A single-room solution can incorporate some home control, but without the cost of a full-blown system. Credit: Paul Robinette
Money is tight, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up on your dreams of having a home control system. Just scale down your plans a bit. Instead of spending a fortune to trick out the entire house, you can economize by focusing on a single room.
It’s a trend that’s really taking off, says Keith W. Harrison, owner of Total Home Technologies in Caldwell, N.J. “Not too many people are coming to us these days asking us to wire their whole house,” he says “but they do want us to hang a TV on the wall.”
Manufacturers recognize the shift in consumers’ spending habits, and have started to develop systems intended for installation in one room. “For the cost of a decent vacation, you can put in a system that makes a really big impact in one room,” says Eric Smith, chief technology officer at Control4, a company that offers a variety of home control solutions.
The most obvious room to focus on is the family room. The space probably already has a decent TV and possibly a surround-sound system. By adding a few extra pieces to this setup, you can create some real magic where the lights, window shades and even the thermostats are synchronized to the audio and video system.
But first things first: You’ll need a good remote. For less than $100 you can pick up a universal remote that can do the job of several clickers. Many universal remotes can be programmed by homeowners, so the labor is free. However, if you’d like your clicker to control more than A/V equipment, you’ll need something more sophisticated.
By adding a home control processor to your A/V cabinet, you’ll be able to use your remote to command the lights, thermostats and motorized window shades. RTI and Universal Remote Control both offer a variety of processors ideally suited for single rooms, like the XP-8 ($1,699) and the MCS-400 ($599), respectively.
One-room Control Systems
Adding on to a universal remote is one way to grow into greater home control; trimming down a whole-house system to fit the scope of a single room is another.
Manufacturers like Control4, HAI (Home Automation Inc.) and Lutron offer entry-level systems designed specifically for individual spaces. For example, Control4’s HC200 (starting at around $499) comes with a remote that lets you navigate a menu of options presented on the screen of the family room TV. As is the case with RTI’s and Universal Remote Control’s solutions, you’ll need to replace the room’s existing light switches and thermostat with new smart models. Expect to spend between $100 and $200 for each item involved.
Lutron and HAI, meanwhile, have packaged all the necessary equipment together. Lutron’s $925 RadioRA-SR package, for example, includes three dimmer switches and a controller that lets you use a remote control or touchpanel to operate the lights, as well as Lutron’s own line of Sivoia QS window shades. HAI’s Home Theater Lighting Kit ($600) comes with a programmable keypad that mounts to the wall, two dimmer switches and two plug-in modules for table lamps.
Both the RadioRA-SR and Home Theater Lighting Kit can be programmed by a professional home systems installer to enact a variety of scenes whenever a particular button on a keypad or remote control is pressed.
“Now that PLAY button not only starts up the A/V equipment, but dims the lights and closes the shades,” says Jeremy Kleinberg, RadioRA product manager at Lutron. “You can create some real magic in the room.”
You don’t have to stop at the family room, either. Most single-room systems can be expanded into other areas of the house. You can integrate additional lights and shades, or even tie in your home’s existing security system whenever you’re ready to spend the money.
Other Single-Room Ideas
Universal Remote Control offers a better lighting solution for a single room with their RF Dimmers and Switches for about $140 or so a piece. For a single room, you would probably need 2-3 of them and a URC remote control. Excellent and cost effective lighting solution.
INSTEON is an extension of the X10 protocol and is indeed much more robust. It adds error correction, 2-way communication, and automatic retransmission. If I were trying to do whole-house, I would probably step up to INSTEON, but in a single room where I’ll instantly know if a code is missed I think I’d go with X10 which is just plain dirt cheap.
Most everything listed here can also be done with INSTEON devices, which is more reliable than X10 in general and still less expensive than the other solutions. And with Indigo on your Mac and Indigo Touch, you can control it from your iPhone/iPod touch or even a standard smartphone that has a web browser.
Most everything listed here can be done for MUCH less money with a Harmony remote and various X10 modules. The main drawback is IR requiring the Harmony be aimed in the general direction of an X10 IR receiver. Another minor drawback is X10 is a one-way protocol, so if a code is missed, it’s not re-sent… but in a one-room setup it’s much less of a problem, especially considering the savings.
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I would have liked some sort of product description like the size of hard disk, capacity… 
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For your living room I would suggest a color called “Drop Leaf”. It is a very light sage color from Sherwin William’s. As for your bedroom, I would paint it a very light color called “Timid Blue”. Both will warm up the feeling in your apartment, but just add a hint of color. Good luck, and congratulations on your new apartment. You will make it look very nice, I’m sure. The following takes you to the color visualizer section, to see what the colors look like, before you paint it on your walls. Try it on theirs.
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