Jason,
I'd really look at HAI (Home Automation, Inc.) http://www.homeauto.com/ --as they've been around since 1985 and are manufactured in your backyard!!! I'd run Cat-5. You can use lamp and appliance modules to tie into HAI's system and you could tie in your 7.1 surrounds to whole home audio w/ their Hi-Fi.
Their coolest product that I'd Check out is Snap-Link--their USB thumbdrive that you can plug into any computer in the world to monitor and change your home's temperatures, lighting, security, surveillance videos, audio, shades, the list goes on and on. And you don't even need a computer running at your home--it connects directly to HAI's home controller, which isn't computer based. It works just as easily when connected to an Ultra Mobile PC and used as a wireless touchscreen in your house. Use it securely at home, at your office, or in an internet cafe in China--it leaves no trace of your home behind!
http://www.homeauto.com/Products/Software/Snaplink .asp
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Jason, I'd really look at HAI (Home Automation, Inc.) http://www.homeauto.com/ --as they've been around since 1985 and are manufactured in your backyard!!! I'd run Cat-5. You can use lamp and appliance modules to tie into HAI's system and you could tie in your 7.1 surrounds to whole home audio w/ their Hi-Fi. Their coolest product that I'd Check out is Snap-Link--their USB thumbdrive that you can plug into any computer in the world to monitor and change your home's temperatures, lighting, security, surveillance videos, audio, shades, the list goes on and on. And you don't even need a computer running at your home--it connects directly to HAI's home controller, which isn't computer based. It works just as easily when connected to an Ultra Mobile PC and used as a wireless touchscreen in your house. Use it securely at home, at your office, or in an internet cafe in China--it leaves no trace of your home behind! http://www.homeauto.com/Products/Software/Snaplink .asp