Certified Connection

Give us a call. 617-320-6930

• About
• Services
• Portfolio
• Testimonials
• Blog
• Contact

As a provider of home automation control systems and home theater solutions for commercial and residential clients, one of the largest issues we come up against is making numerous components and systems work together – integration. Ultimately, it is our job as integrators to provide the best customized solutions for our clients, making complex components, software, and systems work together harmoniously in a simple way. Each client has different needs and requirements for their specific systems, and at Certified Connection, we aim to cater to each and every client to suit their exact needs.

Customized home automation and/or home theater systems often require that we pull from the top-of-line components available in the market in order to provide the best system for each client. This means making products from manufacturers x, y, and z work together event though they may have different operating systems or software.

For example, when we work with a customer to install a home automation solution with lighting control and environmental controls, that customer wants to and should be able to access all of these controls from one device, whether it’s a universal remote, an iPad, or a smartphone device.

Manufacturers often claim that certain components will work together seamlessly or provide software or modules that are intended to allow them to work together. But in reality, and unfortunately, this may not be the case – which makes our job even more difficult.

Of course, the companies that provide specific components have proprietary systems, which is what keeps them on the cutting edge and keeps them at the front of the market. But it seems that there could be and should be some common ground from which they can work together to provide more easily integratable components and systems to benefit integrators and ultimately their customers. If a source vendor claims to have patches or modules that integrate components with another company’s components, they should be tested and tested again to make sure they truly work.

As integrators, we want to be able to provide the best products and services to our customers, giving them the best seamless, high-end systems. It would benefit everyone if source vendors could figure out a way that we could all just get along.

Certified Connection is the premier provider of custom-designed home control systems and home theaters to residential and commercial customers. For more than 10 years, Certified Connection has served homeowners and businesses in and around Boston, throughout the South Shore, and the entire Cape.

By: Certified Connection

Additional Reading

Getting the Most Out of Your Audio/Video System

Lower Energy Costs and Increase the Value of Your Home by Making it More Energy Efficient

Home Entertainment Technology in Europe vs. the United States

Certified Connection is offering a *FREE 30 day trial on
a Crestron Prodigy® Control System + Handheld Touchpanel
to selected participants.

Control your home from an Apple iPad

Requirements

- You have to live within 60 miles of Boston, MA.
- You have to be 25 year old or older.
- You have to own a recent: display, set top box (cable or satellite), an optical drive player (DVD or Blu-ray player), surround sound system not necessary.
- A valid major credit card.

Here is how this works

- We will come to your residence and customize a proposal which will fit your needs.
- We will install the system at no charge.
- We will program 1 system of your choice (living room, master bedroom, media room).
- We will program 4 video or audio sources (TV, cable or satellite set top box, DVD or Blu-ray player and an audio receiver.
- We will program 9 AM/FM or satellite radio favorite channels you will provide.
- We will program 9 TV favorite channels you will provide.

*What happens on day 30?

- You are satisfied with the product, you can purchase it at the price quoted when initially installed; (each installation is different and based on existing equipment and customer customization requirements).
- You get ONE FREE Crestron Mobile Pro® G license for your iPad/iPhone or iPod.
(Apple iPad/iPhone and iPod are NOT provided). The Crestron Mobile Pro® G license is provided ONLY after purchase.

- If you are NOT satisfied, we will pick up the equipment from your residence and reconfigure the system the way it used to be prior to our work. You owe us nothing.

- Equipment must be returned in the same condition it was delivered. Participant will be charged full price for any damage incurred during the 30 day trial.

Offer subject to eligibility requirements

This offer ends Feb. 28th. 2011.

Is it easier to be green than it was when Kermit the Frog sang his legendary song “It’s Not Easy Being Green”? It seems like everywhere you turn, people are trying to be more “green” or environmentally conscious when comes to how they conduct their everyday lives. If you’re one of those people who drive your Toyota Prius to the market with your reusable bags as a way of decreasing your carbon footprint, here is something else to consider: greening your home.

Did you know that the average family spends around $1,900 a year on home utility bills? And, a lot of that energy is wasted through inefficiencies in your home, which is both bad for you and the environment. Of course, there are little things we can do like keeping the heat on a lower temperature and putting on a sweater, installing LED light bulbs, and installing low-flush toilets.

But if you’re looking to further green your life, there are some more significant improvements that you can make to your home overall that can help reduce your energy consumption, decrease your energy bills, and even increase the value of your home.

