The scene: Your home. It's late at night. You settle into your comfy bed, maybe turn on the TV or pop open a book. You sigh and relax. Life is good.
LOVING SPOUSE: Did you lock the doors?
YOU: Yes.
LOVING SPOUSE: And shut off all the lights?
YOU: Um ...
LOVING SPOUSE: And the lights outside? And is there a pathway lit from the kids' room to the bathroom?
YOU: (Roll over, grumbling, but never getting out of bed. You simply press a couple buttons on a keypad or touchscreen.) All set, honey. (You smile and resume reading or watching your show.)

That's an example of the power and convenience of home and lighting control. You can shut off all the lights from one location, as well as enact lighting schemes such as pathways to bathrooms, arm a security system, even order up some romantic music if your spouse is indeed feeling loving. You can control your home's lights, audio, climate and security all from one spot or from a mix of wall-mounted keypads, remote controls, computers and touchscreens.

Systems such as these can perform simple commands like turning the lights up or down or more complicated functions like combining lights, music, security, climate and more at the touch of a button. It's all a matter of what you want -- and how much you are willing to pay. Systems that are capable of more complicated and complete whole-house control are expensive.

Any control system can be very complicated on the inside, but remember: No matter how complex the system and its various tasks are, it should be simple for everyone to use.

Types of Control Systems

There are several types of home and lighting control systems available. Powerline carrier and wireless systems are used often for retrofits in homes where new wire can't be routed. But if your home is being constructed, a hardwired control system is still the way to go. In some cases, you may have a combination of powerline, wireless and hardwired home control.

Powerline carrier systems are the least expensive type of home or lighting control. They operate over the home's existing wiring. Devices can range from lamp timers available at retail outlets to more sophisticated systems that cost thousands of dollars and require a custom installation. New technologies have greatly improved the performance and reliability of powerline systems.

Wireless control systems utilize radio frequency (RF) technology and are often used for retrofit systems in conjunction with other wired control systems. They are most commonly used for lighting systems in homes where adding special lighting control wire isn't feasible. Some systems send a wireless signal back to a central processor, while others rely on point-to-point communication, using nodes to relay wireless signals from one location to another.

Hardwired control systems are the most reliable and the most expensive. These systems operate over high-grade communications cable such as Category 5 or 5e or through their own proprietary "bus" cable. That is why it is best to plan for these systems when your house is being constructed. These systems can cost well into five figures, depending on your needs and the size of your home.

Hardwired systems can perform more tasks at a time and do them quickly and reliably, making them ideal for large homes. They can also tie together your indoor and outdoor lighting, audio and video, security, even your heating and ventilation systems into one control package. On a smaller scale, some lighting control systems can work with whole-house audio systems and provide control for them on their light-switch-sized keypads. It's a good idea to look for systems that can be used with other home systems.

Internet protocol (IP) control is a new breed of home control that makes it easier than ever to operate all the devices in your home. IP uses today's computer technology to turn your home into its own little Internet, with every device on the network assigned an IP address. These systems can incorporate both wired and wireless technologies. Watch for more of these and for prices to drop. (Also see the Home Networking section in this issue.)

What to Look For

Reliability: Look for a powerline system that can modulate the signal strength to overcome interference or the loss of the electrical signal as it passes through your home's wiring. These systems are best equipped to overcome things that affect electrical signals within a home.

Room by Room: If you plan on having home control in more than one room, look for a multizone control system. These allow for different controls in various parts of the home.

Preprogrammed Scenes and Modes: More-extensive systems, from powerline carriers to expensive hardwired systems, will also be capable of enacting housewide and local "scenes," which may also be called "modes" or "macros." These allow more than one event to take place in a sequence, such as a goodnight scene that turns off all the lights and arms the security system or a party scene that turns on lights and music for entertaining guests.

Clock It: An astronomical clock allows your control system to work with a timer that also automatically adjusts for daylight savings time. With a system containing an astronomical clock, you can set your outside lights to come on at dusk, even though the time the sun sets changes each day.

Works with Others: Home and lighting control systems should also have RS-232 interfaces to communicate with devices such as video projectors and lighting and security systems.

Means of Control: Home control systems are typically operated by either touchscreens or keypads. Touchscreens feature LCD screens are can be located on tabletops or in the walls. Less-expensive keypads are generally located in the wall near a room's entrance. Each button on a keypad can be programmed to set a scene or operate a single device in that room.

The most expensive home control systems generally use touchscreens that allow users to scroll through pages of controls, each one for a separate system such as lighting or audio/video. Some touchscreens can display video from a DVD, satellite or security cameras. Others offer either one-way or two-way wireless RF control. More expensive two-way RF controls confirms that the signal has been received by the controller.

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