Installing your first home automation system can be an exciting and, at times, overwhelming, experience. With the dazzling array of options and capabilities, many you may not have considered until your perspective dealer shows them to you. In the part 1 and part 2 of this series we have gone over the tasks to determine what your needs are –(make like Santa, make a list and check it twice)- and what considerations your installer needs –(make like Holmes on Homes) to review before beginning. The process was a bit of work but now that the essential framework is in place, we can get to the fun part – interfaces!
Touchscreen vs keypad?
Touch screen or keypad? On first consideration, this seems like a simple question, yet which do you really need? Touch panels are sexy, cool and just a lot of fun to play with. Who does not like looking at 
all those colorful and attractive on screen buttons that change color and flip pages when you touch them? More online games are based on just this premise of interactive graphics than all the first person shooters combined. Still, do you need a touch screen or will a keypad in all its utilitarian glory be the best option?
To decide this we need to go back to being Santa again and make lists. (Well, choosing an interface is a lot like looking through the Sears’s Wish book, no?) First question to ask, what does this interface need to do? When entering a room, do you need to turn on one set of lights, many or do you want the option to do both? If you are going to have a distributed music system in the home, do you simply want the option to control volume and source selection in each room or will you need the ability to select stations?
Once you walk through your house and list what needs to be controlled from each room, look at your
list, and ask: How many keypads will it take per room to accomplish this? Will it take one or two keypads or is it more like four or five? Given the choice, very few folks will opt for a line of keypads running across their wall. As the number of keypad units exceeds your threshold of aesthetics over function you will want to consider a touch panel in those rooms.
Does Size Matter?
Now that we know what type of control interface you want or desire in each room of the house, the next decision is just what type of keypad or touch screen.
Keypads come in a variety of sizes (number of buttons) styles and, of course, colors. Typically, keypads are offered with button counts from 1 to 12. Anything larger is considered a control console and not generally thought of as pleasing to use in the home. (Unless you are looking to re-create Rock Hudson’s lovers den from the movie Party Line, which would be very retro cool).
While keypads can be enticing with their shiny buttons, led indicators, and backlit engravings, touch panels are in another league all together. There is a reason most control system catalogs have these screen at the very beginning. Sexy sells. You know that you want (or need) a touch panel but before you become completely lost in the hypnotic allure of the sleek on screen buttons, faders and surfaces that fly in and out as you need, let chat about some specifics.
Does size matter or is function just as satisfying? Touch screens come in an almost infinite variety of sizes, features and sources. Based on the assessment you and your dealer have made, you can determine which is best suited to the function and look you desire. For example, Crestron makes touch screen in sizes ranging from 4” to massive 24” units and include features from side buttons to full 1080p HD video capabilities. Which unit is installed will be determined by what you need it to do and where it is placed. While our 24” unit is an amazing control surface to behold and use, you probably would not want to use this in your mudroom or at the front entrance. A more suitable unit would be the 4” screen with 8 hard buttons. Why hard buttons on a touch screen? Hard buttons allow for quick no fuss, no muss control of functions that would be time consuming and, frankly more annoying, to work from pages of a screen. Think of the times you come home in the evening, as you walk in the door a single touch of the hard button turns on the foyer lights and brings up the touch screen alarm keypad, two essential functions handled in different ways and in order of necessity.
Wired vs Wireless
The choice of whether to install a wired unit, wireless or a hybrid system is not as simple as the question of whether to poke or not poke holes in walls.
Wired system are secure and reliable. Unless a major event, like someone cutting the cable in the wall, wired connections are assured to work for years without any maintenance. Such systems are not easy to move from one location to another, as the new spot would require new cable runs and the labor to make it happen
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Wireless is convenient and easily moved from one location to another and the ‘look ma, no wires’ aspect is pretty neat. Some Consideration and preliminary work is required . but the benefits of going wireles usally outweigh any concerns.
User Interface
The Graphical User Interface or GUI –(pronounced gooey)- is where the real appeal is and it is the single element which can make even the perfect system seem unusable. What form the GUI takes depends on the interface size, capabilities such as flash and video, number of functions and personal, end user, preference.
For any size or type of touch panel the one overriding feature to keep in mind is – Simplicity. The simpler an interface is the more likely it will be intuitive, to a point. The balance between too much, not enough and just right is where your dealer’s advice is of penultimate importance. We say penultimate rather than the ultimate because in the end it is your preference and comfort that matters most, you need to be in sync with the way your interface operates.
As, in the end, it is your preference that matters most when using a control GUI be sure to request an example demo. More importantly make sure to set aside time to work though the demo on your own, with the dealer AND have your family members use it and comment. Once you have had a conversation with your dealer about your likes and dislike, you can feel comfortable that the learning curve for any family member or guest is minimal.
It is getting exciting; we are now almost ready to get the install started. Next, in part 4 we will tie up the loose ends.
Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 1:47 PM 
practical advise and the processes behind the creation of home theaters and the content. (Past guests have included Theo Kalomirakis (father of home theater), Don Stewart (founder of Stewart Filmscreen) and Dan D'Agostino (founder of Krell). 
