We recently completed a project where the customer wanted to be able to turn on and off his different water fountains either from his iPad or iPhone instead of going to the pump house. We were able to custom make pages in Elan g! to control the pumps and even set schedules for them that could be controlled remotely. On this large fountain system this turned out to be a huge energy management benefit, saving the customer hundreds of dollars a month off his electric bill.
Many people may wonder why a full home automation system is even needed since more and more products have their own controllable apps. You can get lights, shades, cameras, music servers, and pretty much everything else with an app now to control from your iPhone so why do you need a control system like Savant or Elan? Well to be able to use all of the systems together. Sure an app for you lights is cool, but all you can do with that is turn them on and off. With an automation system your lights can be tied into your surveillance, security, or shades. As an example; when you pull up to your home the surveillance camera could read your license plate, this could then trigger the gate to open, security to disarm, garage door to open, back door to unlock, lighting scene come on, shades close, and music to start from your favorite Pandora station. Home Automation takes everything and ties it together into one package, one app, and really the possibility are endless to what you can customize to your life style.
Conclusion
Home Automation systems like Elan and Savant offer endless possibilities from controlling your fountains for simple energy management to complete automation of all devices making it something for everyone.