TV

Have you ever noticed how many TVs get installed over fireplaces? It’s not because people necessarily wanted to put the TV there. It’s because the fireplace is typically designed as the focal point of the room and it just ends up making sense to put the TV right above it. Many are fine with that, but some others think that having a big black rectangle at the room’s primary focal point is not the most desirable aesthetic choice!

Fortunately, the industry has come up with several ways to dress up or hide the TV completely:

• Digital Art ‒ Some TVs have a “digital art” mode that can make your TV look like a painting, family portrait or whatever image you want to show off. Some even come with a light sensor to make the art respond to your room’s lighting in a way that makes the art look more natural.
  
  
• Mechanized Lifts ‒ There are dozens of options that make clever use of automated lift mechanisms that can hide your TV in a myriad of ways. An Art Lift allows you to hide the TV behind a real piece of art that can slide up or sideways to reveal the TV when you turn it on. Other motorized lift mechanisms can raise your TV up out of a cabinet or have it descended from a hiding place in the ceiling. You can even have the TV pivot left or right towards the viewer.
  
  
• Recessed TV ‒ You may not really care about completely hiding the TV, but you would like the installation to be a little sleeker. In that case, you can have your builder frame out the wall so that there is a pocket for the TV to be installed into. This creates a clean and flush appearance from the front and side.

Speakers

Having the ability to play music anywhere in the house or yard is one of the most requested features we get. While a set of floor standing speakers might make sense in a home theater or media room, other rooms can have great sound too without the speakers being a prominent visual feature.

• Architectural Speakers ‒ Most people are familiar with in-wall and in-ceiling speakers. What you may not know is that you can get them in a smaller form factor that closely matches the size and shape of your recessed lighting. This makes the speakers really blend in. There are even in-wall and in-ceiling subwoofers that can provide some added bass without the big black box on the floor.
  
  
• Invisible Speakers ‒ If you really don’t want to see the speakers at all, invisible speakers can be installed during the construction phase that perfectly blend into the wall. They are mudded and painted over, just like the drywall, so even the sharpest eye can’t see them.
  
  
• Custom Soundbars ‒ Adding a soundbar to enhance TV audio is extremely popular these days. But a lot of soundbars look like an afterthought rather than part of an integrated system. But they don’t have to. Many manufacturers provide soundbars in custom lengths that perfectly match the width of your TV for a clean, purposeful look.

Lighting Control

A smart lighting system isn’t just for convenience. It can enhance the look of your home as well. Lighting control systems can be programmed to remember lighting “scenes” that recall specific lighting levels for a room or the whole house. You can have all your lights set to just the perfect level for whatever mood or activity you want and recall it with a simple button press.

“Centralized” lighting control systems take things even farther by reducing your banks of light switches (sometimes four, five or more in a row) and consolidating them into a single, elegant keypad. Often these lighting keypads are available in a variety of designer colors and textures to perfectly complement your décor.

1. Lower Energy Usage and Costs

With smart thermostats, when you’re out of the house or on vacation, you can set your air conditioning and heater to your desired temperatures. Manufacturers of smart thermostats make claims of 10% to 20% savings on energy bills, and that can really add up in the long run. When you track your energy usage you can easily see where money can be saved. Smart thermostats are inherently environmentally friendly and some even give you “badges” to reach new levels of energy efficiency. Several smart thermostats also have the ability to add remote temperature sensors, allowing you to heat/cool specific areas of the home.

2. Control Your Thermostat Remotely

Smart thermostats allow you to use an app on your smartphone, tablet, or computer to set the temperature for your home remotely, all through an easy-to-use interface. This means, when you’re out of the house or on vacation, you can set your air conditioning and heater to your desired temperatures. In the app, you can also create schedules so that at certain times throughout the day, the temperature will change according to your wishes. You can even set vacation modes for longer trips. Another feature of smart thermostats is the ability to receive alerts for when your temperature goes above or below a certain point.

