Welcome to Our Smart Home Technology Blog

Bring Daylight Indoors with Human-Centric Lighting

Our lifestyles have transformed immensely since the time of our ancestors, and lighting has played a significant role. From nights spent around a fire to oil lamps and electricity, lighting has shaped our evolution. Unfortunately, while today's lighting offers tremendous benefits, none the least of which is a 24/7 lifestyle, it's also taken its toll. 

We no longer spend our days outside and retire when darkness falls. Our bodies still produce certain hormones that energize us in the daylight and others that promote sleep when the natural light grows dim. Unfortunately, these promptings are rare because most of us spend over 90% of our time indoors. And that's where the problems begin.

Today, there is a solution, and it's called circadian lighting. Let's explore what this technology offers homeowners in Dallas, TX, and how it enhances your well-being. 

Ensure that Your Smart Technology Installation Runs Smoothly

Creating the smart home of your dreams isn’t out of reach. However, approaching the task alone can feel overwhelming or like you don’t have the resources to see it through. When you work with a trusted home automation company like DeVance Electronic Lifestyle, you can rest assured that every last component of your installations runs smoothly and efficiently.

So what does working with our integrators entail? What are the top reasons to team up with DeVance Electronic Lifestyle for your Dallas, TX home’s upcoming projects? Keep reading below to learn more.

Upgrade Your Smart Home with High-End Solutions & Features

Your home should be a personalized oasis you can return to or spend your days in on end - each room and part of it serving you and your family for specific occasions and moments. Home automation systems can deliver convenience, comfort, safety, and more with just the tap of a button! Control4 is a leading brand in the industry that can provide a centralized system for your entire Highland Park, TX property.

Want to learn what the top features of a Control4 system are and how they can help you make the most of your smart home? Find out about these luxuries and more below!

Centralize & Streamline Your At-Home Routines at the Tap of a Button

Are you looking to take your daily home living experience to a new level? Want to create an easy routine for you and your family with smart solutions that cater to your unique needs? Savant has you covered. This leading brand in the industry creates a personalized setup for your specific preferences and makes managing every part of it a breeze for everyone in the house.

Upgrade your smart home technology today and work with DeVance Electronic Lifestyle for your upcoming installations in your Dallas, TX living space. Want to find out more? Keep reading on below.

Everyday Home Management Just Got a Lot Easier!

Re-shape your whole day with smart automation! Going about your day is a breeze with smart technologies and solutions guiding your day – and Savant home automation makes it easier than ever to manage and control your entire Dallas, TX smart home.

With a simple tap of a button, you can manage every aspect of your system – whether you’re home or away. Savant elevates your living space and every part of your day with ease. Want to find out more about the benefits of a Savant home system? Keep reading on below.

How Innovative Systems & Solutions Impact Your Home

Smart home technology doesn’t have to be a far-off or distant concept – your home in Dallas, TX, can benefit from smart home systems here and now! But how does home automation impact your daily living? And how can our team at DeVance Electronic Lifestyle bring these solutions to life in your home?

In this blog, we’ll dive into how the ultimate smart home experience for you and your family is within reach. Keep reading on below to learn more!

An Integrated System Can Elevate Your Whole Home with a Tap of a Button

Does bringing smart home technology to nearly every room and area of your Highland Park, TX property sound a tad overwhelming at first? Innovative technologies and solutions throughout your living spaces should never be an overly complicated idea – instead, smart home automation is meant to ease up every part of your day.

With just a tap of a button, a comprehensive smart system can shape your entire day and elevate your lifestyle. In this blog, we’ll dive into how these different technologies can impact your day and how they can find their place in your home.

Want to find out more? Keep reading on below!

Effortlessly Integrate Your Smart Home Systems with DeVance Electronic Lifestyle

Smart home automation can transform your everyday living experience, adding convenience and luxury to even the most standard and mundane tasks. But bringing these innovative systems and technologies to your home shouldn’t be a hassle – don’t leave their installations to a DIY plan! When it comes to your Dallas, TX smart home, you’ll certainly want to work with trusted home automation companies.

Our team at DeVance Electronic Lifestyle knows the ins and outs of smart home installations and upgrades – for every part of your living space. Want to find out the benefits of working with professionals? Keep reading on below.

