Experience Elevated Living with a Control4 Automation System

The heart of any smart home is the automation platform. Smart home automation brings ease of control; by integrating all smart technology in your Laguna Beach, CA, home, it can be controlled from one central dashboard. For a truly seamless smart home experience, you’ll need to work with a professional automation company like Launch Systems. We are a certified Control4 dealer and integrate luxury automation technology into your home. Keep reading to learn how Control4 can elevate your lifestyle.

Enjoy a Seamless Smart Home Installation With a Trusted Professional

When embarking on a home technology project, choosing the right smart home automation dealer is crucial. Working with a Control4 Diamond Dealer offers exclusive benefits that go beyond standard installation, ensuring that your home automation system is seamlessly integrated, reliable, and future-proof. Below, we highlight the key advantages of partnering with a Control4 Diamond Dealer for your high-end home automation project.

Launch Systems Brings Home Automation and Control to Orange County Residents

Coming home at the end of a long day is one of the most relaxing experiences, and not only because there’s a comfortable bed to jump into at the end! Once you step foot into your Laguna Beach, CA home after a long workday or a busy weekend excursion with the family, having your home respond to your every need is just one of the many perks of home automation.

What are we talking about, you ask? With a Control4 installation, your entire home can respond with a simple tap of your finger or with a voice command. Stay tuned below to learn more about a few features available with a Control4 smart home.

SEE ALSO: #C4Yourself: Discover Smart Tech in Our Control4 Showroom

Video Doorbell

The holidays are right around the corner, and many of us are making a list and checking it twice, then heading to our favorite online stores to add items to our shopping carts. Packages are on their way to your Orange County home, but are you prepared to deal with the dreaded nuisance of porch pirates?

Don’t Miss Our Control4 Showroom Events September & October 2021

Imagine pressing a button that instantly lowers your window shades and shifts the lighting to a cozy nighttime hue. Or with a quick voice command, turning on your home theater system and queueing up HBO. With a smart home system, your wishes are your commands, and your house responds in seconds.  

But to fully grasp what smart home living is like, you need to see it to believe it. And you can’t find a Control4 system at your local Target or Best Buy. Such sophisticated smart home solutions can only be found in a Control4 dealer’s showroom. In Orange County, Launch Systems is your local smart home expert.

Our state-of-the-art Control4 showroom lets you demonstrate the magic of home automation up close and personal. And in part of Control4’s annual #C4Yourself celebration, we’ll be hosting events throughout September and October with tours and demos. Discover what’s in our Newport Beach, CA showroom below and schedule your visit here!

SEE ALSO: Wait, I Can Add Motorized Shades Where?

Smart Control, Motorized Shading, and Whole-Home Audio Solutions Make Life Easier

Home automation is no longer a futuristic luxury afforded to the characters of a science fiction flick. Smart home automation is a proven trend that is here to stay. When you’re working with the professionals at Launch Systems, you can change the way you experience your Portland, OR home and incorporate all of your technologies into one intuitive and simple-to-use home control system.

Some technologies can make your home more comfortable, such as lighting and climate control; others can elevate your entertainment experience to another level! To learn about two of our favorite smart home solutions, keep reading below.

SEE ALSO: Don’t Let Social Distancing Get You Down – Socialize in Your Home Theater

Automated Window Treatments

Motorized blinds and shades can do more than cover your windows to provide privacy from peering eyes. Different fabric and style selections can offer various features depending on how you want to use them. For example, curtains made of tightly-woven fabric can block out ambient light, perfect for using in your bedroom and in home theater spaces.

With the tap of a button on your smart home control system, you can draw open the curtains to let warming, natural light into your bedroom in the mornings so you can more naturally ease yourself into the day ahead. In your living spaces, roller shades or sheer drapes with a looser fabric weave can allow softer light to filter into areas. Any annoying glare is reduced, but your family can still see the beautiful outdoor views through the fabrics.

Your Movie and TV Experience Just Got a Lot More Exciting!

