Smart Homes Within Reach of Even the Tightest Budgets
By: AllBusiness.com
Do you love gadgets?
How about convenience? Does the idea of home automation excite you but seem outside of your price range? Don't laugh off the idea just yet. Smart homes are well within the reach of even the tightest budgets.
Traveling out of town can be expensive enough, but wouldn't it be nice to save money and energy while you're away? Lighting systems from companies like Lutron and Centralite offer homeowners the ability to program their lights for maximum efficiency, whether completely off or at varied levels of brightness. For as little as $100, you can schedule a pair of lamps to make your home appear occupied.
The same can be done for heating and cooling. Why waste energy cooling your home when you're not there to enjoy it? Various systems are designed with one-touch panels to control your heating and cooling elements, as well as window treatments. Erase the headache of constantly opening and closing your blinds. Some systems even allow you to control and see your home from a computer monitor via the Internet.
For those desiring more than energy efficiency, entire home systems exist to simplify life with the touch of a button. Garage door openers can be outfitted to turn on the lights, open your doors and play your favorite songs as you enter your home.
You'll never find yourself fumbling for your keys in a dark room thanks to companies like Elan, whose systems integrate radio, video components, security cameras, surround sound and lighting.
As technology improves so will the affordability and availability of these exciting systems and products.
In the January issue of At Home with Donald A. Gardner, (
1.2MB) check out some of my favorite high-tech products and see the new Dell concept plan for examples of how to integrate smart home technology into your new Donald Gardner home.
Rudisill is a lifestyle trend authority, entrepreneur and former model. She is the daughter of Donald A. Gardner and grew up observing and helping out with her father's residential design business. During her modeling career, she spent many years living in New York and in Europe, where she learned about design from well-known fashion and home décor designers. She currently serves as Style Consultant to the Donald A. Gardner companies as well as operating her own sports nutrition business.
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