Spring Break
Intelligent homes lead to the future of home automation
Kate Stickelmaier
Issue date: 1/29/08 Section: News
In light of today's suffering housing market, one solution to increasing the resale value of one's home may be through equipping it with the most up and coming technology available.
According to Michael Milde, proprietor and systems integrator of Hunter Home Automation based out of Chicago, Ill., the home automation industry has been in place for more than two decades.
However, only recently has it surfaced as an affordable means of revamping one's property to include what Ian Trible, operations manager at Intellihome Inc, a home automation company in Houston, Texas, refers to as "more qualities of life people look for."
"Full automation in homes will become as common as cell phones are today," Milde said.
With that being said, home automation services are destined to become accessible for every home dweller willing to think outside of the box.
"It used to be a custom standard…[now] it's becoming a standard," Trible said.
One dimension of this current standard allows for the acquirement of reasonable "green" additions to the home, making it more energy efficient.
"55 percent of the typical homes' energy use is in environment control," Milde explained when referring to home heating and cooling systems. "With the use of automated monitoring, high efficiency heating and cooling with damper control, the energy consumption can be reduced by more than half."
Home security is another in-demand feature the home automation industry is offering to a more widespread demographic market.
"If you have a high-speed Internet connection, you can view your cameras from anywhere in the world," Trible said.
Computer networking is also a crucial factor to consider, not only for the convenience aspect but also for when and if it comes time to sell one's home.
"It's almost hard to sell a home that doesn't have networking," Trible added.
According to Trible, the popular trend is leaning towards having a wireless Internet network in the home, even if for no other reason than to positively impact its resale value.
"Homes with automation sell 50 percent faster and 5 percent higher than similar homes without it," Milde said.
On that same token, purchasing these services has become more financially feasible to the general public and companies will continue to cater to their needs. "In the past five years the cost is decreasing," Trible said. "You can easily [spend] $100,000…but we have systems for around $1,000 to $2,000."
Milde adds that the only limit he foresees in terms of what his clients are able to obtain for automation use in their home is their budget. "The list of benefits… and the fun uses are as wide as your imagination," Milde said.
According to Michael Milde, proprietor and systems integrator of Hunter Home Automation based out of Chicago, Ill., the home automation industry has been in place for more than two decades.
However, only recently has it surfaced as an affordable means of revamping one's property to include what Ian Trible, operations manager at Intellihome Inc, a home automation company in Houston, Texas, refers to as "more qualities of life people look for."
"Full automation in homes will become as common as cell phones are today," Milde said.
With that being said, home automation services are destined to become accessible for every home dweller willing to think outside of the box.
"It used to be a custom standard…[now] it's becoming a standard," Trible said.
One dimension of this current standard allows for the acquirement of reasonable "green" additions to the home, making it more energy efficient.
"55 percent of the typical homes' energy use is in environment control," Milde explained when referring to home heating and cooling systems. "With the use of automated monitoring, high efficiency heating and cooling with damper control, the energy consumption can be reduced by more than half."
Home security is another in-demand feature the home automation industry is offering to a more widespread demographic market.
"If you have a high-speed Internet connection, you can view your cameras from anywhere in the world," Trible said.
Computer networking is also a crucial factor to consider, not only for the convenience aspect but also for when and if it comes time to sell one's home.
"It's almost hard to sell a home that doesn't have networking," Trible added.
According to Trible, the popular trend is leaning towards having a wireless Internet network in the home, even if for no other reason than to positively impact its resale value.
"Homes with automation sell 50 percent faster and 5 percent higher than similar homes without it," Milde said.
On that same token, purchasing these services has become more financially feasible to the general public and companies will continue to cater to their needs. "In the past five years the cost is decreasing," Trible said. "You can easily [spend] $100,000…but we have systems for around $1,000 to $2,000."
Milde adds that the only limit he foresees in terms of what his clients are able to obtain for automation use in their home is their budget. "The list of benefits… and the fun uses are as wide as your imagination," Milde said.
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