Homeowner Builds, Lives In and Sells Homes With The ELAN g! Entertainment and Control System

Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based custom integrator Home Concepts, Inc. has found the perfect client—he’s a loyal customer, he loves the latest technology and he has built, lived in, and then sold three houses in the last five years, installing an ELAN® Home Systems A/V distribution system in each, and outfitting the latest one with the ELAN g! Entertainment and Control System. The latest system is so impressive that it won the CEDIA 2011 Electronic Lifestyles Silver Award for Integrated Home in the $70,500 – $105,500 level.

Homeowner Dr. Femi Adekeye, a Calgary-based Occupational Health Physician, said, “I enjoy designing and building homes, and including the latest technology adds a new level of interaction and sophistication with each house I build. We’ve been using ELAN systems for about five years now, and the systems keep getting better and better. I use my iPhone to adjust the system and check on things constantly, because I always have it with me, and the ELAN g! app is very simple to use. The whole-home control of audio/video, lighting, security and surveillance will be a big selling point when I put this home on the market, just as the audio/video systems were in my last two homes.”

The 6,000 square-foot home features an extensive audio/video system to keep the whole family entertained — the 7.1 home theater uses a Runco projector and 106” screen, seven ELAN in-wall speakers and a Sunfire HRS-12 subwoofer, and the rest of the house has six flat screen HDTVs including a 52-inch in the family room and master bedroom, a 40-inch behind the bar and three 46-inchers side-by-side in the gym. There are 12 independent audio zones and a total of 24 speakers, in addition to the home theater. These systems get their media from three satellite feeds, an am/fm receiver, a Sony 400-disc Blu-ray changer, Shoutcast Radio (built in to ELAN g!) and Apple TV for videos. The system also integrates with the home’s security, four outdoor surveillance cameras and DVR, and the CentraLite lighting system.

According to P.J. Aucoin, Sales Manager of Home Concepts, Inc., the company has been in business for seven years and has been an avid supporter of ELAN products since day one. “We were excited when the ELAN g! Entertainment and Control system was released, and that’s pretty much all we use now. I love the off-site programming capability so I don’t have to make a house call to change a single button, and it’s amazing when I show my clients that the user interface is the same on an iPad, an in-wall touch screen and a TV on-screen display. This is the second CEDIA award we’ve won in the Integrated Home category for an ELAN g! installation, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”

Work has already begun on Dr. Adekeye’s next home, so now it’s just a matter of time before this home with the ELAN g! Entertainment and Control System is on the market.

The family can control the ELAN g! system through a TS7 seven-inch in-wall touch screen in the kitchen, seven TS2 touch panels throughout the house, several iPads, the kids’ iPod Touches and Dr. Adekeye’s iPhone and office computer. The equipment rack, tucked away in the wall of the home theater behind tinted glass, houses an ELAN HC12 Home Controller, ELAN V85 Component Video Controller, two ELAN S86A Multi-Room A/V Controllers, an ELAN C2 Communications Controller and an ELAN DT11 Tuner.

“My clients love how easy it is to go from lighting to HVAC to security all on one touch screen,” said Aucoin. “In new homes for sale, the ELAN g! Entertainment and Control System is what people gravitate to and remember about the home more than anything else. Pushing one button to turn on the lights or music in any room is so much more impressive than just a big TV hung on a wall, and it really separates these homes from others on the market.”

Available starting at under $2,000 for a single-room, four sub-system control solution, the ELAN g! Series Control System can be expanded quickly and cost-effectively to enable whole-home control of every room appliance. ELAN g! provides users with the most uniform and intuitive icon-based control from their favorite devices, including TVs, touch screens, touchpads, 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 - or across the globe.

The ELAN g! System has been awarded a 2011 Residential Systems Magazine RESI Award, a 2011 Custom Retailer Magazine EXCITE! Award, a 2011 CE Pro Magazine BEST Award, a Platinum Level 2011 CEA Mark of Excellence Award by the Consumer Electronics Association and a 2011 Gold Level Electronic House Magazine Product of the Year Award.

Home Concepts, Inc. was formed by a group of highly trained and experienced CEDIA members to provide clients with certified professional home automation design and installation. The integrated Home Concepts team includes professional system designers, CEDIA certified installers and engineers who strive to make every project an award-winning system. The extended team includes contractors, electricians, security professionals and homebuilders. Their collaborative team approach allows them to build rewarding relationships with their clients and ensures high quality products and service from a diverse, dedicated team. For more information, please visit www.homeconceptsdesign.com.

America's Greenest New Home Is Controlled and Monitored With The ELAN g! Home Control System

The “Power Haus”, a new Sarasota, Florida house, has received the lowest HERS score ever in the U.S., a negative 22, which means the house produces more energy than it uses. It also scored 118 LEED points (an internationally recognized green building certification system), making it the highest-scoring new construction home in the U.S. The home’s state-of-the-art systems are simple to manage through the IP-based ELAN g! Home Control System, which allows for consolidated control of lighting, heating, cooling, security, surveillance, whole-house audio/video and even the pool and spa right from the owner’s iPad, iPhones and ELAN in-wall touch screens.

Josh Wynne, President of Josh Wynne Construction, utilized every tool at his disposal to set these incredible green-building benchmarks. Every wall in the home is filled with super-efficient foam insulation, and the ceiling’s exterior is coated with spray foam insulation to allow for an elegant and unique “tongue and groove” ceiling inside. A Uni-Solar Flex-Lite solar array covers more than half of the roof, producing 14.2 kW of electricity and helping the house achieve its negative 22 HERS rating.

