Reduce and Monitor Your Energy Usage with Energy Management and Home Automation

We’re fortunate to live on a beautiful island and in a state that has been a leader in conservation and environmental protection for decades. In 2015, Hawaii became the first state in the U.S. to ban plastic bags. In 2018 and 2021, they banned the sale of sunscreens that contain petrochemicals believed to harm coral reefs. They also committed to being carbon neutral by 2045.  

In Kauai, HI, we consider it important to do our part in creating a sustainable environment. In fact, Kauai quit using oil to produce most of its electricity years ago. Today, about 70% of Kauai’s electricity grid is powered by renewables. At Pacific Audio & Communications, we also believe strongly in reducing carbon emissions and helping our clients live a more sustainable life while untethering from the electric grid. 

As an energy management consultant, we empower our clients to take control of their energy consumption, reducing their reliance on the power grid by using load shedding, renewable energy, and smart technology. Let’s see how it’s done.

Why property owners in Hawaii are loving smart home installation from Pacific Audio & Communications

Homeowners and property owners all over Honolulu, HI, are discovering the luxury and convenience that smart home installation brings. It makes sense: after all, we use smartphones, smart cars, and smartwatches -- of course, our homes would be next!

If you own a home, are planning to build, or you’re a property manager, read on to learn why you should incorporate smart home technology from Pacific Audio & Communications, Inc. into your home.

Why You Should Start Planning in Advance for Smart Home Integration for Your New Home or Renovation

Millions of homeowners around the world are integrating smart home technologies into their living spaces. Even though we have been using smart tech for years, such as smartphones, smart cars, and smartwatches, the desire to have them in our homes has erupted over the last year or so. According to Statista, smart home installation revenues with the United States are expected to reach $182 million by 2025.

Whether you’re renovating or building a new home in Big Island, HI, you are in the ideal place to incorporate integrated technologies as the walls go up. Add smart lights, a whole-home sound system, motorized shades, and any number of devices – all automated through a robust smart home system. Want to learn more? Keep reading our blog for more details.

 

CUSTOMIZED WINDOW TREATMENTS ALLOW YOU TO CONNECT WITH THE OUTDOORS WHILE REDUCING THE STRESS ON YOUR HVAC SYSTEM

Without furnishing or decor, a room feels cold and uninviting. Shades, sheers and blinds provide just the right touch, finishing a room - conveying style, ambiance, and even a sense of elegance.

Custom window treatments are more than fashion; when integrated into a smart home, they have functional benefits. Shades are fantastic for new construction or renovating an older home; they help keep the house comfortable with less energy and add a sense of privacy.

Are you looking for savings and sophistication savings for your Hawaii residence? Read below to find out more.

 

SONNEN’S ECO-FRIENDLY SOLAR, STORAGE, AND MONITORING PROVIDE COMFORT AND SECURITY

The security and reliability of local infrastructures continue to be a growing concern. The critical issues range from an overextended power grid, weather and natural disturbances associated with climate change. More recently, several national systems suffered reduced output due to breaches by hackers into the operations management.

While the Hawaii energy office continues its goal to modernize the grid by 2045, we still pay more than double for electricity than the rest of the US. You need energy independence that goes beyond diesel backup generators. The bounty of the sun in our state provides more clean, renewable power than you could hope to use in your smart home.

Working with our energy management consultant team can save you money and give you the peace of mind a sonnen solar and storage unit furnishes. Are you intrigued by the possibilities? Read below to learn more.

 

Make Your Home a Better, Brighter, and Healthier Space To Live  

Smart home technology is designed to make your life easier, more convenient, energy-efficient, and healthier. A thoughtfully designed home works as an integrated space. Rather than relying on a disparate set of devices, you want a control system that acts as an ecosystem.  

The most remarkable aspect of an automated house is that it acts on your needs with a touch of a button, the sound of your voice, or it reacts to environmental conditions and sensors. As a premier home automation company, we help you make your home better, brighter, and more in tune with your luxury Hawaii lifestyle. Are you ready to take the next step?  

