Home automation is one of the impressive advancements witnessed by modern day building technology. Knowing how to automate your home is essential to having complete control over your surroundings. It takes your home to the future. Home automation cuts energy cost, increases security, and helps homeowners do everything.

A story of an automated home may seem like a science fiction movie of the 1980s, but it is not. The truth is that, with a little background knowledge of networking and electronics, a homeowner can change his home into a “smart house”. What is a smart house? It is an intelligent house capable of reminding the owner that milk is low. A smart home can close the blind in the midday sun, adjust the AC accordingly, and sends a notification that Auntie Annie is standing at the front door.

When your home parades a complete range of automation protocols, your Smartphone and your PC can receive instructions to open and close the doors, and turn on the lights when you are steps away from the house. You can also teach them to wake you up, brew the coffee and water the garden. Above all, you can command these devices to open your home to none, except your pet cat. You only need to know the basics of home automation.

There are six main components of a complete home automation protocol system. These components include the following:

1. A computer or a Smartphone

2. Home automation software

3. Automation aware devices

4. Modular

5. Network adapter and

6. Steady electricity supply

Every home automation system needs either a generic device. This generic device creates wall socket IP addresses for home plug-ins. The homeowner can also use customized home automation systems. The difference with the customized home automation systems is that they can automatically configure themselves according to basic commands, stored in the device memory. Example of this is the HomeWorks automated light control application.

The first step the owner must take is to provide a PC and a Smartphone, which work as the basic hardware. The PC or Smartphone must be on always-on light supply. This is because the PC software is the mind of your automated home. It controls the automation of home devices including light appliances, thermostat, and motion sensors, stereo and others.

The next step is to choose automation software of your choice. However, it is vital to choose the ones that can support a wide range of home automation protocol. In this regard, the HomeSeer windows automation software is a nice choice. It has two versions: the \”high-end HSPRO\” edition and the \”low-tier HS2\” version. The high-end HSPRO comes with extra add-ons like iPhone control.

The home automation systems communicate through specialized automation protocols. The X10 and Insteon devices are excellent choices. However, if a homeowner wants to undertake wireless home automation, the Zigbee and Z-wave protocol devices are nice options.

Once the above basic steps are in place, a homeowner can automate all aspects of his home from lights, security, locks and reminder alerts by configuring the automation components and other devices to communicate with each other. With these steps taken, homes can communicate with their owners. In a case where you do not have the professional skills, you can still take your home into the future by learning some basic steps on how to automate your home.

Edward Kendricks writes for CTS (www.cts-networks.co.uk), UK home automation installation specialists.

Edward Kendricks writes for CTS (http://www.cts-networks.co.uk), UK home automation installers.

Author Bio: Edward Kendricks writes for CTS (www.cts-networks.co.uk), UK home automation installation specialists.

Category: Advice
Keywords: home automation, house, home, security, home improvement, DIY, CCTV, burglar, crime, safety