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Whole-Home Audio

What do we mean by whole-home audio? With audio, it means being able to call up virtually any audio or music you want to enjoy in any room or area of your home with consummate ease and control. If you’re ever frustrated by multiple remote controls, inputs, and different audio settings across your house, you might like this concept. Whole-home audio gives you one consistent way to access all your music and sound sources. Pick a music streaming service and artist, album, radio station, or playlist, and pick the rooms you want to play it. Adjust the volume as desired in each area. Mute an area to take a call. Or have each part of your family enjoy what they want in different areas. Let the kids rock out in the game room while you enjoy Norah Jones in the living room.

How is all that magic done? It starts with a powerful Control4 controller like the EA-5 or CA-10. This is the brain that can control your smart home but also has built-in media distribution capabilities. It can route high-resolution music to all parts of your home and has native support for popular streaming services like Pandora, Tidal, and Spotify. If you have your own digital music library on a hard drive, you can access it through the built-in music server, too. Additional inputs let you listen to other sources like a CD player or turntable, or even sound from a TV. For control, you can use the excellent Neeo remote, a Control4 Touchscreen, a smartphone app, and even a wall-mounted keypad.

Smarter, Simpler Automation

Once upon a time, powerful whole-home automation systems had to be programmed for everything. If you wanted saved automation for watching TV, you might have a scene that lowered the shades, dimmed the lights, started the AV system, and set the temperature to a preferred setting. If you wanted to change that, you’d have to call an integrator like us! However, Control4's When >> Then personalization puts the power of sophisticated programming in your hands, with no technical skill needed. Want to kick off a sequence of things when your garage door opens as you arrive? Turn off the security alarm and cameras, turn on the hallway lights and kitchen lights, start a soothing music playlist, and have the garage door close automatically after 5 minutes. Need to fine-tune the sequence? Do it yourself on your laptop; it's that easy but oh so powerful.

SEE ALSO: Set the Lighting Scene for Any Occasion with Control4

Whole-Home Security

When you have one integrated control point for lights, window treatments, climate, AV, and security cameras, every smart asset in your home can participate in keeping it safe. For example, Control4 systems have a feature called Mockupancy, which simulates your activity within your house to give the illusion that your home is occupied while you’re away. Your Control4 system can manipulate lights, sound systems, TV, and motorized window treatments in a randomized yet natural pattern that will keep anyone casing your property guessing. If someone does intrude, your home can go into action. If a smart camera detects motion around one of your entries, all the lights can go on, you can sound a warning that the intruder is being recorded, and an ear-piercing alarm can go off. Your system can inform you too, and you can have the option of calling the authorities.

Beyond Entertainment, Control Devices like Lights, Locks and More

In our last blog, we introduced the Control4 starter package, a one-room entertainment control solution perfect for homeowners who are interested in home automation but want to start small. The starter package consists of one Control4 EA-1 controller, which integrates the AV devices in your entertainment room, and a handheld universal remote for intuitive entertainment control.

While one-room entertainment control is where the EA-1 controller excels, it also offers secure wireless Zigbee and IP control for up to 50 smart devices in and around your home! Step further into the world of home automation by easily integrating everyday devices like lights and locks and controlling them from the same interface you use to control your entertainment room.

Looking to expand your starter system? As a certified Control4 dealer serving the Salt Lake City, UT area, our team recommends integrating the following smart home solutions to boost everyday comfort, convenience, and peace of mind.

Orchestrate All Entertainment Devices in One Room

Most entertainment rooms are cluttered with devices, and each device has its own remote control. Before you know it, you have a basket filled with remotes for everything from the TV to the soundbar to the gaming consoles. Why not consolidate control of everything into one universal remote instead?

You can with this Control4 starter package. The EA-1 controller orchestrates a wide range of entertainment devices, including your TV, Blu-ray player, cable and satellite boxes, and gaming consoles. It also features IP control for Apple TV, Roku, and other network-connected devices. Integrate these devices with the EA-1 and enjoy streamlined control of everything from one Control4 universal remote!