Read more below to find out how your Hawaii house can become a fully integrated home.  

Learn How Lighting Sets The Mood and Creates Personalized Ambiance For Your Outdoor Entertaining 

Outdoor living spaces are a vital part of living here, the long tradition and the convenient luxury of blurring the line between nature and our interiors. Entertaining in your backyard is one of the great pleasures of homeownership. It is the space where we celebrate personal milestones, gather the gang to party, and decompress at the end of the day.  

Lighting has a remarkable effect on us, especially when we illuminate our outdoor spaces, spas, and pool areas. Installing fixtures outside involves more than lighting our way for safety and security. While the practical functions are helpful, it is the dramatic influence on our perceptions that give lighting a premier place in outdoor living solutions.  

Are you ready to add the benefits and beauty of outdoor lighting to your Hawaii smart home? Read more below to find it can improve your home and lifestyle.  

Transform Your Home With The Powerful Crestron Lighting and Automation System

Of all the elements in your home, lighting has the most power to transform it. Light sets the mood, creates an ambiance, protects you, and can affect your well-being. Smart home lighting solutions provide the opportunity to personalize the experience, matching your needs and desires. 

Whether initiated by automation schedules or by voice command, your Kailua-Kona, HI, home’s illumination can set the pace through the day, bringing focus where needed. Your home lighting solution is part of a bigger ecosystem integrating with climate controls, shades, and your home entertainment with a Crestron Home.

To find out how lighting controls with Crestron can bring your home to life, read more below.

 

Custom Window Treatments and Automated Lighting Help Your Home Run More Efficiently

As a society, we are becoming ever more conscious of how we affect the environment. With tons of information about what the best methods are to save energy, consulting a home automation company can help you make some practical decisions.

When you work with a home automation company, you will be introduced to great smart home options, such as lighting automation and motorized window treatments. Aside from saving you energy, there are a multitude of benefits that come with utilizing these technologies and others.

Homeowners and property managers alike in Hawaii know that they can rely on Pacific Audio & Communications as their trusted home automation company. Keep reading to see why we recommend these benefits for you.

Smart Hotel Upgrades for Your Guests and Business

Positive first impressions mean everything, which invariably translates to repeat business. When guests enjoy their stay at your hotel, they keep coming back for more. Still, even if you have a well-appointed room, luxurious amenities, and a beautifully manicured property, your competitors in Honolulu, HI, may boast the same features. Rise about the rest by adding a state-of-the-art hotel room control system.

Your guests enjoy a 5-star experience every time. That’s because they have complete control of every technology in their rooms – the lights, motorized shades, whole-room audio, entertainment, and much more. Keep reading to see how you can fill every vacancy in your hotel by upgrading to a smart room automation system.

 

Give Your Guests Complete Control in Their Rooms with a Robust Hospitality Interface by Crestron.

Your guests want more than merely a place to lay their heads. They want to be treated like royalty. Think about it. Where would you rather stay: a hotel suite that meets your basic needs (a bed, TV, and bathroom) or one that caters to your every need? A standard TV with remote is par for the course. Every hotel room has that. And keyless entry has become standard now.

Go above and beyond to make your hotel stand out. Install a state-of-the-art hotel room control system at your hotel in Oahu, HI. An advanced smart automation system by Crestron elevates a guest’s experience to a new level. And why wouldn’t it? With hospitality interface controls in their suite, you put everything at their fingertips. Read more to see how hotel smart controls can improve your brand image and the experience of your guests.

SEE ALSO: Building Automation Solutions Positively Impact Hotel Operating Budgets

Simple Yet Sophisticated Controls

Are you giving your guests an excellent first impression? Smart automation does it from the moment they step in their rooms: automated lighting and shades, seamless control of the AC and heat, touchscreen interfaces, and much, much more. In fact, you’ll impress them so much, they may never want to leave! With Crestron automation technology, your guests are sure to enjoy the ultimate in relaxation and pampering.