3. Smart Thermostats Learn Your Home and Your Routines

Using movement sensors, smart thermostats can detect when you are in and out of the home and create a general schedule based on your lifestyle. When you’re gone from the home, energy usage will slow, and then pick up again when you return. Some smart thermostats can also measure the outdoor weather and adjust the indoor environment accordingly. They can also work with other smart home devices, such as smart humidifiers or air purifiers, exchanging information for a stronger integrated system. Voice-controlled systems such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home can connect to your smart thermostat, allowing you to adjust the temperature with the sound of your voice.

Smart thermostats are easy to install, using the wiring already there for the home’s heating and cooling system. Similar to other smart home devices, smart thermostats give you insights into your home in comprehensible ways and are designed to be easy to use.

Call or Visit Us

Your heating and cooling system should not be overlooked when growing your smart home. If you’re ready to enable the extra layer of convenience, comfort, and cost savings into your home, AV Design Consultants provides many options to cater to your lifestyle. Contact our experts at AV Design Consultants to learn more about our products and services.

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Deter or Record Package Thieves

For a myriad of reasons, people are shopping online more now than ever before. If you’re not home, delivered packages might be sitting on the front porch — in plain view from the street and sidewalk for hours. It’s not hard for someone to walk up and take your latest Amazon order. Having a camera watching over the front porch may very well discourage the notoriously observant porch pirate. If they still manage to grab your goods, at least you’ll have the footage and maybe even their vehicle details to share with the police. Capturing the event clearly along with attributes, such as gender, facial features, clothing, and descriptive information can be the difference between remaining a victim or seeing justice being served.

Confirm Package Deliveries

If you’ve ever received a notification that your package was delivered, only to discover it’s nowhere to be found when you get home, it’s not always the work of a thief. Delivery people can make mistakes, and occasionally, your goods end up on someone else’s doorstep. While a surveillance camera won’t tell you where your package was misdelivered, it can prove to you, as well as the seller and shipper, that no delivery took place. This can be the difference between a full refund or having to absorb the total cost of a lost order.

Keeping an Eye on your Loved Ones

Pools, playsets, and trampolines are all great activities for the kids. But each one of them represents some level of risk without supervision. Having a camera focused on these areas will allow you to observe (and hear if your cameras have microphones) what’s going on regardless of whether you’re there or not. Security cameras can also record the comings and goings of your loved ones. Special rules can detect precise motion, sounds, and now motor vehicles and people. So, annoying false alarms, in most cases, can be avoided. The best part is most of these devices are mobile-friendly. If you have elderly parents or simply want to see when you kids leave for or get home from school, security cameras are your eyes and ears.

Monitor Doors and Gates

If you don’t have security contacts on your entry doors or garage doors, there’s no way for you to know if they’re open or closed without visual verification. The gates to most people’s yards never have sensors on them. It’s not uncommon for the family dog to take off on a neighborhood excursion because someone forgot to pull the yard gate closed. A quick check of your cameras lets you know that everything is secure before letting Fido out the back door to do his business. Advanced security cameras can even detect if objects in a field of view are removed or abandoned. These advanced features add in the digital equivalent of what a sensor would do, just by looking at the scene. Imagine being alerted if your beloved 10-foot holiday inflatable disappears suddenly. The combinations are endless, and today’s cameras offer so much more than they did a mere 10 years back.

Animal and Human Mischief

Occasionally, some things happen on our property, and we have no idea who or what the culprit is. What if someone gets hurt on your property or trash cans get knocked over, flowers and veggies disappear from the garden, or smelly little gifts show up on the front lawn? Checking your security cameras might reveal mischievous people, raccoons, and some hungry deer — or even expose your neighbors not cleaning up after their dog or cat. What you do about these particular intrusions is totally up to you, but at least you’ll know what’s going on outside your home whether you’re there or not — day or night!