Home automation has been the promise for decades. From the 1968 World’s Fair to Disney World’s Home of the Future, we have been promised advances in the “smart” home. Well, up until now, you had to spend tens of thousands of dollars and have a tech on-call all the time. The systems were custom installed, custom programmed, complicated and out of reach for 98% of home owners.

Well Apple, Google and a whole new generation of technology have changed all that. The iPhone, iPad, and Android mobile devices are capable of not only surfing the web, emails, phone and text, but they can now control your home. The best part is that you can start for a few hundred dollars and you don’t need a special programmer or installer.
Apple announced this month that they are rolling out a program called HomeKit. HomeKit is a platform that will allow all the new devices to speak with one another from one app. Currently, each device, such as a Nest thermostat, Sonos Music player, MyQ Garage Door, Kevo Door Lock, Dropcam Camera, etc. each have their own app. You have to open each individual app to control that device. Soon, you will be able to have one app that controls everything!

So why should you consider home automation? It saves money by saving energy. It allows you to control your home in a way that provides more peace of mind and reduces reliance on monitoring companies. Your phone will notify you directly if a condition changes. Like if your door opens or if the camera detects a person in the room. It’s convenient. You can open doors remotely, check on your home while you are traveling or at work, change the thermostat, or lighting or even shades. Mostly its really cool!

Home Automation and the Internet of Things (remember that phrase…you’ll be hearing it a lot!) are coming now. Embrace the future, for the future is finally here!