For instance, they’ll have complete and customizable control over the audio-visual system: 4K TVs, streaming video, and high-definition speakers. They’ll have a cinematic theater experience in their own suites. Or, if your guests are having a gathering in their rooms, it’s the perfect place for a dance party or spending time with friends. Hotel room automation not only improves the experience of your guests, but it’s smart business sense because it makes your hotel much more appealing.

Have More Fun This Summer with a Home Outdoor Audio System

The warm, spectacular weather of the Hawaiian summer is the ideal environment for outdoor fun in your yard, from hanging by the pool to backyard barbecues. It’s even warm enough at night that you can enjoy many of those same activities without worrying about being uncomfortable.

But what if there was a way to get even more enjoyment from your favorite backyard activities? It’s easy with an outdoor audio system for your Kailua Kona, HI, home. Music makes almost everything better by helping to set the mood and keep you and your guests entertained. So why not bring your favorite tunes outside? Here are three summer activities that are improved with outdoor audio.

SEE ALSO:What Kind of Speakers Work for Your Outdoor Sound System?

POOL TIME

We have gorgeous beaches in Hawaii, but sometimes you want to avoid the crowds and the hassle, which makes your backyard pool an attractive option. The next time you, your family or your friends are hanging out poolside, create ambiance and keep everyone’s energy levels high by adding music to the mix.

If you want to relax or you’ve just finished swimming some laps, you can put on some light classical music or other mellow favorites and drift off as you enjoy the warm breeze. If you’re looking for something more upbeat or you have guests over for a party, get people moving with some rock ‘n’ roll or hip-hop classics.

Learn About a Brilliant, Voice-Controlled System and Its Many Benefits

To provide the best services for your Honolulu, HI home, Pacific Audio and Communications constantly looks for cutting-edge products. As soon as we heard of a new smart home tool that uses the most intuitive, AI-learning based software, we had to look closer.

What can this revolutionary product, which won CEDIA 2017’s Best Product and Res Tech Editor’s Choice in 2018, do for you? Josh AI is a new player in the smart home automation game that we can’t wait to introduce to our Hawaii customers. Keep reading to see why we love Josh.ai!



SEE MORE: Our Company Wins Coveted HTA Luxury Distinction
 
What Does Josh Do?
Josh.ai is a full-service home automation tool that you can control with your voice. It can operate lighting, security, A/V systems and anything else you’ve added to your smart home. Just like similar devices, you can remotely access every room in your house from your mobile phone -- and even pan the room to double-check that devices have turned off after your command.

Worried about integrating something shiny and new with your existing systems? Josh.ai collaborates seamlessly with almost any brand used in smart home automation, including Control4, Crestron, Sonos, Savant, Lutron and countless others. Chances are, if we’ve installed something for you, some of this hardware lives in your house, but Josh complements all those functionalities to create one, integrated smart home. Pacific Audio and Communications can add it to both older and newer homes.

Place on Wall and Play
The device mounts to your wall and looks flawless with virtually any decor style. Pacific Audio and Communications can flush-mount your device so that only the screen shows if you prefer. The screen lights up with different colors, depending on the nature of the command.

Josh Micro’s far-flung microphone capabilities mean you can speak from far away, and the device picks up your voice and accurately interprets your request. Because its programmers enabled Josh to understand commands contextually, you’ll hardly ever need to repeat yourself to get the device to comprehend you. Its intuitive technology even grasp phrases like, “It’s too bright in here!” and respond by lowering the shades. Similarly, you can say “Turn it off!” If the last device Josh activated were the lights, he’d know to turn them back off.

How Is Josh Different?
If you have an Alexa or Siri device or are familiar with their capabilities, operating a Josh.ai Micro won’t seem vastly different at first. What you’ll notice as you explore the device, though, is that it becomes more responsive to commands the longer you use it.