As a professional Control4 dealer in Portland, OR, we expertly design and install smart systems every day. With smart lighting, shading, and more, incredible comfort and convenience are a mere button press away. We’ve written several blogs about our love for Control4 home automation solutions, and we will continue to do so because the brand continually offers innovative home control technology for every room of the house – from the kitchen to the media room to your outdoor spaces. Besides the staple high-performance audio and video components required for the ultimate personal home theater experience, there are two other aspects of smart home control you should consider. Scroll below to learn how effortless control and smart lighting can change the way you enjoy movies, TV shows, gaming, and sports!

SEE ALSO: Why You Should Have Control4 Automation In Your Home

Effortless Control

For just a moment, imagine what it would be like if you walked into your home theater and pressed the ‘Movie Night’ button on a sleek, aluminum-bodied remote with a touch screen. In mere seconds, automated shades lower to block out glare from the outdoors, smart lighting dims to illuminate pathways in and out of the room, your AV system cues up your Blu-ray player or Netflix, and your surround sound system prepares to immerse the family into the action of any TV show or film. It’s possible with a Control4 system powered by the Neeo remote. You could also initiate this same smart scene using voice control or your smart device of choice. Talk about a high-quality entertainment experience!  

Smart Lighting

Now consider lighting. Though we all enjoy watching movies and TV shows in the dark, the room still needs lighting incorporated to see what’s going on in the space once the credits roll. Lighting is integral, and a Control4 dealer can expertly integrate various lighting styles to make a stellar entertainment experience. Overhead lighting that dims or brightens at the press of a button makes it easy to transition from a tough day on the job into peak relaxation mode in the evening. Floor lighting can illuminate the path from comfortable recliners to the room’s exit so that it’s safe to acquire popcorn mid-movie without tripping.   If you’re ready to bring customized smart control to your Portland-area home theater or media room, chat with us at the bottom of your browser or call (949) 515-7030 to get started. You can schedule a no-obligation consultation and more when you contact Launch Systems today – we’re your local Control4 dealer. We look forward to working with you!

Partner With a Home Automation Company From the Start

Smart home technology has developed dramatically over the last few decades, with intelligent systems and devices becoming prevalent in many homes. These devices can make a home more comfortable and convenient, something every homeowner can enjoy. Unfortunately, many Oregonians fall victim to the pitfalls of DIY when they first embark on their smart home journey. Several visit the local big-box retailer to buy a “smart ____.” Fill in the blank with your choice of device; it likely exists, but it’s not nearly as smart as it lets on. Read below to learn three reasons why going the do-it-yourself route can become a nuisance and why you should instead work with Launch Systems, your local Portland-area home automation company.

SEE ALSO: 3 Reasons Why We Love Control4  

DIY Mistake #1: Incompatible Systems

Disparate devices do not communicate with one another. Each speaks a different language, so synchronizing them all together is a feat, if not impossible. That means you need to juggle multiple apps and cables in order to use every smart device you would find at a big-box retailer. Instead, Launch Systems can design a customized Control4 home automation system that incorporates every smart device in your entire Portland home. Control4 works with the leading technology companies – like Sonos, Amazon, Lutron and Sony, to name a few – plus the brand offers its own family of smart devices, too. These seemingly incongruent products are programmed to work together in unison with just a tap of your finger or with designated smart scenes.  

DIY Mistake #2: Not Scalable

The average U.S. household has 45 light bulbs. Think about your own home for a moment. If you have a larger home, then you could easily double that number. Now think of the other tech devices you have. DIY home automation cannot control all of the smart devices inside and outside of an expansive home. Even with a robust home network triaging device traffic for you, a poorly designed residential control system simply can’t support every motorized shade, audio/video component and tunable LED bulb. A professionally designed system with expert installation will not only incorporate every single device you currently have, but it will have room to grow when you add additional devices that demand extra power and bandwidth.  

