• You come home turn your alarm system off... the light in the hallway and family room goes on, the TV turns on to CNN with the volume set to 65%.
• Your child comes home, turns the alarm system off, a notice is sent to your pager (wherever you are) to let you know that she's at home and simultaneously a picture of your daughter walking in through the front door is sent to your email.
• Someone approaches the front door and rings the bell. You can see her from any TV screen in the house. A short clip on your VCR is recorded automatically.
• While you watch a movie, your door belll rings. A Picture-In-Picture (PIP) on your TV set automatically pops up showing the front door view. From your seat, you release the front door lock to let your guest in.
• You flopped down in bed for a short rest after a hard day at the office, then woke to find that it's already night. You are pleased to discover that your Automated Home thoughtfully closed all the window drapes while you slept.
• A disabled person arrives home, presses the remote key from his car, switching off the alarm and turning on the lights in the house. The elevetor lift descends to the ground floor and the door opens to receive his wheelchair.
• On the way to your cottage, you dial up the heating system and instruct it to turn up to 22 degrees celcius. On your arrival, you enter a pleasantly warm cottage.
• Before you leave on vacation, you set the lights in the various rooms to go on and off at different times during the evening. This gives your house a lived-in look while you are away.
• Lights set at strategic points around the house, fo on automatically whenever anyone approaches. The lights are a convenience to your visitors and a deterrent to undesirables. Cameras around house pick up amovement and send images to TV screens in the house, alerting the occupants to trespassers.
• Home Automation reduces your energy bills and makes your home environmerntally friendly Home Automation cuts energy consumption and costs. Lights automatically shut off when a room is vacated. Tempereture controls automatically cut air conditioning or heating to empty rooms. Shades automatically adjust to let in more sun during the winter and less in the summer, cutting air conditioning or heating requirements.

The best time to get Home Automation installed is when you are building or renovating your home. That's when it is easiest and least costly to install the wiring. Structured wiring is always a good idea when building a new home or renovating your existing home, whether you plan to do the automation now or not. You will want it sooner or later. As you get older. Home Automation becomes a necessity. Besides, structured wiring increases the value of your home, more than the additional cost, so it's always a good investment.

But even if you aren't building or renovating now, don't despair! it's possible to retrofit and automate an existing home. Yes, it is a bit more expensive than pre-wiring. But don't deny yourself the comforts and pleasures of automation just because of the price difference. You'll never regret the decision.