Lower Your Energy Usage with Smart Lighting Control

Smart Lighting Makes Your Mandeville Home More Energy Efficient

When it comes to smart lighting control, most homeowners are excited about the ease and convenience. You can adjust any light in your home from your smartphone, which opens up new interior design possibilities as you discover new ways to light your space. But there’s another valuable aspect of smart lighting control, and when we say valuable, we mean literal value for your wallet. Smart lighting control helps you lower your energy bill by making it simple to monitor and adjust the energy usage of your lighting fixtures, which is both good for your bank account and the environment.

Read on to learn about the different ways smart lighting control can help reduce the carbon footprint of your Mandeville home.

Set Energy-Saving Scenes

Smart lighting control allows you to program specific scenes that adjust the brightness, temperature, and even color of your light sources. You can create a scene that dims the lights for occasions that don’t demand full brightness, which cuts down on the electricity used by your bulbs. Used in conjunction with ambient light sensors, your fixtures automatically adjust to the amount of sunlight in a room, so you don’t even need to take action to see regular decreases in power usage.

Check If Lights Are Left On

How many times have you come home to an empty house with lights on everywhere? Your kids don’t understand how much you end up paying when they leave the lights on in their bedrooms while they’re at school, but with smart lighting control, you can turn off any unnecessary lights in your home from anywhere with an Internet connection. When you get into the office, open your control app on your smartphone to see which lights were left off and switch them off with a simple push of a button.

No People, No Lights

You can turn off lights through your app, but if you want to eliminate a step, there are multipurpose sensors that can recognize when a room is empty and shut off or dim bulbs automatically. Those can be the same sensors that detect ambient light, providing two different ways for you to save on your energy spending. You can program your scenes to react to occupancy sensors in various ways. For your morning scene, occupancy sensors can turn off any lights in empty spaces. In the evening, those same sensors can dim the bulbs so that rooms are still illuminated but conserving energy.

 Want to learn more about how smart lighting control can help you save on your energy bill? Reach out to one of our experts at 225-650-7840 or by filling out our online form.

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Discover the Latest Trends in Home Security Systems

Protect Your Baton Rouge Home with Smart Security Solutions

 Security is the driving force of the smart home industry. It’s the most in-demand feature for smart home systems, and more than anything else, homeowners want to know that their families are in a safe environment. Manufacturers are always looking for new ways to satisfy that need, and in the past decade, there have been massive strides in high-definition video surveillance, voice control, facial recognition, motion sensing, and automated functionality.

Are you considering a home security system for your Baton Rouge home? Read on to learn about the latest industry trends that are setting the bar for smart security technology.

 SEE MORE: FORTIFY YOUR SECURITY SYSTEM WITH CONTROL4 HOME AUTOMATION 

AI Learns Your Habits

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are at the core of the smart home, and new devices are taking the information they gather throughout the day to make intelligent adjustments that best suit your living patterns. Multipurpose sensors play a significant part in machine learning, monitoring motion, ambient lighting, sound, air quality and more to give your system the data it needs to make automatic changes and detect anomalies that are outside of the norm.

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The Best Christmas Gift for the Techie: Amazon’s Alexa


Enjoy Voice Control Technology with Alexa
In search of the best Christmas Gift for the Techie? The holidays can be quite hectic, especially if you’re hosting a lot of family and friends at your house. Aside from the festive parties, you have a lot of shopping to do. So what is the best gift for the techie? If your family member or friend loves smart home automation, Amazon’s Alexa is the perfect choice. Not only would it be great for your modern family, but you can also benefit from the technology yourself right now. In this blog, we’ll explain the newest trend – voice control – and how you can add it to your home in the Lafayette, LA area.

What is Alexa?
Developed by Amazon, Alexa is the smart home automation software that allows you to perform all kinds of tasks through voice commands. It runs on the Echo, Dot, and Tap – smart speakers that connect to your smart home and listen to your voice commands to start or stop tasks. Previously seen as a standalone product for DIY-type home automation products, now Alexa can be integrated into your Control4 smart home. You can simply ask Alexa to turn the heat on or give you the weather report, and it will perform your request instantly. It even gives you a confirmation response of “OK” to re-affirm it heard your command.

