Home Automation, Planned Before It Is Programmed
Good home automation lets one touch handle what used to take six switches, two remotes and an app. Total Home Technologies, based in Roseland and in business since 1992, designs, programs and supports Control4 and Savant platforms for households, architects and builders in Bergen, Passaic, Essex, Hudson, and Sussex Counties, with Lutron handling light and shade. The aim is a residence that asks less of the people living in it.
That work starts with questions rather than products. Which rooms get used every day? Who struggles with the current remotes? What is already in the walls and worth keeping? A new build in Franklin Lakes, a phased renovation of a Montclair Victorian and a takeover in a Hoboken townhouse each lead to a different answer.
Home Automation Repair, Upgrades and System Takeovers
Many calls come from families who already own a control system and have stopped trusting it. A touchscreen freezes, a scene fires half its commands, the app lost the house after a router swap, or the company that programmed it has closed and nobody holds the project file. None of that automatically means the platform has to go.
The 24/7 Help Desk offers phone support, and 24/7 service plans include priority onsite service when a technician needs to visit.
A review covers the processor, network, keypads, touchscreens, drivers and programming, including work another integrator left behind. Some problems are a single failed device. Others trace back to a weak network or outdated code. Equipment that still performs stays in place, and you hear plainly when something is past support.
Common Reasons for a Call
✓ Control4 or Savant inherited from another company
✓ Touchscreens, remotes or apps that lag or drop commands
✓ Scenes that no longer match a renovated room or new routine
✓ Lights, shades and music that used to work together and now do not
✓ Lost dealer access or missing programming files
✓ An unfinished project that never ran as promised
Call (877) 550-5150 to Review Your System
What a Well-Planned System Gives Back
Most families do not want more technology to manage. They want fewer small chores, and a house that behaves the same way every day.
Fewer Places to Look
One keypad by the door, one remote or one app can reach the lights, shades, music and climate, so nobody hunts for the right device before dinner, a movie, or a guest arrives.
A House Ready Before You Are
Scenes can light the path from the garage, raise the morning shades, warm the kitchen, and start quiet music, so a routine you repeat every day takes one press, not ten steps.
Easy for Guests and Grandparents
Engraved keypads say plain words like Dinner, Movie, and Goodnight, so visitors, sitters, and older relatives can run the house without an app or a phone call to you for help.
Ready for the Next Upgrade
A system planned with room to grow lets a new TV, a finished lower level, or an outdoor kitchen join in later, without tearing out the parts of the house that still work well.
What Home Automation Can Bring Together
Every project is sized to the residence. Some start with lighting on one floor; others plan every room during construction. These are the pieces most often tied into one platform.
Lighting Control
Lutron dimmers and engraved keypads replace rows of switches, and scenes set several rooms at once. Lights can follow sunset in the fall and turn everything off from the bedside at night. The smart lighting page explains the Lutron options in detail.
✓ Scenes for evenings, entertaining and late nights
✓ Keypads labeled in plain words
✓ Schedules tied to sunrise and sunset
Motorized Shades and Blinds
Lutron shades can lower for afternoon glare on the television, close the street-facing rooms at dusk and open on a schedule in the morning. Tall great-room windows stop needing a ladder. See the motorized blinds page for fabrics, power and mounting.
Music Through the House
Sonos and architectural speakers let one playlist follow the family from kitchen to patio, or let each room play something different. Volume and source live on the same keypads and app as the lights. More detail is on the home audio page.
Theater and Television
One button can dim the lights, lower the shades and start the movie, then bring the lights partway up during a pause. Family-room televisions get the same simple control. The home theater page covers dedicated rooms and media rooms.
Climate and Thermostats
Nest and other compatible thermostats can join scenes and schedules, so heat or cooling follows the household rather than a separate app. Total Home integrates thermostats with existing HVAC equipment; it is not a mechanical HVAC contractor. Read more on smart thermostat installation.
✓ Multi-zone temperature from one screen
✓ Schedules for weekdays, weekends and time away
✓ Climate tied to shade and lighting scenes
Cameras, Doorbells and Entry
Ring video doorbells, cameras, smart locks, gates and intercoms can show up on the same touchscreen and app as everything else, so checking the driveway or letting in a delivery does not mean opening another program. The security and surveillance page has the details.