According to Josh’s website, “Josh is a home’s best friend. And like a dog, Josh is intelligent, responsive, and learns his owner’s commands. While other smart home control systems only know one trick, Josh combines all aspects of smart homes into one friendly, well-trained responder. Josh is your companion, and always happy to see you come home.”

Josh.ai makes privacy a priority by storing all commands locally. Founders Tim Gill and Alex Capecelatro aimed to make Josh.ai one of the most secure and data-conscious inventions of its time: The devices don’t sell ads or use any of your personal data, like the competitors.

Exclusive, Dealer-Only Device
Josh.ai products are currently only sold to select dealers, such as Pacific Audio and Communications. We can install the device, integrate it with your other smart home automation devices and provide ongoing support. Contact Pacific Audio and Communications to see this exciting new product in your home!

Get faster, more reliable performance for your devices

 As more devices in your home come equipped with the ability to connect to the Internet, the strain on your home network is ever-increasing. You may have already noticed some issues already; slow browser speeds, spotty wireless coverage, and issues with streaming content are all signs of an overworked home network. If you’ve noticed any of these problems, it’s time for a home networking upgrade. Here’s a list of ways a stronger home network can improve the lives of homeowners in Maui.



 SEE ALSO: Solutions to 3 of the Most Common Home Networking Problems
 

THE NEED FOR SPEED

When you fire up your internet browser, you want an instantaneous response. But if you’re relying on a single wireless router to cover every area of your home and you don’t have a reliable connection, you’re going to be frustrated by long load times and even the occasional crash.

This is even more true of streaming content. To get the most from your home theater, you want to be able to stream your favorite movie or show in 4K UHD. Without a sufficiently powerful network, you’ll be dealing with pixelated images, buffering issues and lengthy load times.

The solution? Beef up your home network. A professional network installation will ensure you get the maximum bandwidth possible in every area of your house, allowing you to browse and stream without fear of any hiccups or glitches.

 

DO MORE WITH YOUR DEVICES

Getting the most from smart home automation involves more than simply installing the individual systems. To really unlock the value of these devices, you need them to work together, and that can’t happen if your network isn’t up to the task.

For example, smart security systems and lighting control both do a lot by themselves, but they can do more together. If your lighting control talks to your security system, you can lock all the doors in your house and turn off all the lights from your phone, all with one push of a button. If you’re going on vacation, program your lights to turn on and off at different points throughout the day to make it look like someone’s home, all the while knowing you’ll receive an alert on your phone if anything should happen.

The greater number of interconnected systems in your home, the more valuable they are to you. But without a sufficiently powerful network as the backbone, your options are much more limited.

 

KEEP YOUR DATA AND DEVICES SECURE

A strong network is important not only for the physical security of your home, but also your digital security. Hackers, malware and other forms of cyber attack have only been increasing in recent years, making network security more vital than ever.

To best protect the data on your devices, you’ll want to make sure your network is properly protected and encrypted. Your software or other components may be out of date if you haven’t taken a look at your network’s security in a while, leaving you at greater risk of attack and intrusion.

 

BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER

If you’re interested in learning more about Pacific Audio and Communications’ networking services for your Maui home, give us a call at 808-870-1619 or visit us online.

 

We've recently moved to a new building and we're excited to announce all of the features you can enjoy for your integrated electronic needs.

Our new 3000 sqft facility will have dedicated offices for admin, design and engineering, programming, staging, rack building, project management and of course a full showroom and conference/meeting space. All better to support our clientsIf you'd like to schedule a visit, give us a call at our new phone number: (808)3 20-8463And visit us at our new location: 1587 Haleukana St. Ste. 101 lihue Hi 96766

How Home Networking Impacts System Performance
Picture this: you’ve just gotten home from a long day at the office. You pull up to your driveway in Oahu, HI, walk into your house and sit down in a comfortable media room ready to watch a little Thursday Night Football. But when you try to turn on your AV system, you notice it takes a little while longer than normal. And the signal – normally crisp, beautiful high-definition, is lagging and pixelated. Eventually, you don’t get a signal at all. Why is this happening? The answer may be out of date home networking. If you want to avoid this type of situation, keep reading.



