Moving Forward: Utilizing Home Technology Options in Existing Inventory
Walt Zerbe, Product Manager, Russound; co-chairman, CEA’s Multi-Room Audio Video Council

Years from now, the building industry will look back at the current housing slump as a series of lessons on how to react when the market suddenly takes a turn for the worse.  

There are bound to be those who blindly shed excess inventory by dropping prices to bargain basement levels, but the most successful players will be the ones who carefully look for ways to increase the appeal of their properties without having to cut too deeply into the bottom line. 

Just as an auto dealer will offer expanded features and other benefits when selling excess inventory, builders are in a position that requires all of us — manufacturers, installers and builders alike — to present consumers with highly desirable, demonstrable benefits that add value to the sale, minus the overwhelming overhead that sometimes comes with a retrofit upgrade. 

As a company whose business is tied to new housing starts, the seismic shift in market demand became a primary impetus for Russound to lead the multi-room audio industry in developing new retrofit entertainment and communication systems that can be added to existing structures with little demolition and new long wire runs.

The biggest issue with retro-fitting a multi-room audio and communication system has been the long wires, the ones that go from a single point, like the family room, to all other points in a home.  Technology such as Power Line Carrier (PLC) has overcome that barrier.

PLC presents new options in scalability and entry pricing. While it is certainly advantageous to pre-wire for technology upgrades during pre-construction and remodels, PLC technology opens a new window of opportunity in post construction models, inventory and existing homes without cutting into and removing walls and fishing wires. A system can be installed for a fraction of the cost of a typical retro-fit wired installation and in a fraction of the time. 

Utilizing PLC technology, builders can tap into a home’s standard AC wiring to send music, data and other digital information over a home’s standard AC wiring. There is a plethora of options available including security options, audio, video, broadband and more that can be used to upgrade existing inventory homes and draw the attention of today’s tech-savvy buyer.

IP-based systems that utilize powerline carrier technology have established a new benchmark in how audio, closed circuit television (CCTV) and intercom communication is distributed throughout the home. End-users can obtain complete multi-room access to digital audio entertainment, existing sources such as CD players, an intercom system and color security cameras. Bypassing the need for a centralized controller, amplified keypads and system sources can be placed anywhere in a home where AC power has been run.

 The decentralized nature of these systems provides additional benefits. Sources and control points can be placed anywhere in a home or may even be moved at the users’ whim.  Devices such as baby cameras and monitoring devices or personal music player docks can be re-located when convenient.  This kind of flexibility is nearly impossible with a wired system.  There is no longer the need to have a central “black box” taking up space in the entertainment center. 

Bottom line, every home is pre-wired.  If an existing home (inventory) is sitting waiting to be sold, a builder or installer could retrofit two zones of a PLC based system in half a day.  That feature set which may now include baby monitoring, CCTV, Internet radio, personal music player compatibility etc. may now be the tipping point to make that home saleable.  The effort to add the devices is very low and the return is high in that the home now has an edge to be sold. 

Very often, a consumer who is on the fence only needs a clear, inarguable reason to close the sale. There is virtually no learning curve on the part of the end-user. No matter how many sources are integrated, the interface remains easy to master and maintain.  By offering demonstrable added-value benefits from powerline carrier based media and communication systems, builders will move more inventory today and well beyond the current economic scenario. 

Builder Quick Facts

• PLC technology connects electronic devices to each other utilizing existing power lines in your inventory or model homes.
• Simply put, PLC sends music, data and other digital information over a home’s standard AC wiring using marquee name brands.
• This technology is retrofit friendly.
• Contact a certified electronic systems contractor (ESC) to create a power line carrier technology upgrade option for your existing inventory without breaking the bank.

Walt Zerbe is a product manager at Russound with more than 20 years experience in all aspects of the custom installed audio industry. From sales, service and support, system design, integration, and product development, Walt is familiar with the requirements for delivering a successful product from both sides of the table. In addition to serving as the co-chairman of the R10 Residential Systems Standards Body and the co-chairman of the Multi-Room Audio Video Council (MRAV) of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Walt is an active board member on CEA’s Technology and Standards Council and TechHome Division. Prior to working at Russound, Walt was president of a custom low voltage integration firm and an audio product manager for On-Q/Legrand.

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