Climate Control

Home automation brings a whole new level of climate control into your home.  Your home automation system can be programmed to close curtains or motorized blinds at set times, or using an astronomical clock, shades can drop 2 hours after sunrise, and rise an hour after sunset.  Controlling window treatments helps reduce energy consumption by minimizing how much your heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems will need to be running to keep your house at the temperature you want.  

Thermostats that integrate into a home automation system allow you to warm up or cool down the house from your office so it is ready for your arrival after work.  No need to keep getting up to check the thermostat when you can find out what the temperature is from your ipad, and make the necessary adjustments from there.

Home Automation & Control

"Home Automation” has been used to mean so many different things, that it’s hard for those of us in the industry to explain exactly what you can do without starting into an hour-long rant that makes your eyes glaze over and gives you a headache. So here is a short and simple list of what home automation can do.

• Control your heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC).
• Control your home theater system.
• Control your lights.
• Lower your electrical bill by making all of your lights dimmable and setting them to turn on at a lower brightness level by default.
• Control landscape water features, fountains, pool waterfalls, and landscpae lighting accents.
• Pipe music, your TV’s audio or your voice into different rooms.
• Pipe movies from your own private "wine cellar" of films into any room of the house over a local area network (LAN). 
• Turn on and off any appliance.
• Open doors, gates, windows, blinds, curtains and other motorised entry/exit components, like your garage door.
• Interface with your home’s security system.
• Access video cameras inside and outside your house.
• Make the house look occupied while you are away on vacation by having the lights you commonly use turned on and off automatically.

..and you can control all of this...

• From your phone.
• From a computer.
• From touchscreen panels or fancy light switches or iPads.
• From inside or outside your house or from anywhere in the world!
• Automatically, based on a schedule.
• Automatically, based on other “events” that happen, like doors opening or motion sensors being set off
• One at a time or all together

With a single button press, you can dim lights, close window shades, play your favorite music at the volume level you like. Your spouse may effortlessly watch his/her favorite movie while your guests read in the den and the kids play video games in the media room.  Want to keep guests from watching your recorded shows and deleting them--or being critical of what you record on your DVR-you can!  Mom can't figure out your remote control...so why not give her a single button on the wall that reads "MOM" and make it play her favorite music, set the lights to her preferred brightness, and even crank up the heat so she's not cold!  

Control your Music, Lights, Temperature, Shades, Cameras, Water Features, etc. from ANY keypad or touch panel throughout your home or from a remote you have with you at all times-your smartphone.

We help you tailor the technology to do what YOU want it to do, when YOU want it, and from where YOU want it.  We make sure you are in control of everything in your house...and that the control is always easy to reach, easy to use, and reliable.

Home Theater

If you are a movie buff, a sports fan, or a video gamer, we can help you build the ultimate media room.  Whether you are building a man cave or girl cave, we can help you choose the right gear and tailor it to your specifications.  We can help you find comfy seating, beautifully designed furniture to house all of your equipment safely, and best of all we hide the wires and make it all work the way you want it to.

Lighting Control

Lighting control systems revolutionize your lifestyle in more ways than you can imagine! When you are able to control the lighting in your home, you are able to enhance the security when away, save energy (helps lower your LEED rating), create the perfect ambiance for entertaining and add a level of convenience that you wonder how you ever lived without. Whether you decide to control your entire house, or common areas, the results are amazing. By working with your architect, interior designer, and electrical contractor, we can transform ordinary lighting into an elegant, easy to use system that gives you the freedom to set any mood you desire.

Lighting control gives you the ability to add to the beauty of your home and décor with an infinite variety of customized room and whole-house lighting scenes. One touch can dim lights for a soft romantic dinner while another illuminates the house for a festive party.

Lighting control is beneficial for security reasons as well. When you are away, your lights can tell a different story with lights illuminating on and off at random. Plus, you never walk into a dark house. Walk in, touch a button and illuminate a walk way from your entry point to the kitchen, or illuminate the entire house. Integrate your lighting with your security system and if your alarm is activated by an intruder, your entire house can blink to help authorities find your home quickly and to scare away your unwanted visitor.

Along with touch panels, keypads provide a clean, elegant look by combining the functions of many standard switches and dimmers into a single wall control. They can also be matched to a home's paint colors, wallpaper or décor. Transform the large bank of light switches often found in many areas in a home to the elegant simplicity of a single keypad to reduce wall clutter.

Furry Hippo will work with you to find a customized solution that will integrate seamlessly into your current or future home automation system.

Media Servers

ReQuest MediaPlayer PlusDo your CD’s or DVD’s ever get lost, scratched or end up in the wrong package? We can download all your CD’s and DVD’s onto a hard drive based server with unlimited storage capabilities. Now, your CD’s and DVD’s, along with their cover art and all information can be easily accessed with a touch of a button. When you want to watch a movie at home, you simply press a button on your touch panel and all your DVD’s are seen on your TV screen. You can sort them by name, genre, time, actor, or even view their cover art for a complete experience! Simply select your movie and enjoy! A Kaleidescape solution also allows direct playback of movies! Make a selection, press PLAY, sit back, and enjoy the feature — even for Blu-ray. Movies start instantly, without advertisements, trailers or menus.

Security

A strong security system gives you piece of mind, but being able to check on your home when you are traveling is invaluable. Modern security cameras have very good picture quality, and you can even get models that pan, tilt, and zoom from your fingertips. With the option to record only when movement is detected, you can store hours of footage on a DVR so if there is ever a need to refer to it, you have a long history available on the DVR. You can easily confirm all entry points, and sensors are secure before bedtime by looking at your iPad floor plan. Integrating with your home automation system gives you the ability to monitor and control the system remotely-so if your mother-in-law sets off the alarm you can turn it off for her from the office.

Whole House Audio

Listening to your favorite music has never been easier.  Listen to the sweet sounds of satellite radio, satellite music channels, Pandora or a digital music library anywhere in your home at the touch of a button. We help you choose the system that best fits your listening habits and delivers your favorite music to the rooms you want to hear it in, the poolside, or the backyard.