How an Experienced Control4 Dealer Can Personalize Every Aspect of Your Home Automation System

Have you ever bought a new car that was absolutely perfect? When your new big screen, 4K TV arrived at your house, did it come out of the box completely set up based on your preferences? And what about your home? Did the design, layout, flooring, paint color, and room décor meet your needs exactly? Chances are likely you’ve never bought something perfectly made for you. Instead, you always needed to customize it to fit with your lifestyle and personality. 

The Control4 smart home system makes the process easy and enjoyable. The company designed its system to fully cater to the needs and preferences of end-users. It’s not only a powerful platform that gives you seamless control of all the connected technologies in your home, but you enjoy the flexibility of customizing virtually everything.

DeVance Electronic Lifestyle is a Control4 dealer that specializes in designing, installing, and setting up customized smart home systems for homeowners throughout Dallas, TX. Read more to discover how Control4 adds more personalization to your smart home. 

Explore the latest from your local Control4 dealer

Did you know that more than a quarter of Americans have smart technology in their homes? According to an S&P Global survey, 28 percent of the country's homeowners will possess smart tech by the end of 2021.

So, it's time to start focusing on consolidating the various systems in your Dallas, TX home. Control4, a home automation system leader, combines multiple systems with a single, intuitive control interface. Think of it as a programmable remote for everything from the AV, lighting, window shades, security, and more.

And Control4 does more than that -- they deliver a comprehensive automation experience. Enjoy hands-free adjustments to your systems that enhance comfort, safety, and beauty throughout the day. This year, the company has released a line of new, compatible products that improve your daily life.

As your local Control4 dealer, we'll show you some of the coolest new systems available from the smart home manufacturer and how you can upgrade your home this holiday season. Keep reading after the jump for more.

Since we live in a connected society, having a reliable Internet connection is more important now than ever before. The average American household has a local Internet service provider, modem and router to connect all of their smart devices and stream content, but sometimes this simply isn’t enough. Why would you need an upgrade? Read this blog to discover the reasons why you may need a better solution and why you need a professional home network installation in your Dallas, TX home.

SEE ALSO: A Strong Network is the Foundation of Smart Home Automation

1. You have a smart home system, or many smart devices.

If you own a smart home or are thinking about hiring an integrator to install one, a professional home network is a requirement, not an option. Or, if you have a dedicated home theater or multiple smart devices like a smart thermostat, you’ll need one too. High-bandwidth devices like 4K TVs and smart speakers put a lot of pressure on home networks, and simply purchasing a faster Internet speed won’t solve the problem. You need a local professional to place routers in the right locations and provide commercial-grade hardware. Higher-quality networks use faster CPUs and memory to process multiple connections at once, and advanced thermal management to keep equipment cool. They also can handle a greater number of connected devices and the intense network traffic.

2. You live far away from network service areas or have large objects blocking a signal.

If you live in a more remote location outside of Dallas, Texas, or if your home is surrounded by buildings or trees, your connection may not be reliable. Concrete structures and other objects can block service, and certain locations can make accessing the Internet especially difficult. We can assure you that it doesn’t matter where you live, we can find a solution and install a network that meets all of your smart home’s needs. We even have cell phone boosting equipment so that you can get a better cellular signal in your unique location. Our team will work with you to provide a wireless network than works for you and your budget.

3. You stream a lot of content.

If you use streaming services like Netflix or Spotify every day then you’ll need a strong connection to support all of that content – especially if the movies are in 4K or if the music is high-res. It is a fact you can access more music, movies, and games when you have Internet access. However, these shows will often freeze, lag, or have extremely poor-quality picture because the Internet connection isn’t strong enough. You might be paying for the fastest IP speeds, HD quality movies or hi-fi music, but it won’t be delivered without a proper network inside your home. A professional network quickly and easily solves this problem. You’ll never experience slow download speeds or poor quality content again. You can come home after a long day of work and relax with your favorite program instead of getting frustrated over poor connection.

You may wonder what the term whole house audio/video actually means. Is it any different than simply placing an audio system in every room? We would like to educate you on all of the features and benefits of multi-room music and whole house video in part one of this series on our blog. Not only do we have a lot of options to offer you based on personal preferences, style, and budget, but we can install our audio systems in older and new homes in University Park, Texas. Keep reading to learn more. 

