The Official Smarthome Blog – All Things Home Automation

Melding luxury and technology with an environmental-friendly design, the 2007 New Southern Home – a showcase house at the 29th annual Southeast Building Conference (SEBC) – uses INSTEON switches, keypads, and dimmers to control all the lights in the 10,200 square-foot home. Focusing on incorporating “green” technology into the home, the builder, the James M. Krantz Construction Corporation, chose INSTEON for its ability to reduce energy costs as well as for its affordability and ease of installation and use.

The Home

Located in Orlando, Florida, the 2007 New Southern Home boasts two stories and the latest and most innovative products available in the marketplace. In addition to its 6 bedrooms and 7 full bathrooms, the “southern cottage” styled home features a media room, a recreation room, multiple garages and more. The mission of the 2007 New Southern Home, the 19th built for the SEBC, is two-fold: to celebrate innovative and creative architecture, building and interior design, and to educate the homebuilding industry and consumers.

Energy Savings
With energy costs for lighting alone accounting for more than 20 percent of a typical home’s electricity costs, the INSTEON lighting-control system was chosen for its ability to keep electricity costs down. Using INSTEON switches, keypads, and dimmers, the home’s lighting system remotely turns lights on and off and reduces intensity so lights will never use more power than they need in order to reduce energy costs.

“We looked at the other lighting systems on the market and, after talking with our electrician, chose INSTEON because of its lower cost and easy set-up,”
- Roland Krantz, Vice President, Krantz Construction.

Convenience
The 2007 New Southern Home has 56 INSTEON keypads and 200 INSTEON light switches to manage lighting throughout the home’s living spaces, inside and out. In addition to energy savings, INSTEON technology also adds convenience to the home.

The 2007 New Southern Home will be open for tours the first Sunday of every month from September through December of 2008 from 10am to 5pm.
The New Southern Home is located at: 3880 Anderson Road • Orlando, Florida 32812 For more information, please visit the New Southern Home Website.

This premium-grade RCA compression connector is suitable for audio-video home entertainment applications using standard or tri-shield coaxial cable. The RCA RG59 Permaseal-I Compression Connector features 360-degree true radial compression. Made from precision-machined annealed brass with anti-corrosion nickel-plated finish, these compression connectors offer ¼”-¼” cable preparation for quick and easy installation. Additionally, there are six interchangeable color bands included for color-coded identification.

The RCA RG59 Permaseal-I Compression Connector is also available in a 25 pack, sold separately.

• Commercial Grade RCA Compression Connector
• Color bands included for easy identification of connector
• Quick, easy installation
• Price: $2.49

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The Sony Ericsson K850i is the latest flagship product in the Sony Ericsson K (“Kamera”) series. This unlocked GSM cell phone comes in black with silver trim for a professional look. More than just a basic low-resolution camera you get with other mobile phones, the K850i comes complete with a built in 5 mega-pixel camera sensor with Cyber-Shot lens and a xenon flash. The built in Tri-Band 3G antenna provides broadband connectivity speeds anywhere in the world on compatible GSM systems. Built-in Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP means you can listen to music and answer calls completely wirelessly. Three touch-sensitive soft keys located directly under the display makes navigation and phone usage very user friendly. The Lithium polymer battery provides up an incredible 9 hours of talk time and 350 hours of standby time on standard GSM networks. Other user friendly features include an internal antenna, a built in speakerphone, and support for both traditional Sony Memory Stick Micro cards and MicroSD cards for memory expansion and easy file transfer. The 2.2″ color display is QVGA quality TFT LCD with the ability to display up to 262,144 colors. Video phone calls can be made from the K850 thanks to its high speed connectivity and 5 mega-pixel camera.

• 3G mobile technology makes the phone operational from any location on earth
• Full-featured five megapixel Cyber-shot digital camera for capturing high quality images
• Broadband capable for surfing the internet or sending and receiving email
• 2.2″ crystal bright display screen
• Media browser for managing music, photos, videos and podcasts
• Price: $499.99

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Bridging the gap between home automation and audio video components usually requires the purchase and advanced installation of expensive control system hardware and controllers. The EZUIRT Universal IR/INSTEON Transceiver # 5010H by SimpleHomeNet is an affordable plug-in solution that will allow communication between devices on an INSTEON and/or X10 network with audio video components. The EZUIRT recognizes the codes sent out via IR remote control and translates them into INSTEON and/or X10 commands. This allows you to control INSTEON-compatible devices (lighting, fans, appliances and HVAC) or scenes with the same remote used for your entertainment equipment (Television, CD player, DVD player and stereo). EZUIRT is also an IR sender, which will convert INSTEON and/or X10 commands to IR codes that your A/V equipment can readily understand. With the press of a single button from your INSTEON-compatible device, you can create a scene that will turn on your air conditioner, cable/satellite receiver, television, stereo, fireplace, and dim the lights.

• Allows an IR remote to control INSTEON and X10 devices
• Use an INSTEON command to control an IR device
• Functions as an IR distribution hub
• LED indicator for code confirmation
• Easy installation
• Price: $109.00

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Candles are beautiful, but a live flame is dangerous and burns down quickly. Using the 3″ x 6″ electric LED candle included in this kit, you can still have all the beauty of a live-flame candle with none of the danger as it is safe around children, pets, drapes and furniture. Additionally, the LED candle is rated at 100,000 hours of use, so it will last you a lifetime. Simply plug the LED candle into the INSTEON appliance module and, link the appliance module to the INSTEON controller. Now you can set the ambiance for any room by remotely turning your LED candle on or off from anywhere in the house.

• Comes with everything you need to remotely control a 3″ x 6″ electric LED candle
• LED candle with realistic flickering “flame” and appearance of “dripping beeswax”
• Install and set up in less than 5 minutes
• Save $$ by purchasing these products as a kit
• Price: $69.99

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