Quick Tip: Adding Technology to Existing Homes
By Erik Anderson and Jacqueline Woo

The Question: 

What is the market opportunity for products that can be easily added to existing homes?

There are about 11 months supply of homes in inventory on the market right now. It’s safe to say there are plenty of homes that could benefit from retrofitable product solutions. These include homes in current supply that need to stand out among the others to increase the likelihood of being sold.

Another Question: 

Are there technologies that can take advantage of current consumer trends?  

As we write this U.S. crude oil futures just reached a new intraday record of $132 a barrel…auto industry releases from Business Week and Forbes are about electric and hybrid cars…and as you can imagine there are half a dozen green articles scattered about as well. We also bumped into ads for iPods, iPhones and a number of other consumer products that are in high demand. Yes, there are technology products available that can be added to existing homes to address the needs and desire of today’s consumers to save energy, support the environment and enhance their lifestyles.

The Answer:

We’ll start with a couple of examples of energy savings and lifestyle solutions. The most cost effective way to upgrade the dated technologies is to replace switches with dimmers, old thermostats with a programmable version and ceiling/bath fan controls with versions that have timers. 

To gain more of the wow factor you could replace the same items with versions that include RF (radio frequency) technology. With RF built into these same products, the homeowner can turn on lights from their car creating a safe pathway into the home. While in bed they could press a “goodnight” button from a controller on their nightstand which automatically turns off all the lights and adjusts other controls. This could include a light in the bathroom that is left on at 15%, functioning as a nightlight. The "goodnight" setting could also set the thermostat back for energy savings. These are only a few examples of scenes that can be set up to enhance the homeowner’s lifestyle while helping them reduce energy usage and utility bills. Some of these RF products have been on the market for over ten years - reliability is not an issue.

Keep in mind both of these solutions can be added to a single room or an entire home without having to add any wires or cut any holes in the walls.

To address consumers demand for electronic goodies there are multi-room audio and media server systems that communicate via RF or over homes with a wired or wireless home network.  These systems enable the homeowner to use their digital content such as music (mp3s and WMAs for example) and photos (from digital cameras) throughout their homes. This makes use of this digital content that has been trapped in the office or study where their PC (personal computer) is located. Now they can sit in front of their big screen and see the photos of their last family vacation, while listening to their favorite music that’s stored on their iPod or PC.

These are only a few of the many examples of ways technology can be easily retrofitted into existing homes. To find out what solutions may be best for your business ask your existing trades if they are familiar with these types of products. If you cannot find anyone look up an ESC (electronic systems contractor) at www.cedia.org.

Erik Anderson, CGA, CGP, of Lutron Electronics is an active member of the NAHB and NCHI (National Council of the Housing Industry) on the National level.  He works with the 20 Club Program, Home Technology Alliance (HTA) and is on the CGB Board of Governors. He is also active on his local HBA’s Educational Committee. Erik can be contacted at eanderson@lutron.com or 484-809-3867.

Jacqueline Woo of Lutron Electronics is on her local HBA’s Remodelers Council Board in Atlanta, GA. She is also a member of NARI and a certified presenter for ASID (American Society of Interior Designers). Jacqueline can be contacted at jwoo@lutron.com or 610-392-3258.

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