This is the first of a four-part series on smart houses. The others will look in detail at the smart kitchen, media room/home theater and home office.

Michael Sklack has music, cable TV, phone service and high-speed Internet in practically every room of his Beaver County house -- except the master bathroom.

	Online Graphic: Smart Homes See a graphic that shows the technology that could be used in a new home. Home show brims with ideas

For Joe Donnelly, the only room left out was the dining room.

"They said, 'You don't want music in the dining room. People like to talk while they're eating.' And they were right," said Donnelly, whose house in the Sangree Farms development in Ross was wired by Greyfox Services during construction last year.

Both men chose to have structured wiring installed when their new houses were built. After the framers, plumbers and electricians were done, installers ran conduits through the walls and floors containing coaxial cable for cable or satellite TV and video, Category 5e low-voltage wiring for intercom, phone, music and data, and sometimes speaker wire for music.

Structured wiring is the backbone of the "smart house," a futuristic dwelling in which everything -- home entertainment, security, lighting, H/VAC, cooking, even the hot tub -- can be controlled by touch pad, computer, voice or remotely by cell phone or laptop. It's George Jetson meets Bill Gates, though Gates probably has the better home theater.

What's it cost?

Over the past five years, smart house technology has become more accessible. At the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show, which opened yesterday, Greyfox, a few security companies and a central vacuum system installer are all offering structured wiring packages, most starting under $900. And on Smarthome.com, for $185, you can buy an infrared dog door that bars all pets but yours, as long as it's wearing its digitally coded collar.

Unfortunately, the neatest gadgets are still fairly expensive. As a result, you can count the number of truly "smart" houses in Western Pennsylvania on one hand, including a $2.5 million Modern marvel on Mount Washington and a self-monitoring home and proving ground for cutting-edge building technologies built in Cranberry and featured in a DiY network TV series.

So what's a geeky homeowner to do? Get a smarter-than-the-average lair, with wiring in every room for later upgrades, a whole-house audio system and the infrastructure of a fancy home theater and/or high-tech home office.

Matt Mandros, president of MGM Automation in Mt. Lebanon, who installed every gizmo available in the Mount Washington house nearly two years ago, says the Pittsburgh market has been a little slower than other parts of the country to embrace home automation. The reason? Cost.

"People who have more of a technology mindset will spend 6 to 7 percent of the cost of their house," he says. "People here are closer to 1 to 3 percent."

On a $200,000 house, that works out to $2,000 to $6,000, which is about what most home-owners here are spending.

Scott and Pat Schaffner were excited to find structured wiring was an option when they built in Avonworth Heights in Ohio Township. Signature Homes, the developer, offers structured wiring through a partnership with Ava Binotto of Intelligent Automation Systems, which markets Eaton/Cutler Hammer products. Like many Pittsburgh area customers, Scott Schaffner was particularly intrigued with the sound system.

	WIRED SOURCES ADT Security Systems or 412-572-8000 Eaton Electrical (Cutler Hammer) (click on Advanced Residential Products) or www.homeheartbeat.com Greyfox Services or 1-800-360-0201 Guardian Protection Services (click on New Construction) or 1-800-776-8328 Intelligent Automation Systems: 412-853-9535 Microtek Home Systems: 724-656-1046 MGM Automation or 412-341-2445 Security Systems of America or 1-800-544-5003 The Vac Shop or 724-266-8250

"I like rock 'n' roll and jazz," said Schaffner, 49. "On our audio system, all the speakers can play the same thing, or we can have music from more than one source. I was trying to think out of the box."

In this house and many others, an iPod user need only plug it into the wall to hear it through the speakers. The Schaffners' house has one or more speakers in every room and the deck, and a total of 20 jacks for cable TV, phone and Internet service. There's no data connection on the deck because the couple plans to go wireless there.

The total price tag was $5,400, a little more than Schaffner originally budgeted but well worth it, he says. Wiring is already in place in the unfinished attic and for a planned basement home theater.

"We have two small children," he said. "I wanted something high-tech enough so when they are older, they can go right with the flow."