Hands-free Automation
If you’re planning on getting a lot of shopping done on Black Friday, you may come home with your hands full. Imagine walking into your house and saying, “Alexa, turn on the lights,” and instantly your living room is illuminated. Voice control technology can be used in a variety of situations like this when you want to quickly change your environment. Not only can you ask the device to perform standalone tasks, but you can also activate saved scenes as well, like “Good Morning,” “Welcome Home,” or “Dinner.” All you have to do is say, “Alexa, turn on Welcome” and right when you step through the front door, your house lights will turn on, the shades will rise, your favorite album will start to play, and the HVAC system will turn on the air conditioning or heat.

Here are a few other examples of what Alexa can do:
• You need to start preparing the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. You say, “Alexa, turn on ‘cooking’ and the kitchen dimmers make the room brighter, the TV turns on the Food Network, and the in-ceiling speakers turn up the volume so you can follow The Pioneer Woman’s recipe.
• After a long day of wrapping gifts, from the comfort of your own bed, say, “Alexa, turn off the house” and the lights will turn off, the shades will close, the doors will lock, and the security system will arm.
To control individual devices say commands like this:
• Alexa, turn on the dining room chandelier
• Alexa, dim the bedside lamp to 40%
• Alexa, adjust the temperature to 75 degrees

These are just a few examples of the ways you can use Alexa in your smart home. Whether you decide to add voice control now to help you out around the holidays, or wrap it as a gift for someone else at Christmas, Alexa is the perfect addition to any connected home.

To add Alexa to your house, fill out this online form.

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How to Incorporate Lighting into Your Interior Design

Professional Lighting for New Orleans Homeowners

Lighting is a necessity, and you may not think twice about how and where it functions in your New Orleans, Louisiana home. However, lighting is a big part of the aesthetic in your home. Interior designers often plan and design the lighting first before adding in colors and furnishings. The reason is that the right lighting sets the stage for a beautiful home. You may think that smart home automation is all about control and convenience, but it’s about style too. In this blog, we’ll cover the finer points on how to incorporate lighting control into your interior design.

SEE ALSO: How to Customize Your Home Lighting in Baton Rouge 

Interior Lighting Tips

When you hire Acadian Home Theater & Automation to install your lighting, we go above and beyond to make your home look as beautiful as possible. Our team can strategically place your lights in the right spots to not only illuminate your spaces but also highlight and complement décor.

For example, a chandelier or detailed lighting fixture hanging above your dining room table is not only a piece of art in your home, but it also provides a romantic ambiance for a meal. Dimmers help establish the right ambiance, or mood, by brightening the room for a party, or lowering it for a relaxing night in.

We can also install accent lighting around your art pieces, like sculptures and paintings, to highlight the detail in the artist's work. With our lighting control systems, you can even hit a button on your mobile device to enact specific scenes when the time is right. Having cocktails with work friends? Hit "Entertain" and the accent lighting turns on to highlight your beautiful art collection, the overhead lights dim down to mid-level for a cozy ambiance, and your front porch light stays lit as visitors approach your home. The best benefit of all is that we'll work with you every step of the process to create the right lighting scheme that works best for every room, from home theaters, kitchens, bedrooms, and more.

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The Best Benefits of Lighting Control

Enjoy These Features in Your Lafayette HomeLighting control is one of the most sought-after features in a smart home – mainly because it is so convenient. There are actually many benefits you may not even know about. Installing smart lighting will not only make your home look bright and beautiful, but it can also help your family save energy, money, and increase safety in your Lafayette, LA home. Keep reading to learn more.

1. Save EnergyAccording to Lutron, installing dimmers in your home can you up to 20% on energy. The reason for this is that dimmers allow you to lower your lighting levels so they don’t turn on to full capacity every time to lift a switch. Dimming lights down to at least 30% can dramatically increase your energy savings and affect your electric bill. Lighting uses up the most energy, followed by the heating and cooling system, and then electronics, so this is the biggest area for savings. Another way to save energy with lighting is by adding occupancy sensors. Timers were quite popular at one point, but occupancy sensors work even better by detecting when a person is in the room. As soon as you leave, the lights shut off. Electricity will never be wasted and you’ll have one less thing to worry about.

