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Home Controls is pleased to announce a new partnership with Klarna, a buy now, pay later service that gives our customers a better shopping experience by giving customers more time to pay for their orders. Now at checkout, there are additional payment options provided by Klarna that offer greater flexibility for making purchases. Klarna makes shopping for home automation and security devices smarter, not harder.

Home automation can be an expensive investment to venture into depending on the scale and features of your desired smart home. While converting light switches or daily used appliances into smart devices can be achieved with a single purchase of less than $100 dollars, automating window or drapery opening systems can cost upwards of $1000 dollars for both the necessary devices and installation. This disparity in affordable smart home devices creates gaps in smart home systems, which can prevent users from increasing their quality of life or improving accessibility within their home. Drapery and window opening systems are a prime example of prohibitive costs of entry, until the RYSE SmartShade.

Home Controls now carries the OEM Systems Mainstation, an all-in-one touchscreen home audio receiver and entertainment controller.

Staying online and connected is the new normal in modern society, whether staying up to date through social media or when checking in on your front door or pets via a live video feed streaming to your smartphone. Smart home and smart security devices also benefit from remote monitoring and configuration through wired or wireless connections to your Internet network. But not every electronic device in your home is capable of connecting to the Internet.

Home Controls now carries a new name in the wireless audio streaming industry: Juke Audio.

Communication is important, especially so when it comes to assembling a smart home or smart security network. You need your devices to be able to communicate with each other, and so this blog is here to help you understand the different types of communication methods used throughout the automation and security industry.

Feeling safe with the assurance that our personal belongings are secure in our homes may be something we rarely think about. When we leave our homes, we tend to focus only on locking the front door, while forgetting at times that windows are left open, garage and back doors are left unlocked, and the trees and bushes along the house have not been trimmed, leaving plenty of places for burglars to hide. Why do we do such things?

Your home is your sanctuary and you should feel safe in it, but after the sun goes down there are opportunities for burglars or unwanted intruders to hide in the dark areas of your property, leaving your home at risk for a potential break-in. One way to help keep that from happening is to add motion detector lights to your property because it’s a great way to enhance your home security all while improving your home automation.

Using a Z-Wave controller is a great way to automate many of the functions in your home. It is also among the most popular. There are many devices from multiple manufacturers available that allow you to control lighting, temperature, security, IP cameras, door locks and notifications.

There’s never been a better time to upgrade your home into a smart home. But what smart device should I get first? We've assembled a few Wi-Fi devices to help you choose.

Compatibility between devices is a top priority to consider when creating a home automation or security system. Many manufacturers either focus on centering all of their devices onto a single communication protocol, while others make sure that their system hubs and controllers can command devices that use various different frequencies. Ecolink takes a different approach by creating multiple versions of a single device that each utilize different communication protocols, ensuring that their products can fill in the gaps of any growing smart home or smart security system.

Wireless audio streaming has become a common feature in our everyday lives whether we are at home, in our cars, or at a friend or family’s home. But even though we have become accustomed to using this technology, there are still hiccups and annoyances encountered almost every time we wish to use it. Every time you wish to stream content you need to open multiple apps or menus to secure the connection, pick what you want streamed, and select where you want it streamed to. This is especially true for smart devices when you wish to switch from Spotify to Youtube or Apple Music and you have to restart the whole process over despite your smart device already being connected to an audio output.

Home Controls now carries Overture by Broan-Nutone, the first fully integrated and connected smart Indoor Air Quality System.

For the first time in her life, my mother saw how a central vacuum system works and I’ve never seen her so amazed by technology. I recently took her to see my cousin’s new house, which happens to be a smart home that has all the bells and whistles. It has an Alexa dot in practically everyone room, automatic lighting control throughout the house, a top of the line security system, and an awesome central vacuum system.

Let’s be honest here: buying home automation products as holiday gifts is not the first idea most people have. Buying practical gifts for a friend or family member is always a gamble. You would have to know someone well – I mean, really well – to be able to buy them a smart device that can simplify their daily life that they will even use, such as a smart plug that adds remote control to plugged in lights or appliances, or a monitor to help them remember to close their garage door. Yes, finding stocking stuffers for these elaborate automation systems can be a challenge.

Kwikset’s newest iteration of their Home Connect smart locks are now available at Home Controls.

Have your bills been taking bites out of your holiday savings? Did you know that with some practical holiday gifts you can save money this year and all the years that follow? Home Controls offers several energy-saving products that will not only fit into your holiday shopping budget, but also save you money for years to come!

UPDATE: INSTEON (Smartlabs) shut down their servers on April 16th, 2022, effectively discontinuing the use of the INSTEON protocol and nearly all of their devices.