myhome – your guide to home control
Here you’ll read a guide to home control. There are many choices and with changing technologies it is often difficult to decide what you need. We’ll break it down into categories which may help you pin down your priorities and focus on what will be right for you.
We understand
We’ve just built our own house so you can believe us when we say we know what it’s like and if you deal with us we’ll do our best to make your life easy. You can be sure of our experience in this arena. Our first multi–room system done in 1992 is still going well and continues to provide the owners with their home entertainment goals. Totally Wired is Dunedin based, although we have clients world-wide and whole house systems through out the country. If in our local area you are most welcome to contact us (phone 03 479-0444 or email), to arrange a time to meet.
At Totally Wired our aim with home systems is to keep it as simple as possible by focusing on what you want. We also have a strong belief in the quality of sound and picture achieved – because you should enjoy your home. Hence your system should be easy to use, have suitable styling and be excellent in sound and picture.
What do you want to do?
This is where you focus on your desires. Consider the following. Is having music in your life important to you? How, where and when do you like to listen to music? Are you a keen radio listener? Is TV just a small part of your life, if at all, or do you you really enjoy quality programs, movies, sport? Do you plan to allocate a room for a home cinema? What are the requirements of your family members? Would you like to control the atmosphere of your whole home, or certain rooms with lighting? Will the home have a lot of modern technology, such as heating systems and security, that you would like to be able to control from a single source. Or even when away from home? Do you spend a lot of time with computers and enjoy learning new technologies? Or do you desire a life less complicated?
Music distribution
Good music is the most beneficial thing you can have at home. Start with the best music system you can afford in the room where you’ll enjoy it most. Then think about other rooms and outdoor areas where you would like to listen. Opera while cooking pasta in the kitchen, quiet music while lying in the bath...Your music system is something you will really enjoy for many years. With 20 years experience we know music systems and have a range of the very best at different levels that will meet your aspirations.
Playlists. If you are a fan of ‘playlists’ your computer, or iPod can be accessed and distributed around the house. In this case, you may like to consider a Control 4 system for maximum flexibility or Sonos for a more simple system. Ask John about the best way to incorporate your playlists into your music system.
Get your CDs loaded onto your iPod. We provide you with spindles to put your CDs onto, which go to a special media centre who will download your music for you. This costs around NZ$ 1.50 per CD (depending on how many), and saves you a lot of time. You can save further time by simply providing the CDs in their cases which costs a little more. There is also a storage service available so all is not lost should something happen to your iPod.
Speakers. It is nice to be uninhibited in your choice of main speakers and usually the main system is chosen to meet aspirations of sound quality and design. Investigate Image, Sonus faber, Quad, and Meridian. But if discrete is required, and often in secondary rooms space saving necessary, we have in–built and on–wall speakers to suit all requirements. We discuss with you your priorities in sound quality and budget – which may differ from room to room. Practicalities of placement and looks are considered. Then our recommendations can be made. See SpeakerCraft, Monitor Audio CI and Triad for in–built speakers and Monitor Audio Radius and the Wall Domus by Sonus faber for on–wall speakers. Plus we have outdoor speakers.
Speaker Switching and Volume Control. This is the most simple form of music distribution. Your speaker switch sits with your main system and all speaker cables connect to it. You can switch whichever speakers on or off you like. There are versions that include individual volume knobs or you can take your speaker cable via a volume control on the wall of each room. Speaker switches start at NZ$ 159.
Lighting
Well designed lighting adds so much to the feel of a home. It is a simple, yet often an under estimated way of controlling the ambience of a room, albeit a whole house. Lutron are the market leaders in lighting control and dimming systems. At Totally Wired Sharon can help you make the most of your lighting plan. If controlling light, both natural and artificial, is your priority a Lutron HomeWorks system with a central processor can be programmed to give you absolute control over lights and shades. HomeWorks is suited to up–market homes. A Lutron Grafik Eye is an affordable high quality dimming controller ideal for open plan living areas or special rooms. Control 4 can also be programmed to operate lighting scenes, whole house lights and any other electronics.
