2 min read

The smart home revolution

The smart home revolution

A few months back I purchased a home #security system for our house, but, it was much more than just a security system. It was a whole smart system with the regular security features. The system was purchased from Cannon Security and was installed to a tee with help along the way to help me with all of the new features. Below is a list of the features and items that I added to our system and how they make our house safe, secure, and smart. 

  • Alarm (Contacts on all doors): The alarm is fully #monitored by Protectron and works over the Rogers GSM system. The few times that I accidentally set it off, they were quick to call;
  • Wireless door locks: These are on our main doors, you can use a key, pin, alarm or smart #phone to lock or unlock them;
  • Garage Door Opener: Much like the locks you can have the garage open and close by using the alarm system or smart phone;
  • Light Controls: You can have your lights come on or off with the use of the switch, alarm or smart phone;
  • Thermostat: Control the heating and cooling in your home by way of the wall thermostat, alarm or smart phone;
  • Smoke and Co2 sensors: They monitor if there is smoke or CO2 in the house and will sound the alarm as well as alert the authorities;

The system allows for all the regular security items such as door, window, smoke and CO2 monitoring as you would expect from a security system but here is where it gets interesting. Your system is also connect to the Alarm.com infrastructure and by having access to the world class system, all of the above features can be tied together.

When your system is setup you can do things such as:

  • Arm your alarm, lock all doors, close the garage and lower the temperature in your house if your phone leaves a fenced area that is monitored by the GPS on your phone;
  • Turn on your outdoor lights at sun set and turn them off at sun rise;
  • If an alarm is set off, turn on all the lights in the house;
  • Once you arm your system to stay at night, lock all the doors and close the garage;
  • If your child's door opens at night, turn on the bathroom light to help them see;
  • Change the temperature in the house depending on if there is movement in the house; 
  • Plus much more....

As you can see it is quite powerful in what it can do. But it has also helped in another are that I was not expecting. I was able to lower my #hydro usage month over month by taking advantage of some of the above listed features. Back in October I replaced about 38 halogen lights in the house with the LED equivalent and reduced my hydro usage by about 3 kWh a day or 90 kWh a month. Since setting up my smart system to change the temperature and lights depending on where I am, I have further reduced my hydro usage another 3 kWh a day or 90 kWh a month

So if your alarm is not saving you money or giving you all these helpful features, its time to rethink how you spend your money and who you do business with. Cannon Security can help you, check out their site from the link on the side.