How do you retrofit a smart home into an older Tacoma house?

What does a smart home retrofit mean in an older Tacoma house?

Adding one system that runs the lights, thermostat, alarm, cameras, music, TV, shades and locks from one app, one keypad and, if you like, your voice, without rewiring the house. Tacoma's housing stock is a mix of 1900s Craftsman homes, mid-century ramblers and new construction near Ruston Way. The older houses were built for a single overhead light per room. The question we hear most in the North End and Proctor is whether automation means tearing into plaster. It does not. Here is how we do it.

How do you add lighting control without rewiring?

By replacing the existing switches with wireless dimmers and keypads that fit the same box. Control4 wireless dimmers install where the old switch was, talk to the controller over radio, and turn a room's lights into scenes: "Evening", "Dinner", "Off". A keypad by the front door replaces a bank of switches with a few engraved buttons. The one thing we check first is whether the old switch boxes have a neutral wire, because some dimmer models need one; the walk-through answers that. Details on keypads, dimmers and fixtures are on the smart lighting page.

How does security fit a finished house?

Wirelessly. Ajax detectors are battery powered, so contacts on the original double-hung windows and MotionCams in the halls go in without a wire. The hub polls every device over the encrypted Jeweller radio, which reaches up to 2,000 m in open space (Hub 2 manual), so the detached garage is covered too. A MotionCam sends its first photo within 9 seconds of a trigger (Ajax MotionCam). Cameras on the porch and driveway need one cable each, usually run from the basement or attic to the eave.

Where do the speakers go?

In the ceiling, painted to match, or in furniture and bookcases where the ceiling is original plaster you want to keep. Architectural speakers with paintable grilles disappear in a hall or kitchen ceiling. In a formal living room with a decorative ceiling we use bookshelf or in-cabinet speakers driven from a rack in the basement. Music follows you from the kitchen to the porch, and the same remote runs the TV in the den. See home theater and audio.

What about shades and climate?

Battery shades and a thermostat that the controller can see. Motorized shades on battery motors need no wiring and fit inside the original window casing, which matters on a house where the trim is the point. The thermostat joins the "Away" and "Goodnight" scenes so the house sets back when the alarm arms.

Why does the network come first?

Because every system above reports through it, and a 1910 house with lath-and-plaster walls eats Wi-Fi. We run Ethernet through the attic and basement to a wired access point on each floor. A PoE switch and an Island Router go in a rack in the basement or a closet. Cameras, automation and guests are separated on their own networks. That is the part of the job that takes the most planning in a historic house and the part that makes everything else reliable. See Wi-Fi and networking.

DIY devices or a professional retrofit?

A professional system is one app, local control that keeps working when the internet drops, and a design that grows. A collection of DIY devices is several apps, cloud dependence and a ceiling on what it can do. Control4 works with 25,000+ third-party products and runs in over 500,000 homes (Control4), so the TV and thermostat you own are usually covered.

The scenes Tacoma clients ask for most: "Movie" dims the room and drops the shades, and "Away" turns off the lights and arms the alarm. The "Goodnight" scene locks up and shuts the house down. Voice through Josh.ai is for the family member who prefers to say it.

What drives the cost?

Room count, device count and how much cable has to travel through finished walls versus attic and basement. A main-floor lighting system with audio in two rooms is a smaller job than a whole-home system with shades, security and a theater. The instant quote gives you a number in minutes; the walk-through turns it into a fixed proposal.

Need it installed?

Rivas Technology Group designs and installs smart home automation and Control4 across Tacoma from our office in Kent, about 25 minutes away. See the Tacoma page, or book a walk-through.