Let us take care of the electronics and automation - so you can focus on what you do best!

If your client wants a garden to complement their home, you call a landscape architect. Similarly if your client wants to create an intelligent electronics environment, you call us.

Standing Out from the crowd

Differentiating your homes can be a challenge; but done right, it can be the difference between making a sale and a house sitting empty. K&W Audio provides easy-to-install, affordable home-control solutions that lets you build greener homes and give buyers an easy-to-use, high-tech solution – both things that are very important to buyers these days.

We can add the following features to your homes, making your homes more marketable without impacting your timelines:

One-Touch Home Theater: Simplify the control of audio, video and home theater components, eliminating the need for multiple remotes

Multi-room Music: Enjoy digital music collections – like XM or Sirius, iTunes Rhapsody or your personal iPod library – anywhere in your home.

Smart Lighting: Create lighting scenes that offer simple control over lights and outlets. Smart lighting uses timers, motion sensors and dimmers to enhance security and reduce energy costs.

Advanced Temperature Control: Help conserve energy and ensure comfort with pre-programmed temperature controls.

Safety and Security: Integrate a security system or IP cameras to monitor home security from virtually anywhere.

More: K&W can integrate with a wide range of products including door locks, window shades, pool controllers, appliance monitors and more. If you can imagine a way that home-control would make your life or your buyers’ lives easier, we can probably make it happen!

The rise of the “smart home”

These days electronic and communications technology influences almost every aspect of the home environment. Intelligent home technology is increasingly common in new homes and home renovations – especially at the top end of the market.

As an architect, builder or interior designer you have your hands full providing your core services. You cannot be an expert at everything, and keeping abreast of rapidly changing home automation technologies is a chore. That is where we at K&W come in.

We are specialists in home automation, and have worked in the field for 30 years. We have extensive experience working with the architects, builders and interior designers like you to create intelligent environments in their clients’ new homes.

Your home automation partner

K&W is a trusted resource you can rely on when your project requires automation and systems integration. You can delegate the electrical and automation component of your projects to us. That way you can decrease your workload, expand your range of services, and maximize client satisfaction and your profitability.

K&W offers a one-stop home automation solution; we can take care of everything, including:

• explaining home automation and systems integration in plain English to you and your clients
• contributing ideas and developing solutions
• designing, engineering and documenting systems
• ensuring the home automation systems blend seamlessly with your designs
• project managing the installation of cabling and infrastructure, and
• programming and commissioning the installed system

Experience you can rely on

Home automation projects can be very complex and you need expert advice every step of the way. Engaging a home automation designer and engineer is no different to engaging an architect, interior designer or other design professional. The most important factor is experience.

K&W Audio & Automation has been designing and installing automated environments for clients in Canada since 1978. We have extensive experience working with homeowners, architects, builders and interior designers to create intelligent environments to the most exacting requirements and tastes.

Get in touch

You might have a project that requires home automation on your desk right now. Alternatively, perhaps you are curious about how you can benefit from working together with us. Either way, get in touch with us and let's talk about how we can forge a profitable partnership, elevating your client satisfaction levels to new heights.

Services

We provide an end-to-end home automation solution

There are eight stages in a typical home automation project. Working together with you and/or your preferred electrical contractor, we can take you through every stage of the project, from developing the scope of works to on-going support.

1. Develop a scope of work

A detailed scope of work is the foundation of every successful home automation project. First, we usually need to enlighten our clients about the wide range of possibilities of home automation, because one cannot make informed decisions until one understands what is possible.

After discussing requirements and aspirations, we prepare the scope of works. We always take into account  budget and aesthetic preferences, functionality, energy efficiency and future technological needs.

2. Design and documentation

After liaising with the architect and interior designer, we produce detailed specifications for all electrical and electronic works, complete plans showing the location of all services, and detailed schedules of cabling requirements and layouts.

The result is a set of documents that includes:

• An electrical contractor specification document (if required)
• High and Low voltage layouts including power points, telephones, floor heating, towel rails, fans, pumps, etc.
• Electronic systems layouts including audio visual, home theatre, security, access control, CCTV, etc.
• Communications layouts including internet and telephone
• Lighting layouts including zoning, switching and switch plate design
• Systems distributions locations
• Cable routing locations

These documents are used by our installers and the electrical contractor to install the cabling in preparation for the home automation systems.

3. Cabling and infrastructure installation

Ok back at it, at this stage, our installation team and/or your electrical contractor installs the electrical, lighting, audio visual, communications, data cabling, and infrastructure.

4. Project management

Throughout the cabling and infrastructure installation, we support and liaise with the electrician, designers and other trades-people e.g. architects, builders, landscape architects, interior designers, plumbers and security contractors.

It is our job to help the designers, builders and contractors understand the exact requirements of the infrastructure and systems to be installed. This ensures the home automation systems are implemented to the highest standard.

5. Product selection and installation

This is the stage where final product selection is made under the agreed guidelines. We believe systems components (e.g. lighting or video projectors) should be chosen on the basis of functionality, performance, reliability and aesthetics.

We offer a broad range from many product manufacturers, which means we will always recommend the best products for your requirements and budget. If money is no object, we will supply you with the finest products on the market. In addition, if you are working to a budget we will make sure you get the most cost-effective solution.

Once selection has been made, the chosen system components are purchased, installed, programmed and commissioned. At the completion of this stage, the entire home automation system is ready for handover.

6. Handover and tuition

Obviously, it is crucial that you understand how to get the best from your home automation system. At this critical stage we handover the finished system and explain its operation. Once you have lived in your new home for a while we can return to fine-tune the system to better fit your lifestyle if necessary.

7. On-going support and maintenance

All our systems are tried and tested before handover. However, due to circumstances beyond our control, there can be occasional failures. Therefore, we offer a wide range of warranty and support options, from basic return to base warranty through to tailored maintenance agreements. We can also offer a plan for systems upgrades, as and when you want them.