Your Home: August 2005 Winner Marc Blitstein

Click here to view more photos of Marc Blitstein's home!

Marc Blitstein feels that the automation system in his 2800-square-foot, two-story home matches up well against many that we feature in Electronic House magazine. Who are we to argue? Marc's home, located in a new gated golf course community in Mount Sinai (Long Island), New York, features a host of home electronics amenities (see below). And with a walk-out basement scheduled to be finished this fall adding an additional 1800-square-feet, the technology possibilities continue.

Congratulations Marc, on being our latest Your Home winner!

Here's a list of what Marc has installed:

Data

• Cat 5 and coax cables (a minimum of two runs to each room installed during the construction phase)
• Futuresmart hub for all coax, Cat 5 and phone wiring
• Linksys 802.11g wireless router
• Linksys eight-port wired router
• Two IBM notebook computers
• One Dell server used for backup of the notebooks nightly, to host HAI's web product and for future use

Phone

• Panasonic two-line, eight-handset, 2.4 gig cordless phone/answering machine with intercom capability

Security/Control

• HAI Omnipro II with perimeter, glass break, motion, fire and heat detection. Wireless hidden contacts on the second floor

Lighting

• Compose PLC system with three firewalls, 55 light switches, three CP5 Scene controllers, one CM5 Master Scene controller

HVAC Control

• Two HAI thermostats with five temp-averaging sensors in each zone

AV

Master Bedroom:

• Fujitsu 50" plasma TV mounted over the fireplace
• Sonance front- and rear-channel in-ceiling speakers
• AIM center-channel speaker
• Yamaha subwoofer
• Crestron STX 1700 two-way touchscreen

Master Bath:

• Samsung 23" HDTV LCD television
• Sonance in-ceiling speakers
• Sonance waterproof stereo speaker (in shower)
• Crestron CT1000 touchpanel

Den/Kitchen:

• Samsung 61" DLP
• Samsung progressive scan DVD player
• Samsung DVD burner
• Sonance in-ceiling rear-channel speakers
• Mirage Omnistat front, center and subwoofer
• Crestron ISYS wi-fi tablet

Deck:

• Niles outdoor speakers
• Crestron CT1000 touchpanel (in den)

Living Room:

• Sonance in-wall speakers
• Crestron CT1000 touchpanel (controls LR and DR)

Dining Room:

• Sonance in-ceiling speakers

Guest Bedroom 1:

• Sonance in-ceiling speakers
• CRT tube TV
• Crestron keypad

Guest Bedroom 2:

• Same as Guest Bedroom 1

Home Office:

• Sharp 30" LCD TV (wall mounted)
• Samsung progressive scan DVD player
• HD cable box
• HP 7410 wireless multifunction printer
• IBM docking station (for IBM thinkpad) (allowing connection to Sharp TV)
• Bluetooth keyboard and mouse
• Sonance in-ceiling speakers
• Crestron keypad

Garage:

• Sonance in-wall speakers
• Crestron keypad

Rack-Mounted Central Equipment (in basement)

• Two Middle Atlantic equipment racks
• Two Monster Cable power conditioners
• Two Denon AVR 2805 7.1 AV receivers (for Den and Master Bedroom)
• Crestron CNX-BIPAD8 16-Source/8-Zone Preamp
• Crestron CNAMPX-12x60 Audio Amplifier 12 x 60
• Request Multimedia Fusion Pro 120 Digital Music Server
• Crestron C2N-TXM XM Tuner with Network Control and Data
• Magnum Dynalab ST-2 FM Antenna
• Crestron CP2E Control System
• Crestron CNPWS-75 Power Supply
• Crestron ST-IO SmarTouch Module
• Crestron C2N-TXM-C50 XM Antenna Extension Cable
• Crestron pro amp
• Sony DVP 400 disk DVD jukebox
• Request Multimedia Video Request DVD library controller
• Digital Matrix Switcher (to allow distribution of any of four video sources to any of the HD televisions via HDMI or DVI connections -- all digital, no analog)
• Two HD Cable boxes
• Two HD Cable boxes with integrated DVR

Additional Features

• Two gas fireplaces (MBR and LR) with RF control and through Crestron touch panels
• Motorized window shades in MBR, den, and kitchen also controlled via Crestron
• Hardwired towel warmer in the master bath (controlled by Compose and HAI)
• Waterworks water wall with lighting in entry foyer (controlled by Compose and HAI)

Examples of Some Current Automation and Scenes

• HAI automatically arms the alarm, shuts off all lighting, and adjusts temps at 11:30PM weeknights, 1:00 weekends. (A party mode overrides the shut down times until manually turned off)
• HAI automatically disarms the alarm, turns on selected lights and adjusts temp at a preset time each morning (unless in the away or vacation mode)
• Weekday mornings only, the MBR suite lights ramp up to awaken us and the bathroom lighting scene is set for my girlfriend. Her scene also calls a higher temp from the HVAC
• Bathroom fans come on and shut off automatically when lighting is turned on and shut off
• Vacation mode calls random lighting scenes to make the house look lived in, shuts off the towel warmer and water wall pump motor, and sets temps to wide setback to conserve energy
• Den/kitchen/great room has TV viewing, cooking/cleanup, dining, and entertainment scenes
• Master bath has his, hers, and romance scenes
• DR/LR have DR only, LR only, and two entertainment scenes
• If any windows are opened, HVAC goes into fan-only mode (with wide setback temps to prevent possible problems). Closing ALL of the windows reactivates the appropriate HVAC settings
• Outdoor lighting, the water wall lighting and selected other lights come on (some ramp up) at sunset
• HAI recognizes (by code) who disarms and sets the lights appropriately based on time of day. Selected codes will call my cell to alert me that an authorized person (i.e. contractor or guest) has entered the home.

(Explanation of Scenes)

Den/kitchen/great room has TV viewing, cooking/cleanup, dining, and entertainment scenes. The compose cp5 (I think that is the p/n) has an all-on, all-off and four scenes. We set them as follows:

• Cooking/clean up (virtually all lights on)
• TV view (some back ambient lighting in the kitchen)
• Dining (brighter than TV, but less then cooking)
• Work scene (under-cabinet and kitchen table)

The entertainment scene fires the third scene, then calls other lights throughout the main floor (plant uplights, built-in cabinet lights, etc)

Master bath has his, hers, and romance scenes. Same as above. The four scenes are:

• Hers: lights the shower, toilet and her vanity
• His: lights the shower, toilet and his vanity
• Romance : lights over hot tub and sconces are dimmed
• Toilet: lights the toilet only

DR/LR have DR only, LR only, and two entertainment scenes.

• Another CP5 in the DR
• First scene lights most of the fixtures in both the DR and LR
• Lights the DR
• Lights the LR
• Lights both the DR and LR to entertainment levels AND lights selected other lights throughout the main level

When completed the Crestron system will further integrate the lighting, security, HVAC, and HAI "buttons" (macros) for total integration and control. In addition, the touchscreens, pad, and tablet will allow selection of either:

• XM
• AM/FM
• Cable music
• Request (ripped CDs)
• HD Cable TV
• DVR library
• DVD library (managed by Request)
• Local DVD (from the den)
• Audio (any of the four sources) to any room in the house; video (any of the four sources) to any of the rooms equipped with an HD television

The gated community has its own Web site and is scheduled to install webcams at the security gate, gym, clubhouse and pool which will be viewable on any of the notebooks or the ISYS tablet.

There will be remote, secure access to the system from the web.