DIY Mistake #3: An Eyesore

Though some homeowners may not care about this particular mistake, we consider it one of the most dreadful issues we encounter when coming in to fix DIY disasters. At the local retailer, color and finish options are skim. Color options are typically white or black, and finishes come in matte or glossy. Luckily, you don’t have to live with these drab options in your home. Custom-etched wall plates are available in satin, metallics, matte, or glossy finishes are available, so operating your smart home can be a stylish activity. Clunky black boxes don’t need to mar your interior design. We work alongside homeowners to find custom finishes and fabrics that complement your décor and meet your technology needs.   For more insight on what it takes to incorporate smart home technology into your Oregon or California home, be sure to follow us on Facebook. And if you’re ready to explore the possibilities of home automation, connect with us using our online form. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Learn Why This Home Automation Brand Is Our Favorite for Portlanders

Can you imagine walking into your Portland-area home and having it respond to your every need? Nothing is nicer than stepping into the foyer after a long day at work and pressing a button to initiate a sequence of smart device responses that help you wind down and ease into a relaxed state of mind. What we just described isn’t fiction – it’s possible with Control4 home automation! Your entire Oregon home is at your fingertips or operable with a simple voice command. Read on below to learn three reasons why Control4 is our favorite home control brand.

SEE ALSO: Incorporate Control4 OS 3 Into Your California Home

1.      Control4 is Simple to Control.

We’re not exaggerating when we say using a Control4 system is as easy as pressing a button. Custom-etched wall keypads that match your décor, sleek touchscreens mounted on the wall or on table stands, remotes in stylish finishes, and even your smartphone are all possible devices to use to control your home. The app’s user interface is intuitive and customizable, so you can program your favorite settings and customize scenes with just a few swipes.

2.      Control4 Improves Energy Efficiency.

Your window treatments communicate with temperature sensors via your Control4 system, automatically lowering in response to the room's temperature rising to prevent heat gain in your living spaces. A temperature rise will trigger your HVAC system to turn off or on depending on the time of year and your preferences. A smart home with climate control will save you money because it can learn your habits and adjust accordingly to reduce energy waste.

3.      Control4 Transforms Your Home.

With home automation, you can change the ambiance in mere seconds. Select the ‘Relax’ scene to dim tunable LED lighting, lower the shades, and start streaming your favorite jazz station on Spotify to help you wind down at the end of the day. Raise the blinds with a voice command to let natural sunlight shine brightly into your home at the beginning of the day. Dim the lights in the home theater whenever you queue up your AV system. It’s all possible with a home powered by Control4!   If you’re ready to explore the simple pleasures of a Control4 system in your Portland-area home, fill out our online form to get started! We can’t wait to hear from you.

Watch These Tutorial Videos to Get the Most Out of Your System

Our favorite home automation company, Control4, introduced the latest upgrade to its operating system last year: OS 3. Control4 OS 3 introduced a wealth of new features previously unavailable in the first two iterations of the operating system, with a new focus placed on user personalization.   Personalization has become an essential desire of homeowners with automation in their homes, so features like active media bars, a Favorites option, and broad support of third-party devices was imperative in the new operating system.   In this blog, we’ll cover three ways you can manage the Control4 OS 3 system in your Laguna Beach, CA home, plus include helpful videos to help you navigate the process.

SEE ALSO: Expand Your Home Network to Improve Your Outdoor Areas

Control4 Security

You can enjoy improved peace of mind with security alarms, smart locks and surveillance cameras. Imagine managing and arming every component of your system remotely with your smartphone or tablet, or while you’re at home from an in-wall touch panel. Take a look at this video to learn how to do that, plus, how to monitor the different security zones of your home individually:  
 

Media Sessions

You can control every music zone of your Laguna Beach home with a few simple taps. After you’ve selected what tunes to stream on Spotify while you prepare dinner in the kitchen, expand the listening landscape by taking the music to the dining room as well. Once dinner is ready, move the music to the outdoor entertainment area to eat outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. You can also manage what’s playing in your home theater with ease. Click play to learn more:  
 

Customizing Pages

For each room of your home, you can customize your screen to show your favorite smart technologies. Simply tap and rearrange each technology feature you’d like to operate, then manage your Control4 system as you need. If you often dim the lighting, open and close the motorized shades, watch your TV, and listen to surround sound, then you can select those functions to show on your Favorites screen for your media room. Check out the following video to learn just how simple it will be to customize the interface of your Control4 OS 3 screen:
 
Now that you’ve gotten a sneak peek at how simple Control4 OS 3 can be, let us show you a system in action. Call us today at (949) 515-7030, chat with us below, or fill out our contact form to get started. We can’t wait to help you bring comfort and convenience to your California home with Control4.