SEE ALSO: Explore What it Means to Live with Smart Home Automation

Keep Equipment and Wires Hidden From View

Since 1996, the sound engineers at Revel by Harman have been creating cutting-edge audio products for homes around the world. The science of sound is at the heart of this company, and it shows in their multi-room systems. Their in-ceiling speakers are discreet so that you don’t notice them or see wires, and they sound incredible. The truth is that in-ceiling speakers do sound better than ones that are completely invisible. The reason for that is that the sound waves aren’t hindered by drywall or paint. However, if you absolutely do want your speakers to be completely hidden from view, we can install some models from high-quality manufacturers, and good sound will still be produced. One of the biggest benefits of our sound systems is that they won’t clutter up your home, and they will add value to your property. They’re in the walls and out of the way, making your home look gorgeous and sound beautiful too. CD players and amplifiers can be tucked away in an A/V closet and send their content to the various speakers throughout your home. You have immediate access to it all, including digital media stored on a cloud or server, from your touchpad, tablet or smartphone.

Connect Every Speaker

With no design limitations, you can scatter speakers throughout your home. This allows you to build distinct sound zones so each member of the family gets the most out of their favorite entertainment without disrupting others. Groups of speakers are called “zones” – meaning that you can play different songs on different groups of speakers. So for example, if you and your husband want to listen to your favorite artist at the same time while he is in the living room and you are in the kitchen, you can play the same track on the 10 speakers in those areas. We can group bedroom speakers together, outdoor ones together, or any way you like. Are you having a big house party? Play some fun tunes on all of the speakers throughout your house so that as people move around they hear evenly distributed audio in every corner – inside and out.

Expand Your Music Library

What makes a whole house audio system different, besides being able to connect all of your speakers and install them in the walls, is being able to play music from a variety of different sources. You won’t be limited at all because you can play your own music collection via mp3 players or CDs and stream music online too. Pandora, Tidal, Spotify, and XM Sirius radio are just a few channels you have access to with a strong home network. You’ll be able to open an app on your smartphone, tablet, or touch panel and pick a station or playlist, then stream the music to any location. The user interface is simple and easy to follow, and even displays beautiful album cover art as it plays. Playing music at home has never been easier, and expanding your library has never been so affordable.

You may wonder with so many cool and beneficial smart home features, why invest in adding lighting and shading control? The truth is that automating your lights and shades has a lot of benefits, namely saving energy, time, money, and increasing home security. Making this long-term investment will not only add value to your home, but it will make your everyday life easier and more enjoyable. You’ll find that using smart lighting and shading is not just a luxury, but a smart choice when it comes to updating your home in Highland Park, Texas or anywhere you live in or travel to in the world.

SEE ALSO: Explore What it Means to Live With Smart Home Automation

1. Go Green by Adding These Energy-Saving Solutions

While installing smart lighting alone will save you a lot of energy – mainly because most of the electricity you use is spent on lighting – coordinating your lights and shades together will give you the most energy savings. Firstly, shades take the pressure off your HVAC system because blocking UV rays with solar shades will naturally cool the home. When it’s cold outside, you can also leave the shades open to let the sunlight warm your rooms. As soon as your shades go down at noon when the sun is high, your lights will turn on to a mid-level. Dimmers allow you to adjust lighting levels any time of day and still save energy. Our lighting partner, Lutron, recommends dimming lights down 30 percent, which will reduce overall energy use by 20 percent. Since our systems are customizable, the DeVance team can create a climate control system that saves you the most energy.

2. Enjoy the Convenience of Wireless Controls

“Are you ready for some football?”Are you ready to watch the Dallas Cowboys or any of your other favorite teams play? If you don’t have season tickets, now is the time to check your family room or dedicated media space to make sure it’s has the best features this football season. You may want to upgrade your TV from HD to UHD, change your soundbar to a full surround sound system, or perhaps you need a better remote control for all of the games and shows you watch. In any case, we have everything you need to enjoy this year’s roster of sports entertainment. Keep reading to find out what our best recommendations are for a new media space or home theatre system. • Update Your Media Room or Home Theater with the Newest TechMost football fans will admit that you can enjoy the action better on a TV than at the stadium. We currently are featuring The Frame TV in the showroom (Samsung 65” Frame 4K UHD TV), which displays like a beautiful piece of art when the TV is not being viewed. You can choose from a plethora of art designs or you can add in your own from your photo collections or other source. And when you’re watching the game on The Frame, not only will it feel like you're right on the field with the players, but you'll also be able to tell the smallest difference between a player being inbounds and a football crossing the goal line.The one thing going for the stadium experience is the crowd environment, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised how you can recreate some of that ambiance with a Dolby Atmos surround sound system. You'll not only be able to hear the thud of every tackle but listen to crowd noise surrounding you from all sides. You'll feel like you're in the stadium without having to deal with the heat or bad view.