See Also: How to Keep Your Smart Home Running Smoothly
What Is the Home Network?
Let’s start by answering a simple question: what do we mean by network? It’s essentially the backbone of your smart automation system.

It’s the internet signal that connects every device in your home. It facilitates communication between your smart lights and shades, each component of your AV system and any smart security and surveillance gear integrated in your smart system.

The primary concern of home networking – at least from a user’s perspective – is bandwidth. If you think of it like a highway, bandwidth is like the lanes on the highway.

The more devices in your system you have, the more information you need to move through your network. That means you’ll need higher bandwidth, or more lanes on the highway.

If you don’t have enough lanes, you could suffer a traffic jam.

And, of course, if you get a traffic jam you could suffer signal lag or blackouts. That could mean anything from an unresponsive lighting system to missing the second half of the Thursday Night Football game.

What to Do About a Slow Network 
Before we get to what you should do, here’s what you shouldn’t do. Don’t trust your ISP for network advice, and don’t assume raising your broadband plan will solve the problem.

Many homeowners will run a speed test through their ISP. Unfortunately, that only tells you how fast the signal is on their end. It won’t tell you much about what’s going on in your home.

Of course, there are times when all you need to do is increase your service plan. But if your network stops working after a long period of perfect signal, that’s probably not the problem.

Instead, it’s time to focus on what’s going on inside your home. A common problem can stem from out-of-date cabling throughout your spaces.

As we move closer to a total 4K Ultra HD takeover, more information is being passed between devices than ever before. That means it may be time to upgrade to fiber-optic, HDBaseT and HDMI 2.0 cabling for your AV gear.

Other common problems include changes in device configuration and easy-to-make user errors.

So what’s the easiest thing to do about network downtime? Consult a professional of course!

At Pacific Audio and Communications, we make your smart home run better. Contact us today for a free, no obligation consultation about your home networking performance.

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Make Sure You’re Getting the Reliability and Performance You Need

On our blog, we’ve talked a lot about the many benefits of smart home automation – energy efficiency, convenience, comfort, property value, etc. But deciding that you want the benefits of a smart home is the easy part. The struggle for many homeowners is finding a smart home company that will do the job right. With so many contractors in the Honolulu, HI area, how can you know for sure which one is the right fit for your needs? There are a lot of factors to consider, but here are three key characteristics you should look for.

1.   Appropriate Licensing

Effective July 1^st, a new ordinance in Hawaii requires all AV contractors in the state to have an electrical journeyman’s license. This licensing helps to ensure that the person working on your smart home project has the skill and knowledge to do the job right.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a good process in place to track down and stop smart home installers who are operating without a license. The good news is that all licenses are kept on record, and you can easily check to see if the company you’re considering has the appropriate licensure by visiting Hawaii’s Professional & Vocational Licensing website.

2.   Experience

If you’re relying on a contractor who has never done AV or automation work before, you’re simply not going to get high-quality work. A smart home automation system needs to be installed seamlessly into your home and work great both now and in the future. Here are some ways to assess experience level:

• Find out how long they’ve been in business
  • A company that has been around for more than a decade likely knows what they’re doing
• Ask to see work samples
  • A picture is worth a thousand words. If they can’t provide you with examples of previous work, it might be because they don’t have any. Of course, you can also assess the quality of the installation from the imagery.
• Ask for references
  • If previous customers are happy with the smart home company’s work, they’ll have no problem putting in a good word.

3.   Insurance

Just like with an electrician, roofer, or plumber, it’s not a good idea to hire a smart home company that is not insured. Your smart home installer will be working with electrical wiring and components, and in the unlikely event that there is an accident or injury, it’s not worth the risk of having to pay for it yourself. Instead, choose a company with appropriate insurance, and you can rest easy knowing that everything is covered.