• Install home lighting control systems – According to a white paper produced by the Energy Conservation Enhancement Project at Louisiana State University, “20% of all electricity produced in the U.S. is used for lighting, but 50% of that is wasted by inefficient lighting sources or careless consumers.” One of the main benefits of home lighting control is the potential energy savings.

• Install an energy monitor – By installing an energy monitor, the average consumer could save around 15% to 20% on energy bills per year. Energy monitors can provide you with daily, weekly, and monthly usage reports, make recommendations on ways to decrease your energy usage, and move you one step forward in minimizing your carbon footprint.

The Smart Home Green + Wired, an exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago, demonstrates some of the latest technologies that are out there for making our homes greener, more efficient, and more cost effective for consumers.

Here are some of the key features:

• A sophisticated automation system allows homeowners to operate the home’s temperature, lighting, and entertainment features from touch-screen panels.
• An energy monitoring system tracks, in real time, the amount of energy being generated by the home’s solar film and 45-foot wind turbine. Homeowners can track their energy consumption and, with an Internet feed of energy pricing, calculate the savings to be gained by adjusting power usage.
• The kitchen countertop can wirelessly power a blender or charge mobile devices.
• An air purifier with a sleek, high-tech look scrubs the indoor atmosphere with a minimum of watts.

And to think, you can control all of this energy efficiency from your iPad.

Certified Connection is the premier provider of custom-designed home control systems and home theaters to residential and commercial customers.

By: Certified Connection

Just when you thought the iPad could do no more, think again. There are apps for pretty much anything you can conceive of at this point, but what about an app that specifically makes you cool? Read on.

There’s now an app that connects your home’s electric grid to a smart phone or iPad and allows you to control your energy use. You can turn off lights, air conditioning, or appliances when they’re not being used, and even program them to turn off and on at specific times. It’s home automation 2.0.

No longer do you have to leave the air conditioning on all day just so your house is cool when you walk through the door. You can simply turn it on, or program it to turn on, 10 minutes before you’re due to arrive home.

Jim Gist, a vice president at Control4, says that you can even use the app to see what changes other family members make. “If your teenage kids are home alone and they turn down the air to 62 degrees, your iPad or iPhone will alert you and you can change it,” he said.

If you already have the home control module and an iPad, you can download the app from iTunes for free, though you’ll need to pay a one-time licensing fee of $99. But you should be able to recoup that cost in energy savings. Word is that the app can cut lighting use 10% to 30% and air conditioning costs 20% to 40%.

Got an iPad or control module but not sure how to plug it into the grid? Contact the professionals at Certified Connection today and let them hook you up!

Certified Connection is the premier provider of custom-designed home control systems and home theaters to residential and commercial customers.

By: Certified Connection

Not surprisingly, the iPad has taken the world by storm. Apple just announced that they have sold two million iPads in two months. And, home automation companies have quickly jumped on the “i” bandwagon. A recent article in Residential Systems discusses how the iPad has quickly become a favorite of home automation systems companies. According to the article, “Crestron, AMX, Control4, and Savant Systems (whose products were established on Apple’s operating system from the very beginning) have all created applications (apps) specifically geared for integration with the iPad.”

Home automation professionals are now able to easily integrate multiple home automation systems with the iPad. “’Benefits are that the iPad is a multi-purpose device that can also be used to control your house,’ said Dick Rozic, president of Aveon Inc., an integration company in Houston, Texas. ‘Just like the Control4 remote can get rid of lots of traditional remote controls, the iPad can morph and fulfill many different functions in one convenient device.’”

Some of the main reasons that industry experts believe the iPad is a perfect match with home automation technologies are:

• Its very user-friendly interface is less intimidating than many remotes
• It has a larger screen, which is helpful for older users and makes it easier to monitor cameras
• It’s lightweight at around 1.5 pounds
• It’s relatively inexpensive, starting at around $499, which is less expensive than many touch screen remotes
• It’s capable of performing many different functions, tying together large numbers of systems
• It’s really cool

Now if only we could control our children via the iPad. It could happen. At the very least we can keep tabs on them with security cameras and iPad home automation integration.

By: Certified Connection

• IT Services
• Networking
• Smart Home Wiring
• Home Automation
• Home Theaters
• Audio/Video Distribution
• Lighting Systems
• Phone Systems

Copyright 2012. Certified Connection. All Rights Reserved.
Designed by Jackrabbit Design