What 3 revolutionary home technology systems are gaining popularity lately?
Home Microgrid
First of all, what is a microgrid? This is a system of components that can provide its own energy/power for a home. This could be a battery for storing energy, solar panels for harvesting energy, a generator for converting natural gas to energy, or a combination of all of them. While we don’t install generators or solar panels, we can design systems to integrate them, store power for off-grid use, and manage loads in the home to make power more efficient in the home. You may be surprised to know that one of the main players in this space is Savant. A sister company, Racepoint Energy, was founded by the same people who started Savant many years ago. Recently the two companies were merged under the Savant name, around the same time that Savant acquired GE Lighting. So now you have the background of off-grid power management developed by Racepoint, lighting technology from GE Lighting, and the simplicity and elegance of Savant control all under one brand.
Savant makes very innovative products, called companion breaker modules, that can turn off loads and circuits but can even be used as dimmers for lighting. This is an extremely efficient way to do lighting control but also to give you load level control for when the home goes off the grid or has power loss. The companion breaker modules can turn off non-essential loads either on a schedule or during a power loss event, which will give batteries a longer run time. Even though Savant actually manufacturers these companion breaker modules for some of the biggest names in the electrical world, they partnered with companies who are already the leaders in the inverter, battery, and transfer switch space. Names like Schneider Electric, Generac, Fortress Batteries, and Sol-Ark may ring a bell. These are the brands and products that would be packaged together to create a microgrid in a home. And in typical Savant fashion, managing all of this is extremely easy for homeowners through the Savant Pro App.
Centralized Lighting ControlÂ
This is a method of controlling light fixtures and other lighting loads without wiring up banks of light switches in the wall. This is done for a variety of reasons. As lighting in the home continues to evolve, this method allows more loads to be in a room to provide the layers of light that you see in so many well-designed homes. Instead of having 6 light switches (or dimmers) in a kitchen to control all of the various lights (undercabinet, island pendant, general lighting, task lighting, cove lighting, in cabinet lighting), you simply have one keypad with multiple buttons. Let’s face it; no one wants to set each light individually anyway, so a single button on the keypad can do all the work for you and set each load to the level that makes it easy to cook or shows off the kitchen. There are many manufacturers that make products to do centralized lighting control in a home. We handle two of the top three brands in our company. This technology has been around for decades in commercial buildings and in high-end homes. But now, with products, like the Savant companion breakers mentioned above, the price of entry into this type of system has gotten more affordable – and versatile. You don’t even have to do the whole house this way in order to take advantage of the benefits. We often find that doing one level with the living spaces in a centralized method and doing the bedroom level in a more traditional way (using wireless dimmers) can be a really efficient way to get the best of both worlds while still keeping control of all of the lighting in the home. Another side, but still really nice, the benefit is that there are many more options in keypad styles with centralized lighting control systems. Brushed metals, glass, and custom color matching are just some of the options you could get with this type of system that would not be available in retrofit products.
Hidden Technology
We do a higher percentage of luxury condos than most integrators in this market. Why does that matter? Well, for one, space in a condo is at a premium. This has led us to become experts in hidden, concealed, and in wall technology. We can do the whole audio with a subwoofer, surround receiver, television, Zoom server, cable box / Apple TV, and power conditioning behind a TV in a frame. We can do whole home control, distributed audio, and network in a rack that hangs on a wall BEHIND clothes in a closet. Our condo clients are thrilled to know that we can get rid of the floor rack for equipment that takes up precious closet space. Some of our most popular architectural speakers are the same size and shape as the light fixtures, so they nearly disappear. Of course, we have actual invisible speakers too. Even simple items like an outlet in a kitchen backsplash can be concealed with Trufig. While it won’t totally disappear (you need to use it, right?), it will blend in. Art lifts and motorization have also come a long way in hiding televisions. It is art when it is not used and a TV when you need it. Even the TV frame concept mentioned above is a way to conceal technology in a way that it is present at the TV location, but with it being hidden from view. We use these in lots of places like living rooms and bedrooms where you wouldn’t want to see the ugly side view of the TV in most cases. Although many of the concealed technology items require planning during the construction phases, the TV frames (and sometimes art lifts) are examples of items that can be added as a retrofit.