SEE ALSO: Why Building a Strong Infrastructure for Your Smart Home Pays Off
When you find a quality company for smart home automation, you’ll have the assurance that your home will be taken care of for years to come. At Pacific Audio & Communications, we do every smart home installation to the best of our abilities. Our low voltage contractors are licensed, insured, and experienced. We also provide 24x7x365 tech support for all of our clients.

If you’d like to learn more, please contact us today by calling 808-386-5963 or filling out this quick form.

 

• Remote Monitoring to Anticipate Needs
• Quick Service and Maintenance of System
• Professional Support for Your Technology

 

 

Why You Need Expert Support for Your Home Automation System

The benefits of a smart home automation system are endless. You get intuitive, centralized control of all the technology in your Oahu, Hawaii home including lighting, security, entertainment and more. This adds a level of convenience to your everyday lifestyle, but only if your system is running smoothly. Our services don't end at installation. We want to make you a client for life, offering customer support and remote monitoring of your technology, so any issues are resolved quickly and efficiently.

Remote Monitoring of Your System

To ensure the health of your system and reduce the amount of downtime during any service call, we implement remote monitoring service plans that allow us to recognize issues preemptively and repair them quickly.

• Our team receives alerts whenever a component of your smart home automation system is not functioning properly.
• In most occasions, we can log-in to your system remotely and resolve the issue without having to schedule a service call.
• Through remote management, we can also apply upgrades to your equipment to keep it running reliably and securely.

Efficient and Reliable Service Calls

There are a few benefits to having a home automation expert on hand:

• Quick Access to Experts: If you buy smart products on your own, you may find yourself wasting hours of valuable time trying to resolve a problem or finding someone with the expertise necessary to help. With one of our installations, you can put us on quick-dial, and we're here to help with issues ranging from cable service interruption to reprogramming smart control devices.
• Expert Knowledge of Your System: We know every little detail about your smart home automation system. We have your design plans and programming codes on hand. This makes it easier to identify problems and resolve them.

Quick Replacement of Parts

• Remote management lets us recognize if a new part is needed whether it’s a new thermostat or matrix switcher.
• With prior knowledge of your system, we know the exact make and model of the product you need.
• A direct line of communication with the top manufacturers in the industry lets us get your replacement part in a matter of days to speed up your repair.

 
To enjoy the full convenience of a smart home automation system in your Oahu property, you need to make sure it’s working properly at all times. Contact Pacific Audio and Communications to set up a consultation and sign up for one of our remote service plans.

 

• Pick the Right Type of Equipment
• Design with Acoustics and Viewing Experience in Mind
• Gain One-Touch Control of Everything

Create the Full Cinematic Experience in Your Kauai Home

What’s the difference between an average home theater and one that immerses you in the sights and sounds of your movie? There are a lot of different factors—everything from the lighting to the seating needs to be carefully planned out. If you’re considering adding a dedicated home theater system to your Hawaii home, keep reading to learn about must-have features that will transform your theater into a luxury viewing environment.

High-End Equipment

The quality of the equipment you choose for your home theater goes a long way toward creating that immersive experience.

• Screen: There are several screen types and materials that are optimized for different room environments.
  
  • White screens are best for traditional theater rooms without much ambient light.
  • Dark screens are designed to deflect light that isn’t coming straight from the projector, so they’re great for multipurpose rooms or outdoor cinemas.
  • Acoustic screens allow you to hide speakers behind the screen without muffling the sound.
• Projector: Make sure you consult with your home theater designer and installer about the best option for your space.
• If your projector doesn’t have the appropriate amount of lumens or resolution for your chosen screen, you could easily end up with a grainy or warped image.
• For the clearest picture, choose a projector with native 4K resolution.
• Speakers: Surround sound is absolutely essential for home theaters.
  
  • Choose a system that allows you to adjust sound levels and base frequencies to be optimized for the space.
  • Speaker material and design have a big impact on sound quality. High-end speakers use the best quality materials and innovative designs to create pure, clear audio.

 

Acoustics and Layout

Home theater equipment and your room’s layout go hand-in-hand. The care and planning that go into where equipment is placed are what set luxury theaters apart.

