White says you don’t have to be a luxury home owner or a corporate client to take advantage of smart home technology – there’s an increasing range of options for all budgets.
White went into business in 2009, when smart home technology was evolving from increasingly sophisticated security and audio-visual home entertainment systems technology. With the advent of universal remote controllers, it was a short step to whole house automation.
Now, business is booming, he says from his home, which offers panoramic views across Flagstaff toward Mormon Mountain through window glass selected to reflect heat back into the house – the opposite of glass used in warmer climates where reflectivity is put on the outside. White uses his home to demonstrate the many smart home technology options available to potential clients. And, with household energy use nationwide accounting for around 20% of greenhouse gas emissions (according to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences), using smart devices can reduce your home energy bill, CO2 emissions and household water use.
White says you don’t have to be a luxury home owner or a corporate client to take advantage of smart home technology – there’s an increasing range of options for all budgets. For more modest homes, the do-it-yourself market includes smart lightbulbs and heating/cooling thermostats, which can all be controlled from an app on your phone. HomCo Lumber and Hardware, on Butler Ave., was stocking a smart home technology line for a while, but sent some stock back after it didn’t sell well. HomCo’s Christy Engel believes that was partly because of the fairly high price tag. But as technology improves, those prices are coming down, she says. HomCo’s current stock of smart home technology options includes the Osram and Sylvania “Lightify” range, with LEDs, smart plugs and sensors that use motion and temperature sensors to trigger lighting. They also carry Mr Cool cooling and heating units designed for smaller homes – around 1,000 square feet – which can be controlled from a smart phone, whether homeowners are home or away.
“The trouble is, bought individually, those devices often don’t talk to each other,” said White. While the volume of Wired-Up Systems’ business comes from home security installations, White brings his special skills to bear for clients with larger homes and a budget starting in the $20,000 to $30,000 range, to well over $100,000. Building integrated systems to meet specific client requirements, he writes custom apps and does the programming and implementation with features like coordinated lighting, optimized heating and cooling (including window shading), and the detection and shut off of water leaks, along with fire alarms, security and audio-visual entertainment systems.
In the Flagstaff area, residential clients are just part of a varied client base for WiredUp Systems, which includes the Weatherford Hotel, NAU’s Cline Library and Native American Cultural Center, Museum of Northern Arizona, many restaurants, the theatre at the Grand Canyon South Rim main visitor center, and several houses of worship. Chabad Jewish Community Center in Flagstaff is a great example of how smart home automation can facilitate religious observance. With the Jewish prohibition of working on the Sabbath and certain holidays, including operating electronic devices, Wired-Up Systems has automated the building to run the entire gamut of operations, from lighting to heating and AV systems from sunset on Friday evening to sunrise on Sunday morning.
If you’re going to adopt just one smart device, Andy White recommends a thermostat; quick and easy to install, they’ll save you money and reduce your CO2 emissions. Example brands are Nest and Ecobee; some of these devices can even learn from your behavior over time, adapting your home heating/cooling to match your patterns of use, even optimizing it to times when renewable energy is most plentiful and cheapest. LED lightbulbs are another simple step, because all you have to do is screw in a lightbulb. They use at least 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs. Adding a dimmer function can save up to another 40% of your household lighting bill.
Even pets don’t have to be left out of the smart home revolution. Engel says she uses an EasyHeat outdoor temperature sensing cable attached to the guttering of her hen house. Plugged in to a Thermo Cube temperature-controlled outlet, that simple system senses the temperature and turns on the heat only when needed, minimizing energy use while keeping the chickens toasty warm in winter! FBN
By Diane Hope, FBN
For more information, visit https://wired-upsystems.com/W.