While the rest of the country might be enjoying a few more chilly days, Texas is in full summer mode, with the sun blazing! If you’ve been meaning to get outside more often and soak up that vitamin D, the smart approach is to set up your patio or backyard as the perfect spot for entertaining. Instead of driving somewhere just to enjoy the outdoors, you can simply step out the back door!

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Before you can start entertaining friends and family in an amazing outdoor area, you need the right outdoor entertainment. Keep reading to learn about the best approach to an automation and audio/video system for your Celina or Prosper area home.

What You’ll Need

When setting up an audio/video system outdoors, there are some factors you need to consider that aren’t usually an issue with an indoor system. For example, as rare as rain is in Texas, you wouldn’t want a sudden rainstorm to completely fry your television or sound system. Another issue that’s far more common is having the electrical components overheat on those summer days. Even dust and wind can compromise the performance of the equipment.

Because of these factors, we suggest TVs that are specifically designed for outdoor use, unless they are adequately protected from the elements by a custom cover or enclosure. Here are a few of the brands we’ve found to have excellence performance and reliability:

For Televisions:

If you want 4K Ultra HD visuals on a sleek, thin display, the best brand is Séura. You might have heard of Séura in the context of hidden technology since they also provide excellent mirror televisions, but their outdoor TVs have the same level of quality. Séura’s weatherproof TVs are actually able to adapt to the amount of natural lighting in the space, so you get a great picture on both sunny and cloudy days.

We are firmly in the age of the smart home. From motorized shades and smart thermostats to lighting control and high-end home cinemas, there’s no shortage of devices aimed at automating and simplifying some part of your life. The trouble is, these devices aren’t always the easiest to use and don’t always cooperate with each other.

What’s the solution? In short: voice control. By uniting your various smart devices in one network overseen by your smart speaker, you get greater control over the technology in your home. Smart speakers are also very convenient to use, even in comparison to a universal touchpad remote.

You may curious about voice control platforms like Amazon Alexa. But how much do you know about what they can do? Not to worry; in today’s blog, we’ll show you how voice control can be an invaluable addition to the smart home control system for your Frisco, TX, living space.

SEE ALSO: 4 Tips for a Superior Media Room Installation

SIMPLE CONTROL THROUGHOUT YOUR HOME

A primary goal when installing a home automation system is to streamline how you manage your various devices. This way, they can all be managed from a central interface. One remote is undoubtedly better than multiple remotes, but voice control makes smart home control even simpler.

Lighting and shading control is often considered a must-have aspect of any smart home because of how much convenience it adds to your lifestyle at home. If you’re considering adding lighting and shading control to your Texas residence, it can be tough to know how to get started. Keep reading to learn the main aspects of lighting and shading control so that you can start taking advantage of its benefits in your University Park or other Dallas area home.

SEE ALSO: Top 3 Benefits of Lighting and Shading Control

Choose Your Brand

When it comes to lighting and shading control brands, two companies stand out far above the rest: Lutron and Crestron. Some control systems only control lighting or shading, not both, which can make the system more complicated. That’s not the case with Lutron and Crestron. The great thing about Lutron and Crestron is that they both provide so many different options: roller shades, wireless dimmers, skylight shades, touchscreen controls, and more.

From the same company, you can get everything you need for a complete solution. And beyond the technical aspects of the control system, Lutron and Crestron also offer window treatment design elements. You can look through their extensive collection of different fabric types, colors, and patterns to find the best options to match your home’s décor.

Pick Your Locations

The types of lighting and shades you choose will depend greatly on where you put them. It’s important to get the right lighting and shading materials for your lifestyle and the purpose of each room – blackout shades for a media room, but transparent shades that simply reduce the sunlight glare will serve the client better in rooms with a gorgeous view. After you decide which rooms you want to have lighting and shading control in, a DeVance Electronic Lifestyle expert will be there to offer advice and guidance on selecting the best materials for each space—considering everything from what the ideal fabric type would be to reduce UV damage to furniture on through to the final selection of light fixtures to accentuate your artwork.