• The size and shape of the room will impact a lot of different factors.
  
  • Screen Size: Sometimes bigger isn’t necessarily better. The screen needs to leave room for the A/V equipment and provide enough distance between the screen and the seats.
  • Seating Amount and Positioning: The larger the room, the more flexibility you have for how many seats are included and where they can be placed.
  • Speaker Placement: Depending on where the seats are located, speakers are lined up to ensure that there are no acoustic dead spots.

Full Room Control

The best part of a luxury home theater is that you don’t have to put any effort into getting the room ready to start the movie. With a smart home automation system, you can control everything with the push of a button:

• Movie Selection: Get access to all of your movies, music, and streaming services right on your smartphone or tablet. Simply pick the show you want to watch and press play!
• A/V Equipment: You don’t need separate controllers for your projector, screen, etc. It’s all connected so that when you want to watch a movie, your equipment responds to your command.
• Lighting: Need to pause the movie to grab popcorn? You don’t have to fumble around in the dark for the light switch. Your home theater system can automatically dim the lights as the movie starts and brighten the room after the show finishes or pauses.
• Sound Levels: Even with the room’s speakers optimized during installation, sometimes it’s nice to turn the volume up or down. Just pull up your control tablet or phone and set the sound level wherever you want.

 
The thought of designing a personalized home theater system may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! Pacific Audio and Communications can handle everything from the initial design to ongoing optimization and support. Contact us today to learn more.

• Save Energy with Timers
• Harness Sunlight with Sensors
• Adjust Lighting Levels with Dimmers

Enhance Oahu Home Design with Smart Lighting

Any interior designer knows the importance of having proper lighting in each room to illuminate the artwork, décor, and other design elements throughout the space. However, not every designer knows about the versatility that comes from implementing a home lighting control system in that space. We work with interior designers, architects, and homeowners throughout the Oahu, HI area to create a seamless lighting design that enhances the architecture and décor of the home.

To learn how you can use home lighting control technology to present home décor at its best, read on.

Timers

Timers ensure that the home’s décor is well lit with no extra effort for the homeowner.

• Perfect Timing: A home’s lights should be tailored to the lifestyle of the homeowner. Use timers to automatically turn lights on and off at the times that make sense for each room.
• Energy Savings: Timers save on energy costs by only lighting areas when they are needed.
• An Automatic Process: Homeowners don’t want to waste time walking into each room to turn the lights on during the day and then off again at night. Timers avoid that manual hassle.

Sensors

Make the lighting throughout the home react intelligently to certain trigger events.

• Occupancy Sensors: Keeping spotlights lit up throughout the home can be wasteful, spending excessive amounts of energy when nobody is there to admire the artwork or sculpture being illuminated. Occupancy sensors solve this problem by turning on lights whenever someone enters the room, then automatically turns off the lights after everyone leaves.
• Daylight Sensors: A daylight sensor detects how much sunlight is entering the room. On sunny days when the room is well lit, the sensor can automatically cause the dimmers in the room to lower the amount of artificial light to keep the room from being washed out with brightness. As the sun starts setting, the lights will brighten to ensure the room always has just the right lighting levels.

Dimmers

Dimmers allow interior designers to set the perfect lighting levels throughout the day for each space and activity.

• Time of Day: Using dimmers and timers together, the lighting levels can adjust from morning to afternoon to evening.
• Room: For interior rooms without much sunlight, the dimmers will keep rooms bright, but in rooms with windows, the dimmers will adjust to save energy by harvesting natural light.
• Activity: Most rooms have multiple purposes, so the lighting designer can create “scenes” for each occasion that optimize the room’s lighting for that specific activity, such as enjoying a candlelit dinner or reading a book on the sofa.

 
These three home lighting control technologies are just the tip of the iceberg of how smart home automation can enhance interior design.  Contact Pacific Audio and Communications to learn more about our process for working with interior designers to optimize lighting in the Oahu area.