https://theautom8group.com/journal/ One email a month: a finished project, and one thing worth knowing before you renovate. en-us Thu, 05 Nov 2026 14:00:24 GMT https://theautom8group.com/the-case-for-smart-lighting/ https://theautom8group.com/the-case-for-smart-lighting/ Thu, 01 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT Smart lighting used to mean a premium fixture in every ceiling. With three fixture families to choose from, it can now cost about the same as the lighting it replaces. https://theautom8group.com/does-circadian-lighting-work/ https://theautom8group.com/does-circadian-lighting-work/ Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT There is good research behind tunable lighting and a great deal of marketing on top of it. The two are worth separating before anyone pays for it. https://theautom8group.com/lighting-control-coop-alteration-agreement/ https://theautom8group.com/lighting-control-coop-alteration-agreement/ Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT In most Manhattan buildings the technology scope is not held up by the technology. It is held up by a document. https://theautom8group.com/motorized-shades-pre-war-apartments/ https://theautom8group.com/motorized-shades-pre-war-apartments/ Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT New construction lets you choose a shade and then build around it. A pre-war apartment works the other way round: the window tells you what it will accept. https://theautom8group.com/retrofit-lighting-control-without-rewiring/ https://theautom8group.com/retrofit-lighting-control-without-rewiring/ Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Not every project is a gut renovation. A new condo or refreshing an existing, wireless retrofit systems deliver disruption-free lighting control https://theautom8group.com/shade-pocket-planning/ https://theautom8group.com/shade-pocket-planning/ Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT A pocket is not a generic void. It is sized to a particular headbox, a particular motor and a particular roll. Frame it before those are chosen and you have framed a guess. https://theautom8group.com/wireless-vs-wired-lighting-control/ https://theautom8group.com/wireless-vs-wired-lighting-control/ Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT The question is rarely which is better. It is which one the building will allow without opening walls you are not allowed to open. https://theautom8group.com/buying-high-quality-leds/ https://theautom8group.com/buying-high-quality-leds/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 12:00:00 GMT Two LEDs with the same wattage and the same price tag can behave very differently on a dimmer and render color very differently on a wall. These are the specifications that tell them apart. https://theautom8group.com/circadian-rhythm-habits-and-lighting/ https://theautom8group.com/circadian-rhythm-habits-and-lighting/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 12:00:00 GMT Most of what steadies a body clock is behavior, not equipment. Lighting and shading can make the behavior easier, and that is the honest extent of it. https://theautom8group.com/connected-home-vs-smart-home/ https://theautom8group.com/connected-home-vs-smart-home/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 12:00:00 GMT The two get used interchangeably. They are different things, and the difference shows up the first time you try to start a movie. https://theautom8group.com/merging-style-and-technology-in-interior-design/ https://theautom8group.com/merging-style-and-technology-in-interior-design/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 12:00:00 GMT How technology can serve an interior instead of competing with it: framed TVs, custom soundbars, invisible speakers and decorative keypads. https://theautom8group.com/outdoor-technology-for-wellbeing/ https://theautom8group.com/outdoor-technology-for-wellbeing/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 12:00:00 GMT A terrace that is comfortable after dark, in glare and in cooler weather gets used. One that is not stays furniture. https://theautom8group.com/smart-home-wiring-for-new-homes/ https://theautom8group.com/smart-home-wiring-for-new-homes/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 12:00:00 GMT Wi-Fi is a convenience, not an infrastructure. The cabling behind the walls is what a house is still relying on twenty years from now. https://theautom8group.com/solar-shades-and-energy/ https://theautom8group.com/solar-shades-and-energy/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 12:00:00 GMT A shade only saves energy if it is in the right position at the right time. Automation is what makes that happen. https://theautom8group.com/sound-and-wellness/ https://theautom8group.com/sound-and-wellness/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 12:00:00 GMT Sound can help a person relax. That is a modest claim, and it is the one worth designing a room around. https://theautom8group.com/the-hidden-beauty-of-maines-coastline/ https://theautom8group.com/the-hidden-beauty-of-maines-coastline/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 12:00:00 GMT Alon’s travel journal from the Maine coast, and the places that inspired his first relaxation video.