Getting that perfect gift for friends and family is a challenge. If you’re at a loss for what gifts to buy this holiday season, we’re here to help. As Southlake, Texas’ smart home automation experts, we stay on top of the latest trends in tech devices. This gift buying guide covers the best smart tech for both current smart home owners and people considering upgrading their homes.

For Current Smart Home Owners

If the person you’re trying to buy for already has a smart home, then they’ve probably already got a full set of gadgets and controls for every room. But don’t fret! Unless their smart home system was installed very recently, there’s one component they probably don’t have yet: voice control. Amazon Echo and Echo Dot are small devices that are easy to add to existing smart home systems, allowing you to control your home using just your voice!

In addition to asking Alexa’s normal capabilities, you can use the voice-controlled interface to initiate different smart home “scenes” that have saved settings for the best lighting, music, temperature, etc. for any given activity. For example, as you leave home each morning, just say “Alexa, turn on ‘Away.’” In response, your home’s lights will turn off, the shades will close, the music will stop, and your smart security system will lock the doors and turn on the alarm.

SEE ALSO: Explore What It Means to Live with Smart Home Automation

For Homeowners Just Getting Started

As wonderful as a full smart home automation system is, you don’t need all the bells and whistles right off the bat. To help friends and family dip their toes into the convenience and comfort that smart technology has to offer, consider getting an individual device that works great on its own but can also become part of a full automation system in the future. In addition to Amazon Echo, here are some other great devices:

In the coming months, you’re likely going to get a lot more use out of your televisions and music systems. From Christmas celebrations to Super Bowl parties, it’s important to ensure your whole house audio/video system is ready with top-notch sound and visual quality. If you think the system in your Dallas area home might not be up to the task, keep reading to learn about all the latest upgrades you can take advantage of.

SEE ALSO: What is Whole House Audio Video?

4K Ultra HD Displays

4K Ultra HD is quickly becoming the standard for televisions throughout the USA. The TVs have four times the pixels of regular HD TVs, and the difference in visual quality is like night and day. When 4K televisions first debuted years ago, their high cost and lack of content filmed in 4K meant that they were typically only found in the homes of technology early adopters. Now, however, 4K TVs are quite affordable, and almost every new show or movie is filmed in 4K. You can even now watch live sporting events in 4K, creating such a lifelike picture, you’d swear you were sitting in the bleachers. 

So whether your Thanksgiving tradition is to watch the Macy’s Day Parade in the morning or cheer on the Dallas Cowboys in the afternoon, upgrading to 4K is a sure-fire way to make the experience more enjoyable.

Multi-Room Music Systems

Music is an integral part of creating the perfect atmosphere for holiday parties. Instead of fumbling around with multiple remotes, struggling to get all of the different stereo systems throughout your home to play the same songs, upgrade to a multi-room music system. With a multi-room setup, you can easily choose your favorite Christmas playlist and enjoy high-fidelity music in every room of your home.

Since 2002, DeVance has been installing audio, video, and smart home automation systems in homes in the Dallas, Texas area. We desire to be your personal electronic lifestyle concierge, designing and installing systems in your spaces that adds convenience, safety, and luxury to your everyday life. Our systems are easy to use and can be tailored to your exact specifications. Continue reading to discover what our team has to offer.

What does it mean to have an electronic lifestyle?

Living an electronic lifestyle doesn’t mean that you have high-end electronics in your home, like fancy home theater systems and surround sound – or that you can turn the lights on with your phone. It means that your smart home matches your schedule, tastes, and can actually mirror your daily routines. It also means that all of your electronics are connected so that you can start or stop actions by hitting one button. There are many home electronics today that have apps you can download on your phone, but what if you could combine all those apps into one system, hit one button and your home will adjust just as you like it? Imagine coming home after work, driving into the garage and as you walk in the whole house audio system turns on your favorite playlist, the lights turn on, and the thermostat adjusts to a comfortable 73. All of those actions can be triggered by timers, by a motion sensor as you walk in, or by the garage door opening.

Our Sophisticated, Yet Simple, Solutions

These are our core services: