Automate Your Home's Climate and Lighting for More Comfort and Energy Savings
Never stop halfway to work and wonder if you turned off the lights at home or turned up the air. Home automation systems regulate your lighting and climate control to optimize your energy savings and comfort. In fact, leaving lights on can contribute significantly to wasted electricity. We can help you with home automation at Home Theater Installation of Orange County.
Stop Wasting Light!
The International Dark-Sky Association estimates that 30% of outdoor lighting in the United States is unnecessary. Examples of wasted outdoor lighting include fixtures without shields that indiscriminately shine their light everywhere instead of focusing it on certain areas. In fact, the amount of exterior lighting the United States uses could light all of New York City for two years! Wasted indoor lights also contribute to the problem.
If you don't think that wasted light affects you, look at your utility bills. By investing in home automation that lets you control your indoor and outdoor lights from anywhere, you can reduce the amount of wasted light around your home. Not only will you save electricity, but you can also make your home safer by giving the illusion that someone is home turning lights on and off.
Cool Off Without Paying Too Much
In southern California, though the climate typically is mild, there will be days when you need the air conditioner or heater in your home. Instead of leaving the central air running all day and cooling an empty home, turn it on when you leave work through a home automation system. When you arrive, you will enter a comfortable home, and you didn't have to pay to keep cool all day.
Home automation systems also can let you change the temperature if you are at work and your kids are home. Instead of trusting your little ones to properly set the thermostat, you can do the job yourself. By keeping tight control over your home's temperature, you will reduce the amount of electricity and money wasted.
Money Savings and Comfort: What More Could You Want?
By investing in a home automation system, you can enjoy both home comfort while cutting your utility bills. What better combination could you get? To get started, contact us at Home Theater Installation of Orange County at 714-744-4455. We're here to make it easy to upgrade your home to a smart home.
Source
https://hometheaterinstallationorangecounty.com/services/#lighting-climate-control
https://www.darksky.org/light-pollution/energy-waste/
Understanding Home Theater Sound Types: Several 7.1-Channel Formats
If you’re new to home theater audio, you’ve probably discovered that the topic is more complicated than many people expect it to be. That’s why last month we started a series on the Home Theater Installation Orange County blog, Understanding Home Theater Sound Types. We covered some of the basics of terminology, and then we covered some of the most popular 5.1-channel formats.
This month we’re back for more! Today we’ll start out by explaining several of the most popular 7.1-channel formats.
7.1 Defined
7.1-channel systems add two additional speakers to the 5.1-channel setup. So where 5.1 includes five primary speakers (front left/center/right and rear left/right) plus a subwoofer, a 7.1-channel system adds a “middle” left and right. These additional speakers create an even more immersive experience.
Blu-ray discs have more space for audio, so many commercially-produced Blu-ray releases include 7.1-channel audio in one of several formats. Some video games and much of modern streaming media also supports 7.1-channel audio.
Now that we have the basics out of the way, here’s an explanation of two of the most common formats.
Dolby TrueHD
Dolby TrueHD gets its name from the fact that it offers lossless, uncompressed audio in 7.1 channels— in other words, “true HD.” This level of quality and format matches exactly the channel quality and distribution you experience when you go to the movie theater. You’ll get better, more exact audio effects with Dolby TrueHD than you will with some other formats (especially those with only 5.1 channels).
DTS-HD Master Audio
DTS-HD Master Audio does basically everything Dolby TrueHD does. It’s a competing technology from the brand DTS. While it delivers lossless performance, it’s not truly lossless thanks to DTS’s “lossy core.”
Conclusion
The reality is that any modern equipment can handle either type, and you’ll likely never hear a difference. Both are great options if your system is set up for 7.1-channel output.