2. Save TimeTime is precious; most of us have busy schedules. We’re always running in and out of the house. You probably spend a fair amount of time running around the house turning off all the lights before you leave, and if you’re in a hurry, the lights stay on and you waste energy. You can save time and energy by using lighting controls that tie all of your lights together. Imagine hitting one button at the front door before you leave in the morning and all of the lights turn off. Not to mention, it’s extremely convenient to be able to hit one button on your phone or wall to light up your home, or get ready for bed.

3. Save Your HomeBelieve it or not, lights can play a part in protecting your home from intruders. Place lights with sensors around the perimeter of your home so they turn on when a person approaches. If a stranger walks up in the middle of the night, you’ll be alerted with the light immediately, and it will likely deter them from continuing. We can also integrate lights with your security system so lights turn on with the alarm if it’s ever triggered in the evening. As a precautionary measure, our team can also create a “mockupancy” setting that turns lights on and off at varying times to make it seem as if a person is home while you are away. Robbers will think twice about entering you home if they think someone is there.

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How to Enjoy the Ultimate Entertainment Experience in Your Louisiana Home

Use These 3 Whole House Audio/Video SolutionsWhether you are a tech geek, or are just starting to learn more about what the term smart home means, the phrase “whole house audio/video” can still be a foreign term to people. What exactly does that mean? We’re here to share that it doesn’t simply mean that you have audio and video products in every room. It means that your audio and video systems are interconnected, giving you sophisticated controls to enact sophisticated sequences. Continue reading to discover what a whole house audio/video system would look like in your Covington, Louisiana home.

SEE ALSO: Top 3 Benefits of a Whole House Audio/Video SystemWhole House AudioSure you could put a wireless speaker in every room and call it “whole house audio” but the system is more complex than that. You could easily put speakers in every room, but that doesn’t mean they will be interconnected. By working with a professional like us, you can install speakers in every room and they play the same song on all of them. So as you move from room to room you can hear the tune everywhere. The sound will also be evenly distributed. We know exactly where the speakers should go to give you a uniform sound. With whole house audio, you can also group certain speakers together. For example, dad can listen to sports radio outside on the patio while mom listens to pop hits inside while making lunch. Each person has control over what they want to listen to and where. One added benefit of using our systems is that you can expand music options with streaming services like Pandora, Tidal, and Sirius XM Radio.

Whole House VideoWhole house video works in a similar fashion to the audio system, but the application is different. Typically you’ll sit in one room to watch something whereas the location isn’t as important with audio; you can move around and still enjoy it. One unique thing you can do however, is easily change rooms mid-program. So for example if you start watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens in your media room downstairs, but then halfway through you decide you want to finish it in bed, you can pause the movie, turn the TV off, walk upstairs, and start it up again in your room without having to take the Blu-ray disc with you.

The reason this is unique is because all of your cable boxes, Blu-ray players, and other video components are stored inside a closet or other area. Matrix switches direct the content from room to room without having to move discs between players. Not only will this save you time setting up the movie, but it will also take away all that extra clutter. All the wires and boxes are hidden out of sight. If you want to play the same program on all your TVs in the house, you can do that too. It would be a perfect solutions for when you have friends over to watch a baseball or football game. Some guests can watch outside, while others hang out in the kitchen or living room.

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What It’s Really Like to Live in a Smart Home in New Orleans

Discover All the Incredible Features of Control4 Smart Home AutomationWhen you hear the phrase “smart home” you may think of refrigerators that tell you you’re out of milk, computers that announce your arrival when you come home, or other smart gadgets that make you feel like you’re living in luxury. However, smart home automation goes beyond just “connected living”. The Internet of Things simply means that your dishwasher can connect to the internet, but that doesn’t exactly equate to living in a smart home – at least by our definition.

Acadian Home Theater and Automation would love to explain and show you what it means to live in a smart home in your hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. Keep reading to find out for those of you who are new to living an electronic lifestyle.

