Blog Posts - AvidWorks Technology

Happy St. Patricks Day!

3/17/2019

Would you dress up your smart home security cameras in something green like this? Or, would you prefer your cameras to be more visible deterrents to potential porch pirates and burglars?

For more information about having smart cameras installed for you by an AvidWorks Technology technician, send email to [email protected] or call (800) 701-9021 for details.

Replace Old Smoke Alarms

3/9/2019

It’s become common practice to change the batteries in your smoke alarm when you change your clocks as daylight saving time begins and ends. But, it’s also important to know that, according to the National Fire Protection Association, smoke alarms themselves should be replaced after 10 years.

Today, one of our technicians came across this smoke alarm that may have been the original one installed when the home was built decades ago. Our technician removed it and installed new Nest Protect smoke/CO alarms for the homeowner.

Some advantages to Nest Protect smoke/CO alarms:

Nest Protect automatically checks its batteries and sensors over 400 times per day. Once a month, Nest Protect can also perform an automatic Sound Check to test its speaker and horn. And, you can run a full Safety Checkup any time, so you know your Nest Protects are interconnected and so you can listen to the speaker and horn for yourself.
Each night when you turn out the lights you’ll get a quick green glow which means the batteries and sensors of the Nest Protect are working.
You can check the battery status of the Nest Protect on your smartphone.
When the Nest Protect has less than about a year of battery life remaining, it will give you a warning that the batteries are getting low. Nest Protect will pulse yellow when you turn off the lights at night and after you press the Nest button it will say: “The battery is low. Replace the battery soon.” You will also receive a message in the Nest app.

For more information about having Nest Protects installed for you by an AvidWorks Technology technician, send email to [email protected] or call (800) 701-9021 for details.

Vote AvidWorks Technology for Best of the East Bay

2/27/2019

To our East Bay fans...Click here to vote for AvidWorks Technology in the “Service – Other” category of Diablo Magazine's 2019 Best of the East Bay list. We're committed to performing top quality smart home installations for your residential and commercial spaces, and have earned nearly 800 five-star reviews to date (on Nest, Yelp, and Google websites). Voting closes March 31st. Have fun!

Example:

Smart Home Tip: Use Thermostat's Air Filter Reminder

1/18/2019

Most people don’t give much thought to changing the air filter in their furnace, so the Nest and Ecobee air filter reminders are a really helpful feature of these smart thermostats. However, because the recent Northern California wildfires caused a significant increase in particulate matter in the air, we recommend changing your air filter right away if you haven’t already.

For more information about having a smart thermostat installed if you don't have one already, send email to [email protected] or call (800) 701-9021. (Note that your existing thermostat and heating/cooling system will need to be operational.)

AvidWorks Technology Gets Down Tonight with Home Automation

12/17/2018

Check out this fun video highlighting some of our projects from the past year! Many thanks to all of our customers for the opportunities to keep you safe and make your homes more efficient with home automation in 2018.

For information on installing smart home products, call AvidWorks Technology at (800) 701-9021 or send email to [email protected].

Prepare Your Porch for the Holidays

11/15/2018

The Nest Hello Video Doorbell is a great way to greet your holiday visitors and deter porch pirates. Contact us to install your Nest Hello for you.

Send email to [email protected] or call (800) 701-9021 for details. (Note that you will need to have an operational wired doorbell, wired chime, and doorbell transformer.)

CEDIA Expo Smart Home Highlights

9/24/2018

We traveled to CEDIA Expo 2018 in San Diego earlier this month to check out the latest in smart home products. Here are some of our CEDIA highlights for you:

Séura SMART Mirror – This is the ultimate in smart home bling! You can control your smart home by touch from your mirror. View your security cameras, dim the lights, close your garage and more – all from the convenience of a bathroom or entry way mirror. The Séura SMART Mirror can display anything that can be displayed on an Android phone, so you can also connect to your calendar, email, weather, Netflix, and other favorite apps. A wide range of sizes and frame styles are available.

Yale Assure Lock for Andersen Patio Doors – This is the first smart lock we’ve seen for sliding glass doors. You can monitor, lock, and unlock your door from anywhere using the Yale Assure app. Also, there is a sensor that lets you know whether your door is open, closed, locked or unlocked.

