Wall Clutter and Functionality
Wall Clutter and Functionality
Generally we're not talking about getting your toaster to talk to your refrigerator. No one needs that. There's a couple of obvious reasons to install controls, though. One is wall clutter: we recently did a reno on 16K sq. ft. home and were able to replace twenty rocker switches, two timers, a thermostat, and a security keypad at the main entrance with one touchscreen and an eight-button decora control. What had looked like a Leviton sales display in a supplier's showroom "cleaned up good".
The other is functionality. Who wants to trudge around the entire house turning off lights and adjusting the hvac down when you leave? [The house above had fourteen thermostats.] Want instant perimeter lighting when the security system goes off in the middle of the night? Would you like to be able to see the camera installed at your front door or at the gate 100 yards from the house by pushing a button on your touchscreen and switching to video display?
Everyone is accustomed to automation in commercial and industrial settings, and lately it has occurred to me that a 15-20K sq. ft. home is more akin to an office building than a typical house. The last one I was in had multiple boiler rooms and air handlers, several electrical rooms, and a whole 15'x15' closet dedicated entirely to security, communications, and controls.
As far as $2000 a room goes, just the touch screens alone start at $800 and up each at the supplier. That's without the head end controller which is at least a grand. Add in some distributed audio, speakers, etc., and $4000 a room is not so hard to imagine. That's not a home theatre, either, where rooms soar into six figures faster than a B2 bomber.
None of this is rocket science, but it's probably not what most electricians do every day. There is a pretty steep learning curve at the front end, and since the cost of the individual components can be high, you don't want to buy the wrong gear, or too much, or let one of your helpers burn any of it up by accident.
Even worse, unlike most electrical, it's not "set it and forget it". Taking on a "smart home" often means establishing a long-term relationship with a demanding client. We're not like the sheetrock guys that board a place and leave forever. Sometimes we spend so much time with these people that it blurs the line between being a trade and just being another member of their household staff.
