All You Need To Know About Successful Home Automation

Despite the fact that it seems like a curiosity to numerous individuals: the smart home is as of now a reality. Home automation, in many ways, is considered to be one of the major factors in bringing the future to the present.

For most people, their first experience with home automation starts with a film, or sometimes a report. We see a feature that looks magical and imagine it to be a special effect. For some people, however, discovering that it is possible to control many features of a home with one touch or to program them according to their preferences is a natural step. And so we discover new ways to enhance a property or, even better, ways to make the relationship with the home more pleasant.

From this stage, we ask ourselves: how to automate a house? What resources are there? What is the most important equipment? How much do you need to invest? Can any home be automated? What company does this type of service? How far is it possible to go? The list of doubts is immense … that’s why ExFrO prepared an article with everything you need to know to master the subject and hire a solid home automation project that aligns with your expectations.

Take the time to learn more about home automation!

Residential Automation Project, The First Step

Any home can receive an automation project. When we are thinking about building, still in the design phase, we have the ideal moment, since the entire work can be adapted to receive installations and equipment. Houses and apartments already inhabited can also be automated, although minor renovations may be necessary to organize everything safely and elegantly.

The first step is to hire specialized help. Specialists in home automation projects will offer solid experience and professional knowledge, which are fundamental to guarantee great results, that includes avoiding any kind of interference, equipment malfunctions, or even slight risks for the property. This is an important piece of advice since there are alternatives to all types for those looking for this type of improvement for a property. In addition to companies that only sell equipment without the technical knowledge to develop a project, there are also “do-it-yourself” solutions, which can be satisfactory for simple solutions but represent real risks that can lead to losses or, in more extreme cases, to a tragedy.

When analyzing your profile and your needs, an expert is able to understand what characteristics should guide your project. Some people look for personalization, others for convenience and there are still those who want more security, for example. Knowing your goals is crucial to developing a successful project.

It is at the design stage that you must determine the available budget. The investment in home automation can vary a lot according to its extent, the intended resources and, mainly, the quality of the equipment to be used. Financial restrictions do not mean that you need to give up or postpone your plans: a specialist can propose quality alternatives and select equipment and resources that fit what you expect, optimizing your investment to the maximum.

The project stage will combine information about your profile, the place where the project will be carried out, and also your investment and results expectations. It is a phase of vital importance for successful automation, as it will define its ideal characteristics, the perfect combination of equipment, and all the precautions to protect your investment while delivering the best when the goal is to transform a residence into a smart home.

Residential automation Resources

A complete project considers a wide range of resources. We can mention the following areas where automation can offer management capabilities:

• Lighting
• Curtains
• Doors and windows
• Air conditioning
• Sensors
• Alarms
• Cameras (CCTV)
• Audio and Video (Home Theater)
• Hydraulics (Pools, Bathtubs, and Irrigation)
• Voice Assistants (EchoDot, Apple HomePod, and Google)

Before thinking about equipment, it is necessary to define the areas covered by your project. In most cases, the specialist responsible for your service will offer equipment that meets your needs, but the choice for a piece of particular equipment can be defined based on technical specifications or preference for certain brands, a situation that is usually more common when thinking about equipment most present in everyday life, such as audio and video equipment, voice assistants or air conditioners.

Once you have defined the areas to be automated, talk to the specialist about the specifications of the most important equipment, regardless of the brands you prefer. The correct advice on the ideal equipment takes into account the strength of the most well-known brands but also considers the reliability, the technical assistance network, the cost-benefit ratio, and the most significant technical characteristics according to each type of equipment.

* LEARN MORE: Home Theater, the first step in home automation

Residential Automation System

The heart of a home automation system is the Automation Center, which is the equipment responsible for integrating all the resources provided in an automation project.

To illustrate in a more straightforward way, we can mention a remote control. A Smart TV control allows you to access Netflix or YouTube, turn off the TV or modulate the volume … but it does not allow you to control the lights in the room or manage the air conditioning.

No problem, the phone does it all! Well … not quite …

Most modern cell phones may be common for most people, but at heart, they are miracles of technology, with enormous processing power and endless resources. But even though the technology to control various equipment already exists in the device that is in your hands, integration is still not a reality in most cases. Controlling the lights requires an application from the manufacturer, the TV requires another and the surveillance cameras ask for another app. And there’s still the risk that your app store may not have everything you need.

That’s where Automation Systems come in.

Automation In Progress

You have already hired a specialist. Your expectations are known, as well as your property and the resources you intend to automate. And now, what to expect from the next phases?

When the project is completed, it is time to integrate several suppliers so that all actions take place according to a strict execution schedule. Structural changes, equipment installation, finishing, and configuration follow each other, always under the command of the company chosen by you to design and execute your home automation project.

The term for the execution of a project varies according to the resources available, its scope, and the physical characteristics of the location. In most cases, the path from the start of deployment to delivery takes between 60 and 90 days.

The service is considered completed when everything works perfectly, corresponding exactly to the specifications of the project approved by the client, but this does not mean the end of the relationship between the company responsible for the service. The list goes on indefinitely, with technical support, agile responses in case of need for assistance, and, mainly, availability to expand the contracted resources when the customer chooses to improve his original project or include new technologies in his residence.