SEE ALSO: Reasons Why You Should Hire a Professional Smart Home InstallerExactly what is a smart home?Predictions over what a smart home would look like have ranged greatly. Take a look at The Jetsons or Back to the Future Part 2 and you’ll get an idea of it. But smart home automation is simply about connecting all of your electronics together so that you can start and turn off multiple things at once. It also means that your shades, lighting, security system and more can automatically turn on and off at varying time throughout the day based upon your specifications. Tell your smart home to turn off all the lights at 10 p.m. every night and it will do it for you. All you have to do is hit a button on your phone, tablet, or wall switch (some electronics allow you to use voice activation as well). Living in a smart home also means that you’ll have wireless access to every function. You can connect all of your electronics to your phone so you can control them from anywhere. So even though your smart home may have a fancy refrigerator that can tell you the weather or if you need to buy more milk, smart home automation encapsulates much more.Customizable ControlsControl4 is one of our top smart home partners. They have developed an easy-to-use system that anyone in the family can access – from 9 year olds to your 99-year-old grandmother. With Control4 smart home installation, you can automate your lighting, shading, security and surveillance system, smart locks, home theater, speakers, and the thermostat. Every room can come to life by creating “scenes”. Scenes are saved settings that create specific environments based on your personal needs and desires. For example, create a “Wake-up scene” by using the Control4 app and choosing the motorized drapes to draw and your favorite music playlist to turn on at 7 a.m. The sunlight and music will help you wake up and start the day. Have a pool party coming up? Create a music playlist and save it for the special day, choose a lighting level for your backyard, and a temperature for the pool and hot tub. Every space can be customized to your everyday life.

We hope this blog has been informative and started you on your journey towards smart living. We have much more to share! Send us your questions, comments or orders through the contact form on the website or just give us a call at 225-906-2589.

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How to Protect Your New Orleans Home with Security & Surveillance Systems


Keep an Eye on Your Louisiana Property at All Times with a Security System

Everyone needs to protect their family’s most valued possessions; having a security system in place is not a question; it’s a necessity. But the type of system you have installed in your New Orleans home is crucial. Today’s security systems are incredibly advanced, but you may not know exactly what they can do. How do you know for sure that your system will do the job? Continue reading this blog entry to discover the latest advancements in security and surveillance systems.

SEE ALSO: QMotion Motorized Shades Bring Big Benefits to Your Louisiana Home
Smart Surveillance Cameras
The surveillance cameras on the market right now have just as good of a picture as an HD TV, meaning you can see incredible detail in all the recorded footage of your home. Surveillance cameras can also be activated by motion sensors so that they only turn on when needed, and they can also capture images at all angles – 360 degrees around. You can view any camera footage in real time through an app on your smartphone or tablet, or look at the clips later when you get home. Get alerts sent to your phone or email anytime an intruder steps into your home. Captured video can be essential for insurance claims if anything goes wrong.

Smart Door LocksYou can lock your door and literally throw away the key with our advanced entry systems. Smart door locks allow you to type in a code to open the door, or use an app on your phone, so that you don’t have to carry a physical key with you. You’ll never have to hire a locksmith to open the door in case you lose it. You can even create multiple codes for various users and then change them at any time for additional security. Forgot to lock the back door but you’re already at work? Open up your smart home app and lock it instantly from miles away. If you have a front gate, we can install a swipe card device at the front to make entry fast and easy for residents.

Pair your smart locks and gate entry system with an intercom to screen visitors before letting them in. For example, if the UPS man stops by to drop off a package, you can get an alert that someone is at the door and then actually see them through your surveillance cameras. Talk to the UPS guy via the intercom and then let him in using the smart lock.

Alarm System
Smart locks and smart cameras do a good job of keeping an eye on your home at all times and securing the property, but an alarm system proactively scares away burglars. As soon as a window is broken or you receive an alert that a stranger is inside, the alarm system turns on with a loud noise and contacts the police. Our monitoring systems ensure that your home is kept safe at all times.

Are you interested in having us install a top-of-the-line security system? Fill out this online form and we’ll get in touch with you as soon as possible.

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