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Home is where the 'smart' is Mt. Lebanon couple markets technology that controls a house from a single panel or cell phone Wednesday, July 11, 2001 By Jackie Day
A high-tech home automation system that can regulate the temperature of your water heater, adjust lighting to fit any mood, remind you when to take your medicine and even contact you via cell phone if an illegal entry is detected?
No, it's not a "Jetsons" rerun. It's what Matt and Melanie Mandros, founders of MGM Automation, believe is the wave of the future for homeowners in Pittsburgh.
Since becoming the city's first Smart Systems authorized dealers last September, they have discovered the first step toward success must begin with educating people about what home automation actually is.
"There's no little robot running around here," he said while describing the simplicity behind the Smart Home system he installed in the couple's own three-bedroom Mt. Lebanon residence last year. "It is like having another person in your home."
The Mandros' system is, among myriad other options, programmed to dim the lights automatically in their son's bedroom to 40 percent at bedtime and to shut off precisely at midnight.
If Melanie Mandros forgets to shut the garage door after leaving home, she simply calls "the brain" of the system from her cell phone, punches in the appropriate numbers and the door closes.
"The scenarios go on and on and on," she said laughing.
The system operates via an icon touch screen, or Smart Window, that can program up to 40 different time-specific "scenes" within the home and with less technological know-how than is required to master a VCR.
"Everybody knows the little triangle that points to the right [on a VCR] is for "play,' " Smart Systems east coast director Erik Anderson said. "But try to record a show, and most people can't do it. ... Home automation doesn't require that added learning curve. It's all icon driven."
The security system also can be controlled by the touch of a button, allowing the homeowner to program up to 16 individualized Smart Keys. Each key is numbered and programmed through the touch screen, activating any number of time-setting scenes in the home.
For example, the maid's key can be programmed to permit entry only between the hours of 2 and 5 p.m. If the key is lost, one simply disengages key number "three" from the touch screen or by phone anywhere in the world.
What may resemble an amenity reserved for the 7,000-square-foot castle is the only home automation system designed for the mass market at an average cost of $5,000 for a 3,500-square-foot house.
Although many Pittsburghers may just be learning about automation, the Smart System first debuted nearly a decade ago in Albuquerque, N.M., where home automation is as standard a feature in new home construction as terra cotta tile and stucco.
"Like the old adage goes, if the end of the world is coming, make sure you live in Pittsburgh because it won't happen here for another 10 years," said contractor Mike Vuick of Rodbourne Homes.
Nevillewood's Rodbourne spec home is the first in Pittsburgh to feature the Smart Home system, with a handful of other builders already scheduled to follow suit.
"Their contacting me was very fortuitous," said Vuick, who coincidentally had been shopping for a system similar to those penetrating the trade world through publications and shows for the past five years.
"If you would compare our homes to a car, they would have every conceivable option," said Vuick, whose custom homes feature everything from built-in entertainment systems to exterior walls built from 2-by-6s, and a unique engineered flooring that reduces deflection to an absolute minimum.
"It may be a little overkill, but with all of the progress in technology happening, I want to make my homes as future proof as I can. ... People expect this sort of technology from a car today. I wanted to explore the systems for use in homes and condos."
Vuick explored other high-end out-of-state systems ranging anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000 but was immediately sold on MGM's comparably lower cost, its capability for future adaptation and ability to retrofit into already existing homes.
"You won't see a lot of that wow and fizzle. ... We can't change art work on the walls by wearing a pin like Bill Gates, but we can save energy," Anderson said.
Besides home automation, MGM offers distributed audio entertainment systems and the latest in high-tech wiring, termed structured wiring, for new home construction.
"Builders say, 'nobody is asking for it,' " Melanie Mandros said. "But the reason is, is that nobody really knows about it yet."
Structured wiring incorporates high-speed phone, cable, Internet and security wires into one multiuse line that can support all home systems and products concurrently.
It allows homeowners to share a single Internet connection among multiple computers; view a movie from any television in the house via one DVD, VCR player or satellite; monitor the front door or nursery from any television screen; and serve a variety of other applications.
"The structured wiring cuts down on the number of subcontractors I deal with to handle all the phone, cable and security lines separately. That's important to me," Vuick said.
While Smart Homes and structured wiring are largely foreign to the Pittsburgh market, MGM recently contracted with various builders throughout Western Pennsylvania as well as local homeowners.
"Being able to walk into a room and have the light go on is kind of cute, but the practical side is what appeals to me," Vuick said.
To learn more about MGM Automation services, call Melanie or Matt Mandros at 412-341-2445 or 412-999-1474; or e-mail info@mgmautomation.com.
Jackie Day is a free-lance writer.
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