Today's home amenities aren't limited by walls. Builders can provide consumers with the latest technologies outdoors.
Numbers don't lie. Thanks in large part to advances in residential homebuilding technologies, homebuyers more than ever desire the benefits of owning the latest amenities inside and outside of the home.
Confirming the public's affinity for features is the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) latest study that finds if homeowners are given the choice between a larger house and lifestyle features, homeowners overwhelmingly opt for features. The NAHB's data was cultivated from a survey in which it polled homeowners on their preferences toward lifestyle considerations. Jerry Howard, executive vice president and CEO of the NAHB, says that based on the results of the study, homeowners are willing to sacrifice living space for specific lifestyle considerations.
"One particular consumer trend stands out: While homes do not appear to be getting bigger, they are definitely getting better," says Howard. "There is a marked increase in quality with updated features and amenities." Among the most desired technologies, according to the study, include large media and home office rooms and home-security systems that extend to cover an entire piece of property.
The good news for new homebuilders is that there's much more technology available to entice homebuyers to purchase a home besides multipurpose media rooms and outdoor security. These amenities include both indoor and outdoor technologies, which allow homeowners the freedom to involve themselves in a variety of activities from watching high-definition television (HDTV) in the living room, to drinking an iced beverage poolside while listening to Jimmy Buffett.
To help builders learn about some of the latest technologies available TecHome Builder is profiling a few of the outdoor technology categories that enhance a homeowner's lifestyle beyond the restrictions of their home's four walls.
Outdoor Lighting Control
Today it's easy for a homeowner to control his energy consumption, while providing additional fun, safety and security for a home through the use of outdoor lighting. Outdoor lighting can be controlled as simply as flicking a light switch or through a state-of-the-art control system. Many outdoor lighting systems are used in conjunction with a security system to act as a deterrent so that when a security alarm or sensor is tripped, a home's lights are activated. It can also save a homeowner the trouble of fumbling around for the lights while holding grocery bags, and it can allow the kids to enjoy an evening swim during a hot night. Lighting systems are available in hardwired and wireless versions, and they can be tied into a complete home-control system to provide a complete home-control solution.
Weather Stations
If there's one profession that's easy to second guess it's the field of meteorology. How many times has someone heard a weatherman say it's going to be nice and sunny only for the weather to act completely opposite of the forecast and rain for the entire day? Homeowners who own personal weather stations can avoid this problem by receiving real-time weather updates to allow them to tailor their daily activities based on the data generated by the weather stations.
According to John Johnston, product manager for WeatherHawk, homeowners shouldn't underestimate what a weather station can do for them. "Some people think that they can get their weather by going to the Internet and checking a site [such as www.weather.com or www.accuweather.com]. Those services are drawing their data from the National Weather Service and the actual weather measurement may be many miles from a given home," he says. "The free weather services 'derive' the weather in the regions around the reference weather station using mathematical processes that approximate the micro-climate variables and then 'create' a weather report. It's a coarse representation of the conditions, and it is adequate for people planning a trip, but it isn't what homeowners need to manage their homes in response to their environment."
Besides providing information for planning trips, weather stations allow homeowners to prepare for bad weather and outdoor activities such as sporting events and family cookouts, and they can be used to automate other home technologies, including irrigation systems. Johnston says that cost of a weather station is relative to the cost of a house, ranging from $350 to $2,300 depending on the sophistication that's required of the product.
Automated Pool and Spa Accessories
Another energy conscious way to add a fun and attractive amenity to a home is by offering a swimming pool or spa with automated control options. Homeowners who wish to own a pool and automate its functions have a variety of technologies to choose from, including pump timers, heaters and thermostats. Many of the same products are also available for spa control. These controls can be tied into a master control system or controlled individually by using a keypad or touchpanel screen. These devices can be set up in a host of ways to accommodate user requirements. When pool and spa controls are used in tandem with one another a homeowner can double the fun and benefits that a nice swim in warm pool water can provide and the relaxing feeling that comes with a spa session. "The Air Energy line of heat pumps is now matched to the rest of Jandy's complete line of pool equipment providing the best performance and reliability a pool system can provide," says Pete Owenson, product manager for Jandy, a manufacturer of pool and spa products.
Sprinkler Controls
If there's one thing that upsets environmentalists it's the sight of a home's sprinkler system watering the lawn after a rainstorm. From the homeowner's perspective this scenario also happens to be costly because it's an unnecessary waste of electricity and water, which after a while can add up. There are several solutions on the market, however, that allow a homeowner to regulate their sprinkler systems through the use of automation. This automation can be based upon a set schedule of day and time, or it can be based on the information provided by a weather station. A basic sprinkler control can be set up through the use of simple timers; more complex devices can be controlled from the Internet or through computer software, which can control a sprinkler in real time based on current weather conditions that are monitored by residential weather stations. According to manufacturers such as Irrisoft these technologies can be applied to just about any sprinkler system to help homeowners achieve their water management goals.
Once a lawn is watered these sprinkler controls can also notify the homeowner that her property has been watered through email or text messaging, which saves the user the trouble of having to verify that her lawn has been watered.
Outdoor Loudspeakers
Among the fastest growing residential technologies currently on the market, multiroom audio is arguably the most fun for homeowners to show off. Multiroom audio delivers music to a minimum of two rooms and can often be set up to deliver music to four or more rooms or "zones," including a homeowner's backyard in many cases. To further enhance the outdoor-music experience loudspeaker manufacturers are producing a variety of products to fit just about every need for a consumer with product types such as rock speakers, planter speakers and weatherproof speakers that can be concealed out of sight. Over the past few years, not only have manufacturers developed weatherproof materials that blend into an outdoor environment better than past technologies, but they've also developed more diverse, better sounding products that are capable of reproducing a broader spectrum of sounds.
As the category has grown in popularity, manufacturers have also expanded their product lines to provide consumers with a wider choice of price points. The wider accessibility of products for consumers of all financial backgrounds allows electronics installers to design systems that include basic technologies like AM/FM tuners to state-of-the-art audio hard drive products such as Apple Computer's iPod digital music player, which can store thousands of songs in a component that fits in the palm of your hand.
Outdoor Security/ Intercom Systems
Even though amenities like outdoor audio receive more fanfare, outdoor security is just as valued by many consumers. Driving much of today's innovation are wireless communication protocols that provide homeowners with the ability to outfit their homes with motion sensors, security cameras and intercom systems that enable users to see and hear what's happening on their property in real time from a secure location. These outdoor security technologies can be purchased on a consumer level from national warehouse chains, or homeowners can purchase directly from the security industry, which offers more expensive, but better performing professional-grade products and services from authorized dealers and installers. These sensors, cameras and intercom systems can be positioned nearly anywhere on a piece of property to provide instant feedback via the Internet or closed-circuit video images and voice communication to alert homeowners when a guest or intruder is on their property.
If a consumer is willing to step up into a professionally installed system many integrators offer the option of professional monitoring services that work in conjunction with a home's security system to automatically signal the police and the homeowner of an unauthorized event that's taking place on his property. These monitoring services are made available for a monthly fee that adds a nominal cost onto the bottom line, but they can provide a homeowner with the additional peace of mind that only a complete home-security system can give.