The Network Underneath
Every command travels over the home network. Cisco Meraki and Araknis equipment, a hardwired backbone and planned access points keep commands and streams steady. Weak Wi-Fi is behind more automation complaints than any processor, and the Wi-Fi networks page explains how coverage is planned.
Patios, Pools and Outdoor Rooms
Outdoor televisions, landscape speakers, exterior shades and garden lighting can run from the same app as the indoor rooms. The outdoor entertainment page brings those spaces together.
Featured Technology Partners
The platform is chosen after the plan, based on the house, the equipment already there and how the family wants to use it.
SONY LOGO PLACEHOLDER
Control4
Whole-house control with broad device support and flexible programming.
CONTROL4 LOGO PLACEHOLDER
Savant
A polished app that runs lighting, music, video and climate together.
Lutron
Dimmers, keypads and shades that carry the light and shade side of the plan.
Also in Our Automation Projects
Sonos · Nest · Ring · Cisco Meraki · Araknis
How an Automation Project Comes Together
Discovery
We walk the house, learn the daily routines and who uses each room, and note what is already in place, from the wiring inside the walls to the equipment that is worth keeping.
Design
You review the platform, keypad spots, scenes, network and rack space before any work starts, and we coordinate the details with your architect, interior designer, or builder.
Installation & Programming
Racks are built and tested in the shop before the team installs, programs and checks every scene in the house, then walks your family through each keypad, remote, and the app.
Support
Questions go to the 24/7 Help Desk, run in-house with OneVision Resources. 24/7 service plans add phone support and priority onsite service when the system needs a technician.
Why Families Choose Total Home for Automation
Engineering Comes First
Founder Keith W. Harrison studied aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and that habit of measuring before deciding still shapes every project. Firmware and software updates are tested before they reach a client's system, and the company's working rule is blunt: "If it isn't measured, it doesn't matter."
The Rule of 99%
Keith describes the goal as a house that behaves correctly almost all of the time without anyone thinking about it. One action, such as pressing Goodnight, should trigger the right lights, shades, locks and temperature based on the hour and who is home. Simple to use, he points out, is not the same as simple to design; the complexity belongs in the programming, not in your hands.
Recognized by the Industry
Larry Bennett, formerly Control4's Managing Director of Global Programs, has publicly called Keith "one of the best programmers in the world." Total Home is a Control4 Pinnacle Dealer, and the Roseland showroom is a Control4 Certified Showroom.
WHERE WE WORK
Home Automation Across Northern New Jersey
Projects range from estate homes planned from the ground up to older colonials where wiring from three different decades has to be understood first.
Bergen County: Alpine · Saddle River · Franklin Lakes · Tenafly · Englewood Cliffs · Ridgewood
Essex County: Short Hills · Millburn · Essex Fells · Montclair · Livingston · North Caldwell
Passaic County: Wayne · Ringwood · North Haledon · Little Falls
Hudson County: Hoboken · Jersey City · Weehawken
Sussex County: Sparta · Byram · Vernon
The Total Home showroom at 183 Eagle Rock Avenue, Roseland, NJ 07068 is open by appointment.
What Our Clients Say
Home Automation Questions
Should I choose Control4 or Savant?
Both can run lighting, shades, music, video and climate from one interface. Control4 offers broad device support and flexible programming, while Savant is known for its polished app. The better fit depends on the house, what is already installed and how you like to control things, and that is settled during design.
Can you take over a system another company installed?
Yes. The processor, network, devices and programming are reviewed first. Working equipment is kept and reprogrammed where possible, and anything past support is identified before new equipment is suggested.
Does it still work if the internet goes down?
Keypads and local scenes run on the in-home processor, so lights and shades keep responding. Remote access from your phone and streaming music need an internet connection.
Can we start with a few rooms and add more later?
Yes. Many families begin with lighting and shades on the main floor, then add music, theater or outdoor spaces in later phases. Planning for growth at the start keeps later additions simple.
When should automation be planned in new construction?
Before the walls close, ideally at the framing stage. Wiring, keypad locations, rack space and network paths are far easier to settle while the studs are open.