Home Automation w/Video and Audio (1 Viewer)

[John Shepherd]

Hi guys,

Really happy to have found these forums! I am in the process of building a new home, and the builder has thrown in the rough-in for Control4 home automation. At it's core and what I'm most interested in discussing is:

- Speakers throughout house.
- TV/Video in multiple rooms.
- Home Theater.

All wires for the home run to a central location. All wires for Home Theater run off to storage area right behind the theatre room.

Now I've received a quote on the Control4 set-up, and I'm curious with the current rough in if there are other options I should consider out there that are potentially cheaper? And potentially even nicer and more consumer friendly to set-up.

I've seen things like:

Sonos for audio.
Smartthings for home automation (which doesn't charge you a subscription for managing your home via smartphone away from the house).

But I haven't really seen anything for managing video well. Any ideas or helpful sites that you would recommend?

Thanks.
Shep

 

[schan1269]

Control4, Elan and the many others...

It depends on how you like, or dislike, the user interface.

Whoever your builder is using for this install, they should have a working mock-up somewhere.

 

[schan1269]

By the way...

I did the theater and audio system design in a house that is using Elan. This homeowner went nuts. Buying a washer that can tell you when you need to buy detergent. A fridge that has internal scanning to tell you when you need milk.

The "added extra cost" of the Elan?

$157,000...(and yes...that is just the home automation)

The house even goes into a low power mode when no-one is home.