Who wants to live in a standard home, without all the glitz and tech glam? We know where our vote lies… We’ve come up with 5 reasons why you may want to pay attention or partake in the home technology trends of 2016.

Integration

There are many reasons why integrating your house will allow for more convenience and make your life just a little bit easier… In todays world, all the moving parts of your home can be accessed and controlled in a very similar way to how we access our work and social lives, from our mobile devices. For instance, if your home has multiple rooms with lighting, heating audio, and video security for home/gate access – a single touchscreen can be integrated from multiple interfaces throughout the home. Simply being able to access warming up your hot tub, while watching a movie in your living room and simultaneously opening the gate for incoming guests from a single touchscreen interface, is quite a technological advance in our 21st century world, run by tech.

Transparency

If accessibility is not enough for you, building your home with transparency in mind, may be an option worth considering. It’s widely known that making sure you get fully restful sleep each night, can and will increase your longevity and quality of life. By building rooms where televisions can be “stored” in the ceiling, via a “pop-up ceiling lift” effect, desired “feng shui” can be reached, without sacrificing the need for television entertainment. It is a true win-win scenario. Even the speakers can be installed and “disguised” into the walls, and the audio and video equipment can be housed in an electronics closet. Rooms can be made to look crisp and clean, with a feeling of escape with or without having a television as the “main event” in the room.

Sustainability

Its no news that living a more sustainable life is not only better for yourself, but it is also far better for the environment and planet as a whole. You may wonder how can you benefit financially from making your house more sustainable… When installing a “power management system,” or sustainability system, you can reduce monthly “standby” power used. This actually decreases your impact on total U.S. power consumption by around 5% a month. When appliances are turned “off,” each item will actually be powered off. The photovoltaic/renewable energy system would feed energy to the local power grid during peak energy usage times, but also conserve energy via a home monitoring system, by use of a timer. The water heater would not run, when it is not needed. Similarly the refrigerator could shut down temporarily without food spoiling. A smart home with these capabilities would truly not only benefit the residents, but also have an incremental impact on the entire country; you can rest your head knowing you’re doing your part!

Interactivity

Craving a low-key interactive experience, but you want to be surrounded by the comfort of your own home? Creating an environment that is comfortable and entertaining for every age in the family is very much within reach, in 2016. Whether you’re in a family of gamers, movie fanatics, or television show hoppers, it may be worth your while to invest in a room purely for entertainment. Building in a system with Internet access and remote control of lighting, movies, a variety of gaming systems, and DVR, will create the movie experience without having to leave for the theater. The room can even be designed with multiple movie theater-type seats that are reclinable and cozy for your family and guests. Our only word of caution… Adding this feature to your home may prevent people from leaving; you may have guests for life!

Accessibility

To take your home a step further for integration, a wonderful added bonus would be the value of accessibility. Not only could you have access to your homes different rooms and amenities via multiple touch screens, but adding the feature of linking your iPhone or another wireless touchscreen panel to your home, can allow you to have access from anywhere in real-time. This added benefit will let you adjust lighting or check security cameras, while simultaneously accessing your email and social networks, all in one inclusive device. It can’t get any more convenient than that!