Long Island Home Automation: How to Plan a Smart Home That Simply Works.

What home automation really means

Home automation is not a collection of smart gadgets, each with its own app. It is a single, well-designed system that lets lighting, shades, climate, music, video and security work together. Done well, most of it runs quietly in the background: lights that fade on at sunset, shades that close before the afternoon sun hits the sofa, and a house that sets itself to "Away" when you leave.

The building blocks

• Lighting control. The foundation of most systems, and the part you touch every day. Systems such as Lutron HomeWorks replace rows of switches with a few clearly engraved keypads.
• Motorized shades. Privacy, glare control and energy savings, often scheduled to follow the sun. Lutron Palladiom is our favorite for exposed applications.
• Climate. Thermostats that join lighting scenes and away modes.
• Whole-home audio and video. Music in every room, and televisions that disappear when they are off.
• Security and access. Cameras, door locks and video doorbells, visible from the same app.
• Networking. Enterprise-grade Wi-Fi and wiring that everything else depends on.
• Outdoor living. Landscape lighting and outdoor audio that follow the same schedules as the house.

Choosing a platform

A control platform ties everything together in one app and one remote. The leading options include Savant, known for its polished app experience, and Control4, known for its range of compatible devices and flexible pricing. Lutron HomeWorks handles lighting and shades on its own and integrates with both. We recommend a platform after understanding how you live, not before.

New construction versus an existing home

Building or gut-renovating

This is the ideal time to plan. Low-voltage wiring, speaker locations, shade pockets, structural blocking, equipment closets and network drops all cost far less before the walls close. We work with your architect, builder and electrician from the drawing stage, then pre-wire during rough-in.

Upgrading the home you have

Wireless lighting control, battery-powered shades and modern Wi-Fi mean a great deal can be added to a finished home with little disruption. Many Long Island homes also already have an older Crestron, Control4, Savant or Lutron system. Upgrading or replacing outdated equipment can often reuse existing wiring and bring the home back to a reliable, current system.

The network comes first

Every smart home depends on the network. Streaming, cameras, touch panels and remote access all fail when Wi-Fi does. A professionally designed network with properly placed access points and a well-organized equipment rack is the single biggest factor in whether a system feels reliable. Clean wire management behind the scenes keeps it serviceable for years.

Programming is where the experience lives

Two homes with identical equipment can feel completely different depending on how they are programmed. We tune lighting scenes in person, in the room, at the time of day they will be used, and keep the number of buttons and screens to a minimum. The goal is a system anyone in the family, and any guest, can use without instructions.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Buying devices before choosing a platform. Products that don't integrate end up living in separate apps.
• Too many buttons. A keypad with twelve unlabeled buttons is harder to use than the switches it replaced.
• Skipping the network. Consumer routers struggle in large homes, and every other system suffers for it.
• Planning too late. Wiring and shade pockets added after drywall cost more and look worse.
• No plan for support. Ask who will maintain the system, update it and answer the phone when something needs attention.

Long Island considerations

• Second homes. Owners of East End and Hamptons homes value remote monitoring, so they can check temperature, cameras and leaks from anywhere.
• Storms and outages. Systems should come back on their own after a power interruption, and important equipment benefits from battery backup.
• Waterfront homes. Outdoor equipment near salt water needs marine-grade materials.

How we work

Aurora Automated Technologies is based in Westbury, NY, and designs, installs, programs and supports home automation across Nassau and Suffolk counties, from Garden City and Manhasset to Huntington, Smithtown and the Hamptons, as well as New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut. Every project starts with a conversation about how you live.

Frequently asked questions