Deter the Dreaded Porch Pirates This Holiday Season

The holidays are filled with festive activities with family and friends, and shopping opportunities for that special someone – or someones – in your life. Online shopping and store deliveries have become very popular in recent years, and it’s not uncommon to see packages lying on the porches of your Irvine, CA, neighbors, or even on your own front porch. Unfortunately, a new term exists for individuals that take advantage of this burgeoning trend of home deliveries: porch pirates. These individuals take advantage of a convenient service to many. From video doorbells to surveillance cameras, keep reading to learn how you can leverage your smart home security system to your advantage this holiday season.  

SEE ALSO: Let Control4 Ease the Stresses of the Holiday Season

Video Doorbell

Control4’s door stations offer your home a video and audio intercom experience. Full-motion video and high-quality audio capabilities allow you to communicate with, and see, whoever has rung your doorbell, plus notify you of any detected motion. Packages sitting on your porch or not, this is a beneficial system to incorporate into your Irvine, CA home. If a potential thief approaches your door, you will be notified via text or push notification of the detected motion; then, you can tap the screen to view live video footage. Your audio will automatically be muted, but if you see a thief nearing your front door, you can turn on the audio function, communicating to the pirate that you will call the authorities and that you have them on camera in the act. Hopefully, this never happens, as the security cameras serve as a deterrent in and of themselves, but you can rest easy knowing you have a course of action to take.

More than a Doorbell

Control4’s video doorbells are more than just a doorbell. Extend the video and audio capabilities inside your home using Intercom Anywhere. Intercom Anywhere allows you to greet guests at the front door, communicate with specific rooms of your home, and call people outside of your home with a Control4 touch screen or from the Control4 app. The same functionality that allows you to deter porch pirates keeps your family connected!

A Piece of the Puzzle

Smart home automation from Control4 allows for easy control for the solutions mentioned above, plus grants you the ability to manage your motorized shades, lighting control system, home theater, security system and more. Not only can you deter porch thieves, but you can keep your Irvine, CA home safe with security systems and surveillance cameras, too. It’s all operable with Control4 automation!   If you’re ready to deter porch pirates this holiday season, plus keep your family communicating, contact us today at (949) 515-7030 or use our online contact form to reach out. We can’t wait to hear from you.

Make Your Home Merry and Bright with Home Automation

Not to add to any existing stress you may have regarding the upcoming holiday season, but here’s a reminder: the holidays are right around the corner! No matter which holidays you celebrate this winter, it’s sure to be a time full of merriment, gift-giving, and gatherings with your family and friends. Why not make life a little bit simpler by incorporating the capabilities mentioned in this blog with your existing Control4 system? Or, if you want to treat your Huntington Beach, CA home to an extra special holiday gift this year, invest in a new Control4 home automation system to unleash a whole new world of possibilities for yourself, your family, and your holiday guests. Keep reading to learn more about how Control4 can help you ease the stresses of this holiday season.  

SEE ALSO: Why You Should Have Control4 Home Automation in Your Home

Individualized Access Codes

The holidays are a hubbub of activity, with family and friends entering and exiting your home more often than usual due to holiday parties and get-togethers. Do you remember the days of hiding a key under a fake rock or other un-safe yard locations so your guests could enter your home while you were away? Those days are gone, thankfully, and your Huntington Beach-area home no longer needs that potential security breach hiding in your flower bed. Instead, send a smart lock guest access code to friends and family arriving from the airport while you’re away at work. You can text or share the code with them prior to their departure. Once they arrive at your doorstep, all they need to do is type in the code and voila, keyless entry. You can monitor your home from your smart device, too, and ensure they’ve locked the doors if they need to run errands before you arrive home from work.

Deter Porch Pirates

In addition to an influx of guests, you’re probably receiving package deliveries more frequently this time of year due to an increase in your holiday shopping. Instead of losing track of the safety of your packages, utilize smart home devices that work well on their own but even better when integrated into a Control4 automation system. Video doorbells are a great addition to any Huntington Beach, CA home’s façade. Whenever the device detects motion or when someone rings your doorbell, you’ll be able to monitor the camera feed and even speak with the person at the door. You can speak with delivery drivers, unlock your smart lock remotely, and have the delivery person place your packages inside the door. You can then lock the door behind them. Any potential porch pirates will also be deterred, knowing they’d be caught in the act on video.