Speakers everywhere

Al Burba also planned ahead three years ago when he had MGM Automation wire his 2,100-square-foot patio home in Prestonwood, Peters. He has surround-sound in the great room and speakers in all three bedrooms, the basement and the garage.

Since Burba did some of the work himself, he was able to keep the price down, around $3,000. That included wiring a loft bedroom as the home office and the basement for a future home theater.

"I'm waiting for the price of TVs to come down," he said. "Technology is changing so fast. Every day there's something new."

That's true for both home theaters and smart houses in general. Ralph Anderson, vice president of sales and marketing for Bridgeville-based Greyfox Services, has had a booth at the home and garden show for the past seven years. That's where Sklack and Donnelly found out about the company, which got its start 10 years ago making smart systems for IBM, Verizon and others.

Each year, Anderson demonstrates a new product at the show. Last year, the big hit was low-voltage decorative candles built into the windowsill, offering Christmas charm year-round, without wires. This year, it will be a laptop set up to monitor a closed-circuit security camera over the Internet. The cost? About $1,800.

Anderson will have a little more competition at this year's show:

	The Infrared Locking Dog Door with Barrier lets your dog in; keeps other neighborhood critters out. It's available from Smarthome Inc. Visit www.smarthome.com. Click photo for larger image.

ADT Security Systems is offering closed-circuit TV and structured wiring;

Guardian Protection Services will have OnQ Structured Wiring;

Microtek Home Systems will show its home automation products;

Security System of America will showcase M-1 home automation and Abus, a whole-house music system that runs on Cat 5e wiring;

The Vac Shop in Ambridge will offer whole-house audio, home theater technology and structured wiring.

It appears that just about anyone who can get into the walls is knocking on the smart house's door, installing systems that aren't compatible. To differentiate themselves, companies continually introduce new products. Eaton Corp., the parent company of Cutler Hammer, made a splash at the recent International Builders Show in Orlando, Fla., with Home Heartbeat.

Called a home awareness system, it will e-mail or send a text message to a homeowner's cell phone if there is a water leak, doors or windows are left open or appliances left on. The wireless system does not require structured wiring and will be available at retail stores in the second half of the year. Cost for the base station, home key and one sensor will be $149. Additional sensors will range from $29 to $49 and notification by e-mail or cell phone will cost $29 a year.

Binotto, who markets Eaton/Cutler Hammer's structured wiring here, is working in two Signature Homes developments. Most of the structured wiring companies have relationships with area builders. Mandros of MGM Automation is installing Elan Home Systems products in Lake MacLeod, a luxury home community in Pine by Shipley Brothers Development. And Greyfox has wired a $400,000 model carriage home at The Gables at Brickyard Hill, Adams.

The Gables model has whole-house audio and two home theaters "to showcase both options," says Carl Humes, president of RHL Construction Group, the developer and builder. He says home buyers are often drawn to the glitzy side of structured wiring.

"People want it but they're not sure how to get it."

Wiring old homes

So, do you have to buy a new house to get in on the fun? Structured wiring installers say they can wire existing homes, but the added labor can double the cost of the project. Wireless audio, computer and security components are getting better and less expensive. But "dead spots" and interference can cause problems and the price is still significantly higher than for comparable hard-wired components.

Smarthome and other companies provide a do-it-yourself alternative with gadgets designed to run off your home's existing electrical system. "Smart" thermostats, remote-controlled lighting and other devices operate on what's known as X10, with modules plugged into a standard outlet. Reliability problems with X10 prompted Smarthome to recently come out with Insteon, which combines wireless and X10-combatible technology. Smart-home, whose products have been featured on TV shows like "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," sells direct from its Web site and on Amazon.com.

Even in smart houses, practicality sometimes trumps glitz. Donnelly ended up spending about $6,000 with Greyfox. The budget-buster was the central vacuum system, which includes ports in every room where you plug in a hose. All debris goes into a central collection tank.

"It's really nice to have it in the garage, so you can clean the cars and stuff," he said.