With the renovation
Smart home features that make daily life easier.
Good technology should make your home simpler to use. During a renovation, we can plan lighting, controls, and safety devices around the way you move through your home.
Light
Lighting for the walk at night.
Motion-activated or scheduled lighting can illuminate the path between a bedroom and a bathroom at night. We can discuss switch locations, low-level lighting, and controls that are easy to reach. A light at the bedside, lights low in the hall, and a light at the bathroom door are the usual places.
The room itself gets layers. A dimmable light for the evening. A task light where your hands are, including under the upper cabinets. A smaller light you can leave on a schedule, so the path is already lit at the hour you usually get up. The switches and the motion sensors are drawn before the ceiling closes.
Voice
Voice controls for the rooms you use.
Convenient voice controls can make everyday tasks easier, from adjusting the lighting to managing the shades or the thermostat. We plan the controls around how you use each room.
In the kitchen the faucet can run by voice or by a sensor, so wet hands stay off the handle. The cooktop can turn itself off if it is left on. Under-cabinet light is on the same system, so the counter is lit without a ceiling full of cans. We place the speaker where you actually stand and sit, and we leave a clear path if you also want a robot vacuum to run.
The door
Entry, alerts, and the people you want inside.
The entry gets a lever, a keypad lock, and a video doorbell. You can open it with a code, from the voice assistant, or from a phone. A family member or a caregiver can have a code of their own, and you can take that code away. No key to hunt for, and no one standing outside because the latch is stiff.
If you cannot hear the bell, the lights can flash when someone is at the door. The same idea covers the smoke alarm and the carbon monoxide alarm: a light you can see, and a notice on a phone. The garage door can close from inside the house, so you are not walking out to check it.
Glass and air
Shades and the thermostat, from the chair.
Motorized shades come down on a schedule, by voice, or from a switch you can reach. Reaching up for a cord is a fall. At Lake Butler the shades are already on the lake glass. The shade comes down. The water stays in view. Afternoon sun stays off the stone.
The thermostat is the same visit. You can set the house from the chair, or from away, so the house is not waiting on a walk down the hall. We put the thermostat where you can read it, and the shade power in while the header is open.
Water and the stove
Water and the kitchen.
Depending on the products you choose, leak detectors, an automatic water shutoff, and appliance safety features may be options. We explain what each device does and what it needs for power and a connection. A sensor under a shower has to go in before that floor closes.
The cooktop is the other fire. If it is left on, it turns off. That is specified with the appliance, while the kitchen is being drawn, along with the voice faucet and the light under the cabinets.
Someone else, if you want them
A notice when the morning does not look like the morning.
A sensor in the bedroom and the kitchen can tell whether the usual movement happened. No camera. If the morning is quiet past the hour you set, the notice goes to the person you name. You can turn it off. We place the sensor and the speaker.
The same speaker makes the call, the reminder, and the lights. It sits where you sleep, where you cook, and where you sit. The wiring for all of this is part of the renovation, on one plan with the shower, the doors, and the lower counters.
Aging in place trends for 2027 · The aging in place bathroom · A ceiling track, when someone has to be lifted
Tell us which tasks you want to make easier.
Monitoring and voice control are optional. Before we recommend a product, we talk through privacy, what needs the internet, what happens if the power drops, and how a family member or caregiver would use it. We can include the pieces you want in the remodeling plan.
Request a Free Site VisitFAQ
Smart home services
- What smart home services do you install?
- Options we can plan with a renovation: lighting along the path at night, voice control, a keypad lock, a video doorbell, shades, a thermostat you can reach, leak detection, and a cooktop that can turn off if it is left on. The equipment is chosen for your house.
- When does it go in?
- While the walls, the ceiling, and the shower floor are already open. After the tile is down, a sensor under the shower means opening the floor again. The switches, the shade power, and the low-voltage for the doorbell are drawn before the ceiling closes.
- Can I run it by voice, and can someone else get in if I need them?
- Yes. A voice assistant in the bedroom, the kitchen, and the living room can take a short command for the lights, the lock, the shades, and the temperature. The lock can also take a code, so a family member or a caregiver can enter without a key. You decide who has that code.
- Can the doorbell and the smoke alarm be seen as well as heard?
- Yes. The doorbell and the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms can flash a light, and they can notify a phone. The video doorbell lets you see who is there before the door opens.