Home Automation No Longer a "Luxury"?

Home automation (remote control lights/stereos, security systems monitored by computer) used to fall into the realm of luxury. According to Wired article Own Your Own Remote Control Castle Today! such features are becoming standard in new housing developments. Townhouses in a new community in Texas will feature  "We're talking a 50-inch hi-def television, standard. A fully integrated, surround sound-equipped home theater, standard. Three zones of AC, standard. Most remarkable is the automation system that ties it all together: a user-friendly, ready-to-program, low-voltage, Internet-accessible, secure wireless mesh network capable of controlling everything from the sprinklers to the chandeliers."

Now at $450,000 this isn't exactly low income housing, but many of these features were once the realm of million dollar plus homes. If you were to add a system like this to an existing house, the cost for installation and parts would be in the tens of thousands.

If you're in the market for a house today, you might be wiser to buy a "smart home" like these, one where everything is automated. I'd shy away from televisions and things that could quickly become dated however. Though technology will advance tremendously in the next 10 years, it's a good bet people will still find automated sprinklers and lights a boon in a house.

See also:
Home Automation--A Beginner's Take