronics locally, I’m talking about the Electronics installer/dealer.
Electronics Installer/dealer:
One of the main items that is being installed into people’s homes these days are electronics. I’m not just talking about the amplifier for your stereo or the receiver for your cable. Today’s house is outfitted with almost more structured wiring then electrical wiring. Structured wiring is all the cable that is installed for everything electronic, such as internet, phone, speakers and auto controls.
Dealing with a local electronics installer is the best way to go to get the level of service that you will require when you try to operate all of your new equipment. Usually the company that installs the structured wiring will also be able to supply you with the equipment that will allow your house to function as you want it too. Because there is such a wide verity of electronics on the market today it is safer and easier for you to have the installer supply the equipment. If they don’t supply the equipment you could end up having problems with the compatibility of all the components when you try to operate them once they are hooked up. The software in these components have become so complicated that you almost have to be a computer wizard to be able to properly program them.
You will have multiple systems at any one time operating and talking to each other to perform the functions that you require it to do. Here are some of the things that you can control in a house;
· Furnace, you can control the temperature of the house remotely from your cell phone, also you are able to receive alerts if the temperature of the house drops below a certain temperature.
· Sound and Video. You can control the music or sound in every room of the house, allowing you to us different formats such as cds, mps or radio. The volume can be controlled from a wall mounted dial, a handheld remote or your cell phone.
· Security. You can turn the security on and off remotely from your cell phone or computer. It will send you an alert if something goes wrong in the house, like a sump pump has failed in the basement, or there’s been a brake in, or a power failure. If your house has security cameras then you can stream them online to view the inside or the outside of the house depending on how many cameras you have.
· Control the lights. You can control the lights from your computer or your cell phone. So if you think that you left any lights on when you left for that 2 week vacation then you just turn them off remotely. Also you can set a schedule for the lights to come on and off depending on what you require. Gone are the days when you stumble to the front door trying to see the hole were the key is suppose to fit in because someone forgot to leave a light on. Interior/exterior lights can also be controlled with a hand held remote control, so when you go to bed you just have to hit a button on the remote and all the lights in the house will go off. Some can even be programmed to stay on while dimmed.
· In house home theatres with powered 9 foot screens that repel out of the ceiling in front of stadium seating are now popular. They require a whole system dedicated to run your personal movie theatre with all the speakers, projection and lighting.
· Remotely turn on gas fireplaces to warm up one room before you arrive in that room or to help set the mood.
· Operate your garage door from your phone or your computer; you don’t have to worry if you forgot to put the garage door down.
· In home intercoms, depending on the size of the house, or if you have a person that needs a lot of care then these systems work wonderful. Especially when you can have a hand held device instead of one on the wall.
That is just some of the things that can and are being done in new houses today. The list grows longer everyday as more and more technology comes on the market.
All of those functions, systems and components have to be programmed to talk to each other. A person has to physically program them to talk to each other and connect the hardware appropriately. With a local electronics dealer/installer you would be able to get them to come over to help you when you have problems with the system. You will have problems; they are basically a bunch of computers hooked together. You need a person locally who will take the time to show you how to work it, then be close enough to come over for tech support. If your automatic lights are not working you don’t want to wait a month for the next available techi to come to you because you live to far away.
You also want someone close that you can do future business with when you want to upgrade your system.
The local installer/dealer might cost a little more at the start, but it will be worth it in the end when you need the tech support to control your house.
So please, buy local.
Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders inc.
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