Illustration: Edwin FotheringhamIt wasn't the first time my wife had threatened divorce, but this time it sounded serious.
"If you had spent $5000 on this thing, you'd be shopping for a lawyer," she warned, with a look that said Don't Even Try to Sweet-Talk Your Way Out of This.
"This thing" was a Control4 home automation system that was supposed to simplify our lives. After we connected the HC-300 Home Controller to our A/V gear and a wireless access point, we could dim the lights, turn on the projector, and load a DVD by pressing a single button on a handheld remote. Other buttons let us watch TV, play digital music throughout the house, control the thermostat, view a security cam, and cut the power to my son's computer whenever he refused to stop playing RuneScape.
Automation systems like this were once a luxury item, but lately they've become much more affordable. Walk into a big-box electronics store, and you'll find them sold alongside flat-panel TVs and surround-sound stereos.
"We call it the 'No TV Left Behind' plan," says Control4 CEO Will West. "Anyone who buys a digital TV is a customer for these systems."
Obviously, he has never met my wife.
Control and Chaos
Though our Control4 system did what it was supposed to do, simple things--like turning on the lights by hand instead of using the remote--could throw it out of whack. We noticed a lag between pushing a button and getting a response via Control4's Wi-Fi network, and some tasks required six or seven steps, not just one. "How do I get this @#@$#! thing to work?" became a familiar refrain.
To be fair, our home theater was designed by Dr. Frankenstein--the projector, receiver, and media players all purchased at different times and strung together with A/V cables. Our Control4 installer replaced the receiver and DVD player with more recent models, and then began connecting devices and writing scripts. A mere 8 hours later, he was done. An hour after that, the cursing started.
A Control4 setup like ours--the home controller, an access point, two touch panels, two zones of audio, lighting controls, an iPod dock, a programmable thermostat, and a security cam--would cost roughly $5000 at retail, plus another $1000 or so for the installation and programming, says Control4 CTO Eric Smith, who personally installed my loaner system free of charge.
The biggest problem: Unless you're an A/V geek, you'll have to call in a programmer every time you need to troubleshoot or add gear.
Sticker Shock
Nevertheless, home automation is almost ready for prime time, according to Patrick Hurley, research director at telecom analyst firm TeleChoice and coauthor of Smart Homes for Dummies. Before mainstream buyers jump in, however, prices need to drop farther, the software must become easier to program, and the free-for-all of competing communications protocols such as Insteon, Zwave, and Zygbee has to shake out in the marketplace.
Even then, most consumers will adopt home automation for energy efficiency--the ability to turn off lights and crank down the heat automatically when they're not needed, Hurley says.
Personally, I loved how the Control4 allowed me to turn off every blinking device in my living room with the press of one button. But I also pined for the grace and simplicity of my TiVo remote. Maybe someday I'll be able to have both--without putting my marriage at risk.
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