Residents in the Winter Park, Florida area know how fickle the weather can be. The sky will be sunny and bright one moment, and then dark and stormy the next. Fortunately, lighting and shading control can help you deal with the moody weather. Our intelligent systems can adjust the lighting in your home for every scenario. And weather monitoring is just the beginning. We’ve compiled five areas where intelligent lighting and shading control can improve both your home and your lifestyle.

SEE ALSO: What Really Makes a Home Smart?

1. Save Energy

How much energy does your home waste each year on unnecessary lighting? According to the Energy Resource Center, the U.S. wastes between 61 and 86 percent of energy. That’s a staggering statistic to make you think twice about leaving a light on. With an intelligent lighting control system, you can go green without any extra effort. Occupancy sensors automatically adjust lights whenever someone enters or leaves a room, daylight sensors identify when to raise or lower shades to take advantage of natural light, and a smart grid keeps track of energy trends over time.

Another big concern is how the sun’s heat can raise the temperature within your home, causing your HVAC system to have to work that much harder to cool the space.  Shades block the heat from the sun, reflecting it back away from the room so that your home stays cool without the HVAC system blasting 24/7. The result is a lower energy bill and a much smaller carbon footprint.

2. Protect Furnishings

Sunlight can be your valuables’ worst enemy, especially if the items are leather or have dyes and inks in them. Once exposed to natural light, things like furniture, rugs, paintings and photographs lose their vibrant colors and fade. In addition, sun exposure is usually irreversible. That’s why it’s important to control the sunlight in your home with shades.

Often our busy lives prevent us from remembering to draw the curtains or blinds. With home automation, the technology does it all for you. Motorized shade controls allow you to pre-program the shades to lift at specific times of day, or you could install a special daylight sensor in the windows to trigger the control system to draw the curtains. We have special UV-resistant roller shades that still allow light in, but prevent the negative effects of the sun.

3. Boost Security

When you think of home security, your lighting and shades probably don’t come to mind. But with intelligent automation systems, your lights can help keep your home secure while you’re away. One of the biggest factors that affects whether or not a home is targeted by thieves is the “lived in look.” Essentially, if your home looks like people are staying in it on a regular basis, the thieves will move on to easier prey.

Your lighting control system can be designed with a “Vacation” setting that has your lights and shades mimic the usage patterns of your home life. Lights turn on in the evening just as they normally would, then go out throughout the house at bedtime. Your shades move without you there to adjust them, and burglars casing your house will be none the wiser.

4. Personalize Scenes

Your home has many uses: intimate dinners with family, fun and exciting parties with friends, and relaxing evenings alone. For each situation, you’re going to want different lighting and shading. That’s where personalized scenes really make a difference. You can set the exact lighting and shading you want for each common situation you find yourself in, then save those settings as scenes. For example, a “Movie Night” scene could lower the shades and dim the overhead lights in your family room, leaving only subtle lighting so you can see as you walk in and out of the room. A “Goodnight” scene could close all of the shades and turn off the lights throughout the house.

5. Add Convenience

Instead of walking through your home every evening closing shades and turning off lights, imagine the convenience of pressing a single button and having it all done for you. When you’re cuddled up in bed watching TV and the morning sun is causing a glare on the screen, you don’t have to get up and close the shades. Again, a single press of a button is all it takes.

Are you ready to make your Winter Park home more convenient, energy efficient, and secure? Contact us today to get started on a customized solution perfect for your home.