Q: Do I really want to automate feeding my fish? Advice from a homeowner

Avoid Automation Overkill

If you can imagine it, a home control system can probably do it. Door locks, fish tanks, window shades, even the water that spills out of the shower head can be managed by a home control system. While it may sound fantastic to have your home control system feed the fish and open the blinds, putting a system in charge of everything can end up backfiring.

Take if from homeowner Dan O'Hearn. "[I used to live in a home] where everything was automated-the windows, the shades, even the locks on the doors. There were no traditional light switches anywhere because the lights and everything else were operated from special touch panels." Dan's home was automated to the hilt, but it lacked the spontaneity of control his family craved. They wanted to be able to open the windows and turn on the lights whenever they wanted-without having to rely on a home control system to do it for them. '[With all that automation,] our home simply wasn't livable, Dan laments.

Our advice: Start out by automating just a few basic features in your home, like having the porch lights turn off at midnight and the thermostats lower right before bedtime. As you live with your system, you'll discover new automation routines that are practical for your household. Since most home control systems run off software-driven processors, adding new functions usually requires nothing more than a simple modification to the automation software.