ELAN g! Makes Lakefront Home In 'The Spa City' The Ultimate Place To Relax

It’s difficult to imagine a place that sounds more relaxing than Hot Springs, Arkansas, which is known as “The Spa City” for its natural thermal springs.  But local homeowner Brandon Adams realized that his lakefront home could be an even more stress-free environment if the house could run itself automatically — meaning that the heating, air conditioning, lighting, security and surveillance would work on their own, and be easy to adjust when necessary. After a recent installation of the incredibly powerful and simple to use ELAN g! Entertainment and Control System, this fantasy of the autonomous home is now a reality, offering him one-touch control of every major home subsystem including music and TV in every room!

First, Adams hired Taggart Architecture to design a series of pools and outdoor living areas to connect his new home with the adjacent house.  His next call was to Jonesboro, Arkansas-based custom integrator Sound Concepts, which outfitted the home, including all the new living areas, with the latest in audio, video and control technology.  The ELAN g! system integrates Lutron lighting and motorized window shades, an HAI security system, IP surveillance cameras, HAI thermostats, garage door controls, 11 Samsung TVs (one outdoors), 45 speakers (indoors and outdoors), and a 7.2 surround sound home theater with two Sunfire HRS12 subwoofers, an Epson projector and a Dragonfly 120” screen.  It even incorporates control of the LED lighting on the home’s rooftop dome, the lakefront and in the boathouses.

According to Sound Concepts owner Ryan Heringer, “Mr. Adams’ amazing lakefront home combines the best designs, building materials and craftsmanship with the best home technologies to create a true 21st century living environment, both indoors and out.  The home basically runs itself, with pre-programmed schedules for lighting, heating, cooling and the pool equipment, which he can adjust any time with just a few simple buttons on any ELAN g! interface. Simplicity and ease of use is the most important aspect of any technology, so ELAN hit the bullseye when they gave g! the same type of easy-to-understand interface that made the iPhone so popular.”

Adams uses a combination of interfaces to control his home, with easy access through the g!Mobile iPhone and iPad apps, two 10-inch ELAN in-wall touchscreens in the pool house, 13 ELAN in-wall touchscreen throughout the home and boat houses, an under-counter ELAN 10-inch touchscreen, and 10 powerful ELAN HR2 multimedia and home control remotes.

“When I’m outside it’s very convenient to use my iPhone to control the music, the lights and the pool,” Adams said, “but when I’m in the house I almost always use a touch panel or one of the ELAN remotes because they are always on, so it’s easier and faster.  The remotes are absolutely the best choice to control the TVs because of the play/pause and volume controls, and it’s just like using a normal TV remote, except it can also turn down the lights and turn up the a/c.  Taggart Architecture and Sound Concepts delivered on their promises, and I’m still blown away at how beautiful the property is and how the technology brings everything together.”

About ELAN Home Systems:

Since 1990 ELAN® Home Systems has been an industry leading manufacturer of innovative, award-winning Multi-Room audio/video systems. ELAN systems were the first to integrate audio, video, phones and third-party products to create a seamless, easy-to-use "whole house" solution. ELAN systems and products are distributed through a comprehensive channel of select Dealers and Distributors throughout the United States, Canada and more than 58 countries worldwide.  To learn more, visit www.elanhomesystems.com.  ELAN is part of the CORE Brands division of the Nortek Technology Solutions Segment (www.nortek-inc.com).  CORE Brands combines the product and marketing strengths of ten iconic audio, power management and control brands into a single business unit that includes ATON®, BlueBOLT®, ELAN®, Furman®, Niles®, Panamax®, Proficient®, SpeakerCraft®, Sunfire® and Xantech®.

Arkansas Family Creates Their "Magic House" With An ELAN g! Control System Installation

When Larry and Stacey Newcomb moved to Jonesboro, Arkansas and built a new house, Larry knew he wanted big flat screen TVs, and Stacey knew she wanted a pool for the kids. What neither of them knew was that they could control their entire home from their iPads and iPhones. But once Ryan Heringer, President of Jonesboro, Arkansas-based Sound Concepts, showed them the IP-based ELAN g! Control System, they suddenly realized that they could have their dream “Magic House”.

“When we first met to discuss the technology that could be incorporated into their new home, the Newcombs simply wanted to know what I could do for their audio/video systems,” said Heringer. “So I showed them the ELAN g!Mobile app and how it controls the audio/video, and then continued explaining all the other possibilities with the ELAN g! Control System. By the time I told them they could turn off every light in the house at once from an iPhone or iPad, they didn’t want to live without it! And that’s what is so great about the g! system – customers love the g!Mobile app and once they see it, they’ve got to have it.”

According to Stacey Newcomb, they call their new home the “Magic House”. They use iPads to dim the lights, turn on music, and adjust the heat and air conditioning. And if they don’t have an iPad handy, there is an ELAN TS Series touch screen in a wall in nearly every room of the house, just like a light switch. And speaking of light switches, thanks to ELAN g! the Newcombs hardly ever need to use them anymore! Stacey has the system set so all of the house lamps automatically turn on at 5 p.m. and turn off at 10 p.m., eliminating the need to walk through the house to make sure all the lights are off before retiring for the night.

From a peace of mind perspective, the Newcombs can always be assured their twin daughters are home on time with the ELAN g! Control System, which tells the user which TVs and lights are on, and lets them know when people enter or leave the house, and even through which door.

The Newcomb’s fully integrated ELAN g! Control System comprises every system in their house. It controls all 156 lighting dimmers in the house, the landscaping and the pool house. Throughout the house and pool house are 23 pairs of ELAN speakers, offering 20 distinct zones of audio with a choice of 12 sources including 2 Sirius satellite radios, 2 AM/FM radios, an ELAN VIA!migo iPod dock, a VIA!dj digital music server, and even music from a player piano in the music room. There are 10 TVs that can access four satellite feeds (one for each family member), two Kaleidescape Blu-Ray players, videos from iPods and the front door surveillance camera.

The ELAN g! Control System also gives them full control over four zones of HVAC, the home’s security system, the front door surveillance camera and the pool equipment.

The ELAN g! Control System provides users with the most uniform and intuitive icon-based control from their favorite devices, including TVs, touch screens, touch pads, PCs, iPhones and iPads. The standardized interface works across platforms so that the trendy g!Mobile app users love on the iPhone appears and works similarly on ELAN touch screens, valets and handheld remotes as well as users' televisions and mobile devices. And the system's IP backbone makes it just as easy to control the system from across the room as across the globe.