On this episode of “Simplifying Life Through Technology,” Mark and Andrew from SoundVision sit down to discuss Part 2 of Home Automation.
Are you ready to make your home truly smart? Join Mark and Andrew for Part Two of Home Automation , where they share valuable insights on Smart Homes or Home Automation .
"Allow Automation to Replicate Your Daily Tasks"
We Talk About:
Home Automation Cons:
To learn more about SoundVision:
To listen to more “Simplifying Life Through Technology” podcasts:
On this episode of “Simplifying Life Through Technology,” Mark and Andrew from SoundVision sit down to discuss Part 2 of Home Automation.
Are you ready to make your home truly smart? Join Mark and Andrew for Part Two of Home Automation , where they share valuable insights on Smart Homes or Home Automation .
"Allow Automation to Replicate Your Daily Tasks"
We Talk About:
Home Automation Cons:
To learn more about SoundVision:
To listen to more “Simplifying Life Through Technology” podcasts:
Welcome to Simplifying Life Through Technology. My name is Andrew New and joining me today in the podcast room we have our Chief Executive Officer, mark DePetro. Join us as we discuss Part Two of Home Automation.
Speaker 2:So we've talked about a lot of the pros.
Speaker 1:Right. What are some of the cons?
Speaker 2:Well, to do automation properly is not inexpensive. There's certainly an expense associated with it. First, you can't just take a light switch that you have on your wall today and add that to a system. You literally have to change the light switch. Part of a smart switch or a home automated bowl switch or dimmer is that they have parts built into them that allow them to talk and listen to the system. And so quite literally every single light in your home that you want to automate, you have to change the controller. And one thing to consider is if that switch is a three-way and what's a three-way? So a lot of times the top and bottom of stairs are real common. You can turn a light on and off at the top and the bottom of the stairs.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Because you never know where you're at the top or at the bottom Right, so you have to be able to do that. So that's what's called a three-way. And if you want to automate the stairwell, you have to change both switches so that both sides know what's going on. Same thing if you have a big room, you almost always have one light switch at each entrance. That's called a three-way. Or if you have multiple ones, it could be a four-way or whatever.
Speaker 1:So you say you'd have to do it with the same room or where it's connected. Say I did it to one room. Does that mean I have to convert all of my lights in the whole entire home?
Speaker 2:Oh, great point, andrew. No is the answer to that. We have a lot of people that get into this just doing one room or one area. Okay, you can. Absolutely. The most common ones are the kitchen, the master bedrooms, the master bathroom. Outdoor lighting as far as lights go is also a really big one. They want the lights to come on a desk and turn off a dawn or at midnight, or something Very, very common.
Speaker 2:But the important thing to know is that the expense of automating the device that controls it, the switch, is what has to happen. Same thing with everything. So if you want to do the thermostats, you have to, in a lot of cases, buy new thermostats. The systems that professionals use will typically work with a multitude of different products. So there's 25 different thermostats that they'll work with on the market. You have a choice there, but they won't work with a quote, unquote dumb thermostat, a thermostat that's not connected to the network, a thermostat that doesn't have the ability to be controlled, and in a lot of cases that's the one that's in our customers homes to begin with. Same thing with door locks, same thing with the security system. So essentially, there is a decent expense in getting these parts and pieces together.
Speaker 2:We also haven't talked about the central brain. So there's a lot of different manufacturers that make home automation products and home automation controllers. You do have to have a brain that all this stuff talks to and all this stuff sends information back and forth from. The brain itself is just saying hey, i'm going to talk to these different subsystems, i'm going to have a XYZ alarm system and I'm going to have an ABC thermostat. They're not made by the same manufacturer, so they don't talk to each other, they talk to this brain. And the brain knows when you arm your system it says, oh, the security system is armed. And then it says, well, what do I do if the security system is armed? So terminology that we use in programming is when, then, or if, then Now. If you ever took basic programming in high school or college, that may be familiar. But essentially it says when something happens, then do something else, or if something happens, then do something else. So in this case it might say when the alarm is armed, turn the thermostat back or turn it off, right, right. When it gets to December, set the thermostat to heat, and when it gets to June, set it to cool. However you trigger it. But that central brain is the critical component because it talks all the different languages. Of all the different devices, whether those are Dorilocks, whites, thermostats, alarm System, and no matter who the manufacturer is, as long as it's within a protocol that works, which most are nowadays, you can talk back and forth.
Speaker 2:So the con is that there is an expense for each individual item and you do have to have a central brain to make all this work. So price is certainly one of the potential cons of the system. The other thing is how do you control it? There is a learning curve. So typically with our customers we'll do like we call a 30-day kind of living period where it sounds all cool, and then you get in there and then you're like I don't like this, oh, i wish I did this. Oh, why didn't I tell him that? We know that And you get that often In every job. The only time we don't get it is if somebody's lived with this before and it's the second or third house that they've had.
Speaker 1:They know how it works.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're comfortable with it already.
Speaker 1:Makes sense.
Speaker 2:So we definitely have a policy where most good integrators are going to have this, where you have a period to kind of live with it and then you say, hey, can you make these changes Very common. The other one that comes to mind immediately is over automation. So over automation happens because someone buys this and they pay a lot of money and they say, man, i want it to do everything, or I want to get my money's worth out of this, right? So how this kind of plays out in normal situation is you come up with something that you think makes sense, but in practical use it doesn't. And so I'll give you an example. If you have a light, come on every time you walk into a room because you don't want the room to be dark, well, that's fine. But then you're running into the room to grab something and the dark light comes on.
Speaker 1:Right, or you?
Speaker 2:think it's a great idea and the other person that lives with you doesn't understand why it's happening and thinks there's something wrong with it. That happens as well too. Or it scares them because they walk in a room and this light comes on or the music comes on. It's very common with folks that are doing this for the first time. They think, oh my gosh, you know, i don't want to ever shut the garage door. So when I open the garage door I want to start a timer and two minutes after the timer ends I want to close it. The reason you would do that is you say, hey, i'm leaving in the morning, i get in my car, open the garage door and I just leave.
Speaker 1:Right, and you're in a rush, you don't want to worry about it, yeah.
Speaker 2:Don't worry about it. And so the garage door comes down and closes. That's awesome. That is awesome Until you open the garage door and you pull your car out halfway. Now you have the sensors right, but if you have like an SUV, you know you can still scratch the top of the car or you go out and then you go oh I forgot something. And you come back in and you go back in the house and you get your something and you come out in the garage door shutting because it's been two minutes. So things like that that happen. So we try not to over automate, but that is certainly a con.
Speaker 1:Interesting. You wouldn't think that would be a thing.
Speaker 2:Really, again, getting back to the very beginning, what we're trying to do with a smart home is we are trying to replicate the things that you naturally do every day and can be done for you. I'll throw out one other one and then I'll give you an example of how crazy something can be, but one that happens pretty regularly is a vacation mode, or is asked for pretty regularly is a vacation mode.
Speaker 2:So, folks want to see their home looks like it's lived in when they're at the beach or the mountains or in Europe or wherever they are for safety reasons for safety reasons, absolutely So. there's vacation cycles that will turn on lights in various rooms. you know, based on you know your occupancy, they can actually learn how you use it normally and like record that.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow, and so they can replicate that when you're away.
Speaker 2:It's when you're away.
Speaker 1:That's really cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So there's a lot of cool applications for that. So I'll give one kind of right before we finish. Just to give you an idea of possibilities because when I talk to customers it's all about possibilities I have what's called a macro. A macro is just a series of events that's grouped together. It's all it is, and over the years I've developed a pretty elaborate one.
Speaker 2:So basically, like most people, we're creatures of habit and we'll kind of wind down with some TV at night, and it's very, very common for us to go to bed between 830 and 10 o'clock. It's just our lifestyle. So what I do is I trigger our bedtime scene by turning the TV off, but only between 830 and 10, because sometimes I might stay up to watch a game and my wife goes to bed and part of the macros is doing things in the bedroom with the lights and TV. So if it's after 10, it doesn't do any of this. So when I turn the TV off between 830 and 10, here's what happens The lights change in the basement to go to an intermission mode so that we can see that And we can get up, and, regardless of what mode they were in, they go to that mode And they start a timer for two minutes.
Speaker 2:That gives us the opportunity to pick up whatever drinks we have and get out. The basement doors lock, turns off the fans in the basement. It lights a pathway up the stairs straight to the kitchen. The kitchen lights turn on to 33%, which allows us to bring the dishes in and put them up. That stays on for five minutes. At the same time, the front door, the garage door and the porch door all lock. It checks all the lights in the basement to make sure those are off.
Speaker 2:After that, because we've already been gone now, it turns back the thermostat in the bedroom to get to cooler, because that's what we like the temperature at. It turns the fan on to the low speed of the bedroom. It turns the linear lights and the lamps on to 15% so that when we walk in it's nice and warm. The TV turns on The alarm arms. The master bathroom lights then turn on because Kristen, my wife, goes in to do her stuff before bed. The lights at the vanities turn on. Start a timer for those. It takes her approximately six minutes. I did time it, so it takes her six minutes. So they stay on for six minutes and then they turn off At the same time, the outer lights in the bedroom that have turned on the linear and the lamps turn off because now she's getting in bed. All this happens by just turning the TV off between 8.30 and 10.
Speaker 1:And it triggers that whole sequence.
Speaker 2:That whole sequence Wow, so I didn't mention it also is checking the garage doors to make sure that they're shut, and it's double checking to make sure that the outdoor lights are on. Those are triggered earlier, but I just do a check in there just to make sure. So that's like possibilities. Is it crazy? Yes, it's crazy.
Speaker 1:That's amazing To me. that is like a sense of security, knowing that everything has been thought out. Everything I would think about before I go to bed I've just taken care of.
Speaker 2:Everything you would naturally do, or we, in this case, would naturally do, it's just done.
Speaker 1:That's amazing.
Speaker 2:So, and after a while you just don't even think about it. It just happened. So that's where it really enhances your lifestyle, because it's just one less mini stress, if you will right that is removed.
Speaker 1:So convenience factor Very convenient, very convenient. I love it. I love this. It's been really cool, it's been amazing.
Speaker 2:I appreciate it As always, andrew. we're looking forward to the next one.
Speaker 1:Thank you for joining us. You can learn more about SoundVision at soundvisionlakenormancom. You can follow us on Twitter at soundvisionlkn. Find us on Instagram and Facebook at soundvisionlc.