Automation and connectivity are no longer mystifying features of the future, but rather accessible tools for the home that improve efficiency, entertainment and ease. From lighting, HVAC systems and other utilities that can be controlled from a smartphone to voice-activated, hands-free operation, smart home technology continues to evolve beyond its previously set standard. While smart homes are the epitome of luxury living, the expansion of technology has allowed for more universal access at many price points.

While one smart home appliance can amount to an entire lifestyle change alone—like a refrigerator that includes remote temperature controls and monitoring, or even screens that can monitor its contents—many can be linked together. All it takes is a Wi-Fi connection, compatible systems and a streamlined setup process. For new and practiced smart technology users alike, there's also plenty of education and expertise to make the most of a smart home appliance or system.

The recent advancements of artificial intelligence (AI) technology have made its dissemination increase as well. Voice assistant technology is an early example of commonly used and widely accessible AI, but more current updates allow for temperature optimization, recipe recommendations, heightened detection in security cameras and more. It is often recommended that AI technology is paired with human analysis and judgement for the best results. As a user becomes more familiar with some systems, the AI within them will similarly calibrate its functionality to user preferences over time.

House & Home magazine spoke with home professionals about smart home technology's ever-increasing integration in daily life and the innovations that offer seemingly endless possibilities.

What are the latest trends in smart home automation?
For kitchens and baths, we've been using a lot of the electronic devices that are made by Lutron—a major company in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania that specializes in all types of lighting control systems. They have a product called Caseta, a fully electronic dimming system that communicates with other dimmers through a bridge that is basically part of the Wi-Fi infrastructure in the home. ... So, you could turn lights on and off without having to adjust each individual dimmer. The real advantage is a buildable system.

A kitchen generally consists of several zones of lighting ... there could be five-or-six zones of light [which are] grouped together in the application to adjust automatically. If you're having breakfast, hit the breakfast mode, and all the lights would lock into a predetermined light value. You could have them come on and off at dawn and dusk. There's even a visor-mounted remote that could turn the lights on from your car. So, if you have a teenager coming home late from work and you're worried, [they] could illuminate a path of light into the home safely. There's a number of different benefits and features that these electronic dimmers can do and it's fairly affordable.
—David Cerami, owner, HomeTech Renovations

Are any trends particularly popular in this region?
It really depends on the end user, but we are seeing that the end user seems to gravitate toward technologies that are interactive, such as video automation. Video automation combined with AI automation will be something popular in the years to come.
—Greg Capizzi, founder, aquaHALT

How has smart home technology evolved over the years?
Just like everything else in our world, AI is getting involved. ... Everybody's familiar with smart thermostats, camera security systems and lighting automation, but [with] scene control, people can control [a device] from and have it in their phone. The idea is to make life easier for them in a sense of security, because they can look in and check on what's going on in their house—as long as they have internet—from anywhere in the world. Its [evolution has] been side-by-side with computers as the digital world has expanded. People have taken this into their home. Scene control was around somewhat before digital, but it definitely has expanded.
—Dennis Gehman, owner, Gehman Design Remodeling

How does smart home technology provide new solutions?
"Our goal is to always provide individual control over each area. We do not want clients to have to yell over the sound of the music or create unhappy neighbors by playing music too loud. By controlling each area separately and by proper speaker placement, everything sounds awesome and everyone is happy."
—Neil Wiessler, president, Shore Sound & Cinema

How can someone get started if they're completely new to smart home technology?
It's always best to talk with an experienced, accredited professional who may be Lutron-certified—like I am, or any other Lutron-certified professional that is familiar with lighting and lighting controls. There's also various lighting stores. Some of the better lighting stores in the area have a lighting engineer on staff that could assist homeowners with the planning and integration of the lighting. Normally, a qualified contractor should be working with a lighting engineer to confirm and validate a plan that is easily retrofitted and makes sense given the existing infrastructure in the home. I recommend a professional designer who has an accreditation in lighting.
—David Cerami

Many issues can be resolved remotely, and...Shore Sound & Cinema offers maintenance contracts and remote access support to keep our clients resting comfortably seven days a week, 365 days a year.
—Neil Wiessler

What are some educational resources that can help users make the best of their systems?
Personally I like YouTube. There are many source videos where consumers compare different products based on pricing, operation, quality, availability, etc.
—Greg Capizzi

Are there various price points?
There are various price points, and with many of them, you can start off with one room. You can get a digital control for a lamp ... or, you can go all the way to a whole house system where you can control literally everything that plugs in, from your phone—and that could be anything from your toaster oven to your coffee maker, certainly the TV turning on and off, HVAC [and] water heater. That's the one that we use—at the end of July, we were away for a week at the Shore. There was no reason to keep 50 gallons of water hot all week long when no one was using it. I could turn it off, and when we were packing up down at the Shore, get out my phone and turn it back on. By the time we got home, there was hot water again.
—Dennis Gehman

RESOURCES
aquaHALT by water AUTOMATION
(732) 631-3225
WaterAutomation.com

Hometech Renovations
Spring House, Pa.
(215) 646-7477
HTRenovations.com

Gehman Design Remodeling
Harleysville, Pa.
(215) 513-0300
GehmanRemodeling.com

Shore Sound & Cinema
Northfield, N.J.
(609) 645-1300
S2Cinema.com

Published (and copyrighted) in House & Home, Volume 25, Issue 6 (Fall 2025)
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