SEE ALSO: How to Integrate Audio, Video, and Everything Else with Control4

Stream Music or Listen to Your Own Library

Along with video content, you can also effortlessly browse and enjoy your favorite tunes using the same interface. The EA-1 controller includes a built-in music server with native support for popular streaming services like Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and more.

Easily access and listen to locally stored music files too by connecting the EA-1 to your external hard drive. Plus, play music through AirPlay using Control4 ShairBridge technology, which allows you to stream audio from any AirPlay-enabled mobile device or computer to your Control4 system.

Motorized Drapes

While the term most applied to motorized window treatments is “shades," the styles available go far beyond these. Roller shades may very well be the most popular powered style, but there are many more to choose from. Are you more into the elegance of drapes? You can motorize those, too. Lutron, a leader in lighting control and motorized shading, offers powered drapery track systems that work for large windows and even heavy drapes. Heavy drapes can be a chore to open and close manually, so power makes them much more convenient to let the light in when you want it and keep it out when you don’t. Styles include classic pinch pleat and ripplefold, and there’s even an innovative vertical system that can lift drapes up instead of opening horizontally to expose Bountiful, Utah’s beautiful views.

Blackout Shades

Blackout shades and drapes are popular for bedrooms and living areas or game rooms that double as home theaters. Did you know you can have double motorized shades for those rooms? When you need darkness to sleep at night or watch a movie, you can lower both the blackout shade and the decorative one. For daytime, you can filter the sun with your decorative shade only while the blackout layer is rolled up. With a wide choice of light-filtering fabrics that can fit the sun exposure for your room, you can have the perfect solution for fully utilizing natural light and having a dark room when you need it. With smart home automation, you can use schedules, sensors, and all manner of controls to position your shades exactly how you want them throughout the day.

SEE MORE: Master Natural Light in Your Home with Motorized Shades

Insulating Shades

Utah has a wide range of weather, from cold winters to fairly hot summers. If you want to give your HVAC system and your wallet a bit of a break, honeycomb shades are an excellent option for their insulating qualities. Their cell design traps warm air inside in the winter from escaping through windows and keeps your air-conditioned interiors cooler in summer. When you want to fully enjoy the view, just press a button to raise your shades and enjoy a sunset or let in warming sun on a cold winter day. Going green has never been easier.

Tensioned and Cable Guided Shades

There are some windows that you might think are hard to manage. Consider a clerestory window or skylight that lets you enjoy the light, but for two hours of every day in a season creates too much glare from the sun streaming in. Powered tensioned shades can come to the rescue. The tensioned design can handle even fully horizontal applications, and you can open and close the shade when you want or on a schedule. For angled applications, cable-guided shades keep a shade perfectly in line with the window angle. Cable-guided shades also work well where shades might be moved by airflow from ceiling fans or open windows and doors.

Personalized Schedules

Do you open and close certain window treatments at the same time each day? Let them adjust on their own by setting them to a personalized schedule. Shades in the bedrooms, kitchen, and living room could open at 7:00 am, lower to 50% in the afternoon, and close at 7:00 pm, giving you more time back in your day. Change times, add or remove rooms, and more with ease. You can also schedule your shades to open and close with the sunrise and sunset, and they’ll adjust with the changing seasons.

SEE MORE: 4 Reasons Motorized Shades Are a Smart Investment

Temperature and Light Sensors

Convenience and energy efficiency come together when you integrate sensors with your motorized shades. If a room gets too warm, temperature sensors can trigger window treatments to close so that your HVAC system doesn’t work overtime. This solution is ideal for west-facing windows that let in ample natural light to brighten your spaces but can quickly heat a room if left open for too long.

If you like to take advantage of natural light to brighten your Salt Lake City home, then consider light sensors, which adjust your shades based on the levels of natural light in a space. Daylight is the best light for wellness and aesthetics, and light sensors paired with automated shades will ensure your home always has the perfect amount.

Voice Commands

The window treatments in your kitchen might be drawn to let in natural light, but what if there’s a glare on your phone as you read a recipe? Just tell your voice control assistant to lower the kitchen shades to 50%. Hands-free operation is at your fingertips when you integrate your blinds and shades with voice control platforms like Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Whether you’re lying on the couch or have your hands full, voice control is a convenient option to adjust shades in one or several rooms on a whim.