How Smart Is Your House?

Added July 2, 2002 by WGN-TV Show Notes

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Summary: Today's technology can make your house seem like the Jetsons -- for a price.

How smart is your house? Today's technology can make your house seem like the Jetsons -- for a price.

"This allows us to have the flexibility for pretty much all of us to listen to what we want to...," says homeowner Laurie Pepper.

Jazz in the living room. Rock in the kitchen. Surround sound in the movie room downstairs. Today's technology has gotten so advanced, that feeding your individual musical taste doesn't even scratch the surface. If you so desire, and have the cash to back it up, you can wire your house so that the temperature, lights and bathtub are ready the moment you walk in the door.

"Lighting, whole house audi, HVAC, whole house video or centralized video, computer networking, and that just about does it, security," says Jim Wilson, All Smart Solutions.

All of which can be controlled from anyplace in the world. Though most of the time, you'll use it when you're home.

"If I wanna page my daughter for example, I can go on the intercom, buzz her room, and it goes directly into her speaker phone and I ask if she's there. She doesn't have to move from where she is, she can just respond," says Laurie.

So, no more yelling. But this kind of heavy-duty wiring requires planning. Preferably before the walls go up.

"While you're framing you need to get in cabling just like you need to get in rough plumbing or rough electrical," Wilson says.

While installing the wiring isn't that expensive --

"The rough guideline is a dollar a square foot," Wilson says.

Designing a system that works for every member of the family starts at $10,000 and could run as high as several hundred thousand dollars. If you're looking to add some technology to your new house, make sure you shop around and compare the cost of installing a system on an apples to apples basis. Make the salesperson explain what you are getting for your money. And, get your quote in writing.

After the system is installed, be prepared to take the time to learn it.

"I find that the women of the house pick up the technology faster than the men do," Wilson says.

But once everyone learns the system, it's time to kick back and enjoy.

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