Mysa thermostat for high voltage systems –
For all of you who were disappointed to find that your high voltage HVAC system wasn’t compatible with the Nest thermostat, here is a possible solution. The Mysa thermostat works with most high voltage electric heating systems.

Z-Wave compatible products – There are over 700 companies that make 2400+ Z-Wave products that are all interoperable with each other. In addition to the many brands you may already be familiar with (e.g., August, Honeywell, Kwikset, Ring, Samsung, Schlage, Yale), here are 3 companies making noteworthy Z-Wave products:

Strips Drip water leak detection sensor

Sensative – Makes 3 wireless sensors: Strips Guard window and door sensor, Strips Comfort temperature and lighting sensor, and Strips Drip water leak detection sensor. These sensors are so thin you can put them just about anywhere and they have custom-designed batteries intended to last 10 years.

Aeotec Nano Dimmer

Aeotec – Aeotec makes quite a few smart home products and sensors. For example, their Nano Dimmer or Nano Switch enables you to convert your home’s existing dimmers, switches and power outlets into Z-Wave compatible ones by installing the Aeotec devices invisibly behind them.

Fibaro Swipe

Fibaro – Fibaro also makes a wide range of smart home products and sensors including some similar to Aeotec’s Nano Dimmer and Nano Switch. We were especially intrigued by Fibaro’s Swipe product though. You can keep it hidden or display it as a picture frame. Control smart home devices by a simple swipe or by a combination of moves. The high resolution sensor interprets even complex commands.

As a certified Z-Wave installer, we would be happy to install your Z-Wave products for you.

Samsung “The Frame TV” – For art and photography enthusiasts, this TV is an unbelievable way to display your own work – or collections you purchase from Samsung. It’s a TV when it’s on and art when it’s off. By detecting the ambient light in the room, the Brightness Sensor automatically balances the screen’s brightness and color tone for a natural illumination. So whether it’s day or night, you can see your art in the way it was meant to be seen.

For information on installing any of these products, call AvidWorks Technology at (800) 701-9021 or send email to [email protected].

Who Says You Can’t Take it With You?

8/19/2018

Moving to a new home can be overwhelming enough without having to worry about what to do with all your smart home devices. You’ll likely want to leave some of them behind if they will increase the value of the home you are selling – or if it’s just not worth the effort to remove them (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller or smart custom-fit window blinds).

For those smart home devices you choose to take with you, we're ready to help. AvidWorks Technology has experience with both installing and de-installing smart home devices. So, if you are planning a move, and have smart thermostats, cameras, a video doorbell, smoke alarms, locks, light switches, a garage door controller, etc., that you would like de-installed, send email to [email protected] or call (800) 701-9021.

Ring Floodlight Cam Captures Drunk Driver Crash

8/5/2018

The Ring Floodlight Cam saves the day (or night)! On Friday night, the President & Founder of AvidWorks Technology was alerted to a drunk driver at his property in Atlanta, Georgia. The Ring Floodlight Cam captured video of a car driving across his backyard lawn, into his front yard, and crashing into and damaging a wall on his property. Thanks to a Ring alert on his smartphone, he was able to follow up with police remotely from California. The driver of the car was immediately arrested for a DUI, property damage, and a hit and run accident.

We can help you capture events like this on video. Let us install your smart cameras today! Send email to [email protected] or call (800) 701-9021.

Nest Hello Doorbell View

5/30/2018

The Nest Hello Doorbell’s wide angle lens lets you see a full 160°, which is wider than the human eye’s field of view. So, you may be less limited by your existing doorbell’s location than you think. We install quite a few doorbells that are on a 90° angle from the front door and they work just fine in this location. Also, the Nest Hello includes a 15° wedge in the box that our technician can install on the back plate, which allows the camera to be tilted toward a walkway to give you a better view if your doorbell isn’t in an ideal spot. This drawing depicts the top view of the Nest Hello Doorbell with the wedge behind it.

Here is the view captured from a Nest Hello Doorbell recently installed on a 90° angle from the front door by AvidWorks Technology. As you can see, our customers have a great view of their front walkway, an area where any packages would be left for them near the front door, part of their driveway, and even cars parked in front of their house. They originally thought they’d need to move the doorbell for the best view, but found that was not necessary due to the Nest Hello’s wide angle lens.

We can install a Nest Hello Doorbell for you! Contact AvidWorks Technology by sending email to [email protected] or call us at (800) 701-9021.

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