The house was carefully designed and situated to take advantage of shade provided by the property’s large trees, and it features an open floor plan with ceiling fans throughout, including an eight-foot fan in the great room. An independent dehumidification system helps to control the Florida humidity and full walls of operable impact-resistant Jeld Wen insulating windows serve to maximize natural ventilation. The home is fully outfitted with Energy Star appliances and super-efficient core systems – such as an Infinity HVAC system and Eternal tankless water heater – and it features 100 percent LED lighting, even outdoors.

“Not all of my clients are super tech-savvy, and neither am I, so I like things that are simple and reliable,” said Wynne. He knew all the technology in the home needed to be tied together in a simple, convenient way for the homeowner to control and manage, so he contracted Mark van den Broek, president of Sarasota-based SmartHouse Integration, to install the ELAN g! Home Control System.

“The ELAN system is the best control solution for me and my clients based on its relatively low cost, superior reliability, scalability, extensive third-party component integration, and most of all its ease of use,” said van den Broek. “My clients love that the control interface is the same on an iPad, iPhone, in-wall touch screen or on the TV. And I have never come across a third-party component that couldn’t integrate with the ELAN system.”

The homeowners control the system through two ELAN TS7 7-inch in-wall touch screens, three ELAN TS2 in-wall touch pads, an iPad and their two iPhones. With six flat screen HDTVs indoors plus one on the deck, the Power Haus is no slouch in the media department. To complement the video system, 14 speakers are distributed through eight audio zones, including two outdoor rock speakers. The media systems can play content from three DirecTV feeds, two Blu-ray players, XM satellite radio, Pandora Internet radio, am/fm radio and an ELAN VIA!migo iPod dock.


The ELAN g! Home Control System is integrated with the home’s five DVR surveillance cameras, DSC security system, LiteTouch lighting system and Bryant HVAC. SmartHouse Integration even custom-programmed a button in the ELAN g! software to instantly access the GUI for the solar array so the owners can monitor its performance in real time. ELAN g! allows the homeowner to program events for every subsystem, simplifying virtually every aspect of running a household. Users can set the lights to turn on and off at specific times, and the heating and cooling systems can be adjusted for maximum efficiency based on when people are home. And for travelers, there is nothing more convenient than setting up an “Away” mode that automatically changes all of the systems’ settings with the touch of a button.

Available starting at $1860 for a single-room, four sub-system control solution, the ELAN g! Series Control System can be expanded quickly and cost-effectively to enable whole-home control of every room appliance. ELAN g! provides users with the most uniform and intuitive icon-based control from their favorite devices, including TVs, touch screens, touchpads, 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 - or across the globe.

Family Owned Chain of Pharmacies Keep An "Eye on Their Stores" Using the ELAN g! Control System

The Lomax family is no stranger to running a successful business. Founded in 1973, the family’s pharmacy business is experiencing rapid growth and now includes five northeastern Arkansas pharmacies. In 2009, their then newest pharmacy suffered, in a two-month period, two break-in attempts and several false alarms from the store’s security system. And every time an incident occurred someone had to get up, even at 2 a.m., and drive 50 miles to reset the alarm and survey the situation. The family realized this was an extremely inefficient and inconvenient way to manage security for multiple stores, so they went in search of a solution, and found it – the ELAN g! Control System.

The Lomax’s introduction to the ELAN g! Control System occurred in the fall of 2010 when they were getting ready to open their newest of five pharmacies. They met with Ryan Heringer, President of Jonesboro, Arkansas-based Sound Concepts, who suggested and installed the ELAN g! Control System to give them remote control over the store’s surveillance cameras, security system, heating, air conditioning and lighting.

“I knew the ELAN g! Control System was what they needed for the pharmacy,” said Heringer. “And once they saw how simple it is to control their whole store from the iPhone app, they knew it too. Now they can monitor surveillance cameras and the alarm system from home, and also control lighting, heating, audio and video, so it was the perfect solution.”

Now, instead of waking up to drive 50 miles when an alarm is triggered, Kyle Lomax can open the g!Mobile app on his iPhone and instantly view the live surveillance cameras, and turn off or reset the alarm. “On Saturday we close at noon, and one Saturday I got a call from our alarm company at 2 p.m. that the alarm tripped, and they asked if they should dispatch the police,” said Lomax. “I said yes, and then immediately logged in to the g! iPhone app to view the surveillance system. Before the police even got there I knew it was a false alarm. If I didn’t have the g!Mobile app, I would have had to go all the way back to the store right after I got home.”

The Lomax’s know that pharmacies are a potential target for criminal activity, so security and surveillance are very important to them. “We’ve had people try to come in through the drive-thru window before, so now we have a camera right above the window,” said Lomax. “There’s another one outside the front door and the back door, and seven more inside the store. We can’t see the whole interior from the register area, so having all the camera feeds on one screen right on the counter is important for the safety of our employees and our store. And we can adjust everything from any computer in the pharmacy.”

To reduce their energy costs, they programmed the system to automatically turn on and off the lights, heating and air conditioning at specific times every day. The system also includes three zones of audio with ELAN Elios speakers and a 37-inch HDTV in the waiting area that displays the pharmacy’s internal marketing messages and cable news programs.

The Lomax’s are now installing the ELAN g! Control System in all five of their pharmacies, as well as any new locations that they open. “As our business grows, we will increasingly rely on the remote-monitoring system to ensure our stores run smoothly and to handle any incidents,” said Lomax.

The ELAN g! Series 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' TVs 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.