Pre–Wire
Whether building or renovating it pays to get wires in. In many ways the pre–wire is determined by the final system choices so it is easier to work backwards if you can. But if not, start by getting a network of data (Cat 5) cable around the house. This will essentially future proof it and give you options. When faced with the choice of ethernet or wireless, ethernet is faster and more reliable. Speaker cable needs to be run from where ever you may want speakers back to a central hub where the electronics will be housed, or to hidden areas in cupboards where you can hook into your network (data) system. Professional advice is certainly worth seeking.
In Dunedin, we recommend Peter Abey of ‘BeWired’ to take care of your cable installation. Peter is a registered electrician and experienced in network systems.
DIY
We have audio in-wall speaker cable on rolls which is fire rated for your safety. You simply purchase a roll and we credit back what’s left, if any, on the roll upon return to us. We can advise on the level of quality you need. This may cost between NZ$ 3.50 and NZ$ 10 per meter.
If your requirements for speakers are straightforward feel free to email telling us what you want your speakers to do and what your budget is. We can provide you with the right speakers to suit your needs.
Home Cinema
In most situations the home cinema is set up as an independent system. For some, if there is any automation in the home this is where it is. For instance linking the dimming of lights with the DVD player coming on. An intelligent lighting control and learning remote control such as that which comes with the Rotel surround sound pre–amplifiers may be all you need. Control 4 offers a more advanced yet cost effective way of automating home theatres.
Keep in mind if wiring for speakers most home theaters are ‘5.1’. That is two front speakers, a center speaker, two rear speakers and a subwoofer.
Going Wireless or Retro–fitting
With good wiring in place your choices remain open but even without there are still options. For instance normal light switches can be replaced with dimmers or a bank of rotary dimmers can be replaced with a Lutron Grafik Eye to give you lighting control in a particular room.
Control 4 has wireless switches, dimmers and LCD touch screens using the ‘ ZigBee’ mesh network – a global communications system. These switches communicate with a central controller which can programmed with lighting scenes and accessed from other rooms.
Sonos can distribute music around your home wirelessly. You just need a wireless modem. The Sonos system can work with existing audio systems and speakers.
The Tivoli NetWorks global radio is an inspiring way of distributing music and radio around the home. NetWorks connects to your home network system either by ethernet or wirelessly. Plug in a USB stick with your playlist and NetWorks number one can stream music around the house to other NetWorks radios. Providing you with a modern, flexible and stylish way of distributing sound.
Having wireless facilities requires a wireless network system which more and more homes now have. Or we can install one for you.
Home Automation
The intelligent home is what you choose it to be. As well as adding to your life style, well designed home technology makes for efficient living – saving power and time plus giving you greater security and comfort. You may wish to automate a few tasks or you may opt for full home control. Control 4 is your key to this as it’s open ended programming is personalised to your requirements. Most controllable electronics can be part of your home automation system. In simple terms why have many remote controls when one controller can do all? Whole house control can be great. In summer your sprinklers come on in the evening; in the winter your chosen house lights are on when you get home; you can turn all the house lights on or off from your bedside; you can check in via the internet from holiday if you left the heating on – and turn it off. The list goes. Our advice; wire for all possibilities but start simple and add as you get comfortable with the operation. With Control4 home automation is more affordable than it used to be. You have some hardware costs which are set. For example a Control4 HC300 central controller is NZ$ 2,299 a touchscreen keypad NZ$ 1,699 and a light dimmer with ZigBee communication NZ$ 299. A network system in the home is required. Then programming time is hourly so you can be in charge of the level of your system’s capabilities and your budget.
The Terrace Houses
217 Stuart Street
Dunedin 9016
New Zealand
NZ Toll Free
Phone
Cell Phone
Mail
0800 909 101
(+64) 03 4790 444
(+64) 021 963 321
myhome@totallywired.co.nz
Direct Contact
John Ransley and Sharon Guytonbeck are the principals behind Totally Wired. It’s our own business and we take pride in building something worthwhile.
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