Lighting

Lutron lighting control can also integrate with your Control4 automation system. As guests arrive, they’ll be able to easily locate your home from the street with luminous landscape lighting and holiday string lights that automatically turned on at dusk. There’s no need to manually operate your lighting or forgetting to turn lights on because you were busy prepping for the evening’s festivities. You can sync indoor lighting with a timer or with the tap of a button on a smart device, keypad, or touchscreen, and it can all operate in sync with the rest of your home. Cozy up next to the fireplace and get into the holiday spirit with festive colored lighting, and stream your favorite holiday playlists throughout your home with a multi-room audio system.   An integrated smart home is possible and easy to use thanks to Control4 smart automation. Chat with us using the live chat at the bottom of your browser or fill out our contact form to get started on your no-obligation consultation. We look forward to helping you ease your holiday stresses.

Launch Systems is the Control4 Dealer in the Newport Beach area

Smart home automation is becoming a reality for millions of homes across the globe, with the market estimated to grow to a value of more than $53 billion by 2022. One of the main benefits of home automation is the convenience, allowing homeowners to control a variety of functions within their home—lighting, security, thermostats, and more—with the tap of a button or a voice command. Instead of using ten different apps to control your 10+ devices, comprehensive home automation systems manage all of your devices in one integrated, easy-to-control interface. One popular and well-respected brand of home automation control systems is Control4. Control4 dealers consult with homeowners on their automation needs, considering current use cases as well as potential future use case scenarios. Once designed, dealers work alongside home builders and architects or alone to install a system into your home. After installation, a Control4 dealer can provide further service and maintenance as you need. Keep reading to learn why consulting with a Control4 dealer for integrated home control is the best decision for your Newport Beach, CA home.

SEE ALSO: Take a Look at Our Photo & Video Gallery

Easy to Manage

Amazon Alexa is one of the first gateway smart devices users add to their homes. Seventy percent of smart home technology consumers said that once they bought their first internet-connected device, they were more likely to buy another. As you add smart devices to your home, an integrated Control4 system helps you maintain control easily, without your system becoming too unwieldy. With voice control or the tap of a button on your smartphone, remote control, or installed touch panel, you can control your smart lighting, dim tunable LED lights in the evenings and raise your motorized window treatments in the morning to let in the sunshine.

Home Entertainment

Your home theater or media room may have a variety of remotes—one goes to the Blu-ray player, one to the TV display, and one you can’t quite figure out or remember what it controls. Control4 offers a simple smart remote that anyone in your family can intuitively operate. Want to watch TV? Tap on the Watch TV button. It’s as simple as that. Play music from your personal music collection or stream directly from your favorite Spotify stations from anywhere in your home. You can manage the tunes in the dining room to play relaxing music while the outdoor area is streaming a fun pop riff while the kids are playing in the pool. Speakers and sound systems are all operable with a Control4 system. A dealer ensures your surround sound is fully immersive while your wired and wireless network connections are running at the fastest speeds with virtually no interference.

Comfort and Convenience

You can also automate your climate control system, ensuring the AC isn’t running at full capacity in the middle of the day while everyone is away at work or school. Temperatures can be set to adjust during specific times of the day or as the seasons change. In conjunction with climate control, you can operate your smart lighting control and motorized window treatments automatically or with the tap of a button on your smart device. If you forgot to turn the lights off as you left for the day, use your smartphone to turn off the lights automatically. If you’d prefer to lower the roller shades while you’re watching a movie, tap a button on your smart device instead of losing your comfortable seat on the couch. Comfort and convenience go hand in hand when you have smart home control automated with Control4.   Launch Systems has a stellar reputation of making complicated household functions effortless as the Control4 dealer in Newport Beach, CA and the surrounding areas. If you’d like to see a Control4 system in action or want to know what we can do for your home, call us today at (949) 515-7030 or contact us online. We look forward to hearing from you.