STOP THIS CRAZY THING!

I am finally breaking ground on my new home next week. Those of you who have built a house before know that “next week” means “next month” in construction time but we have our fingers crossed for next week. I want to share with both my readers some of the new technology I’ll be implementing.

I will be utilizing new construction techniques will ensure a very efficient home that will be very inexpensive to heat and cool. I’ll be installing a high efficiency air conditioning system and hot water heater that will come with a thermostat that can be controlled via my smartphone. If I forget to turn off my air when I go to Gulf Shores, I can turn it off while I’m on the beach. When I’m on my way home, I can the AC and hot water on so my house will be ready for me when I arrive.

I’ll have a front door and garage door that can be unlocked by smartphone. I don’t know what purpose this will serve but isn’t that just cool as all getout? I’ll have wireless security cameras throughout the exterior of my home that I can monitor from my phone. The cameras will send me a text every time they “see” something move when I’m not home. I shall be inundated with pictures of deer eating my flowers 24/7.

After years of fits and starts, home automation is now maturing. Stoves and ovens can be programmed by smartphones to cook a perfect meal. Refrigerators will text you when you’re out of milk or eggs. Doors will tell you when they are unlocked. One very cool website, IFTTT.com, connects these things and make them work for you. IFTTT stands for “If This Then That.” With IFTTT, I can program my smartphone to turn on my thermostat when I leave the office so I’ll be comfy when I walk in my door. I can also tell it to “turn on my coffee pot” when I hit the “snooze” button on a internet-connected alarm clock. 

I’ll be installing internet connected LED lighting throughout my house. There will be exterior lighting for my landscape that I can control with my smartphone or tablet. I can change the brightness and even the color from afar. Again, I don’t know why I’d need to do that but ain’t that cool?

UPS just delivered my Sonos™ wireless speakers! Sonos provides wireless speakers that allow you to play music throughout your home. With Sonos, I can use my tablet or smartphone to tell my kitchen to play me some upbeat cookin’ music while my wife enjoys her relaxing New Age stuff while soaking in the bathtub (Why yes she is spoiled, thank you). It plays music from all the popular online music sources as well as integrates with your existing home stereo so you can play your own private stash.

I’ll be sharing more cool technology as we progress so stay tuned!