mySmartHome

Home of the Future Here

John Kubal, The Brookings Register,  January 2016

 

Jan 15, 2016 - The first “smart home” to be built from the ground up in Brookings is coming down to the wire - actually wires, since it's the wiring that helps make the dwelling smart.  Anita Thomas, of Best Choice is the listing realtor for the five-bedroom, four-bath smart home in the Sylvan Circle cul-de-sac in the Reserve Addition in southwest Brookings.  Aaron Stoltenberg is the builder.  The home has 1760 square feet on the main level and 1600 square feet in the finished lower level.

   Thomas said, "It's not listed or on the market yet.  We're still trying to come up with final pricing before we put it on the market.  It is enclosed.  We should have final appraising and it should be ready for market in 30 days." At that time tours and open house times will be offered.

   Enclosing the house allowed work to continue inside out of the weather this past week.  But even then the cold and chill was enough to nip at the fingers and toes of a trio of workers-Gordon Niva, his wife Susan Lahr and family friend Dean Dilly-putting in the spaghetti-mix of colored wiring that helps give the house its smarts.

   Niva and Lahr are the founders, owners and operators of mySmartHome.  Both are South Dakota natives, but their business is headquartered in Laguna Niguel, CA.  Niva said that while he has retro-fitted homes in the past to make them smart, this is the first time he has smart-wired an under-construction home.

   He explained, "We've retro-fitted.  That's been our business to this point: installing systems in existing homes."

   Detailing the features that make a home smart, Niva said, "It's going to do a number of things.  It's going to have a sensor on the door so that you can let people in remotely.  It'll also have a keypad so you can let yourself in and out without a key."

   Continuing, he added, "It will also report to you on a smarthpone or computer that the door has been opened.  It'll give you an alarm if that happens.  That's probably one of the key things."

   Another key feature is a smart thermostat that can be put on a schedule and be remotely controlled, "One of the things that we do for our home when we arrive at the airport, for instance after a trip, we check the temperature in the house on the smartphone," Niva said.

  "If it's not what we want, we use the smartphone to adjust the air conditioning or the heating.  By the time we've made the 30- to 60-minute drive home, the house is where we want it."

   "That's a nice feature.  Also, it allows you to check and see if the temperature in your house is being maintained or if there's been any failure in the house.  And when away on a winter vaction, you can check to see if everything's OK temperature-wise in your home."

   Add to those features the ability to check for water leaks and shut off the water if a leak is detected.  "You never know when a water line is going to burst somewhere, "Niva said.

   Even low-pressure water lines can burst.  Small sensors in appropriate sites can detect a leak and shut off the water at the main without the occupant taking further action.

   Then there's a controller for that I-wonder-if-I-closed-the-garage-door moment.  Niva explained, "The first thing you can do is check with your smartphone.  Is it open or is it closed?  If it's open, you can shut it from your smartphone while you're driving away.  You don't have to drive home to take that action or call your neighbor to go do it.

   While the above features are both useful and practical to a homeowner, a big concern is always going to be security.  And a smart home really does the job here.

   Niva explained, "Normally, a home would need a lot of hard-wired security lines to all the windows and doors and you'd hook up sensors to those.  If the windows or doors were opened, you'd get an alarm, you might get notified by a company that does that."

   But in the smart home, all those functions will be done with wireless sensors.  They are inexpensive, and only one piece of wiring is required.  If the alarm is set and a window disturbed, the homeowner will be notified.  And like the garage door, a window can be checked to see if it was left open.

   Smiling, Niva added, "Now we don't have a way to close an open window yet.  But you could call a neighbor."  And admittance could be made via the 'smart door lock.'

   Looking at the overall functions that go into making a smart home practical, functional and secure, he said, "There are literally hundreds of devices that your can use for a smart home, but there are probably less than 20 that really offer value and are practical and easy to use."  He added that the cost for everything being done to the Brookings home will cost about $1500 for the hardware used.

   Niva said 10 years ago a conservative cost for the same features would been "about $15000 for a hardwired system."

  

June 2016-The Brookings custom smarthome was sold.