HOT TECH CLIMATE CHALLENGING FOR A

Water, Salt, High Humidity, Sunshine, and Outdoor Living Trend Steer Integral Home Technology’s Approach to Tech Integration

By Lisa Montgomery

Geographical location, climate, and topology have a huge influence on the technologies offered and the design and installation techniques employed by systems integrators to deliver the experiences and lifestyles that their target market demands. Well-established and in tune with the Tampa Bay area, where coastal waterfront estates dominate, Integral Home Technology caters to an elite clientele for which outdoor living isn’t just a pastime, it’s a way of life.

Integral’s comprehensive portfolio of carefully curated products and thoughtful installation practices reflect its customers’ need for smart, comfortable, effortless exterior spaces that withstand moisture, heat, intense sunshine, and the occasional serious storm that blows across the peninsula. Integral’s husband and wife team Paul and Melanie Niemerg shared with us some of the key components and strategies that have helped them build a thriving outdoor tech business throughout South Florida.

Storm-Ready Shades

One of the fastest moving products in Integral’s line card are motorized hurricane shades from Progressive Screens. Providing protection from hurricane-strength winds and harsh UV rays, these highly specialized motorized shades are a must-have for the lanais, patios, gazebos, and other outdoor areas that pepper the South Florida coast. Despite being an absolute workhorse, built to withstand Category 5 hurricane winds and UV damage, “you can still see through them to enjoy the scenery,” Paul said. “This unique blend of practical protection and visual appeal makes this particular brand of outdoor shade hard for anyone to pass up.”

What’s more, by forming a self-contained barrier, the shades effectively create a space in which displays and other sensitive tech gear can safely reside. While weatherproof displays like those from SunBrite certainly have a place in outdoor living spaces, Integral typically recommends a standard TV when those areas are covered.

“Rather than selling our customers on something they really don’t need, we base our choice of display on the customer and the application. Most clients feel better about using a less expensive display in a lanai and upgrading to a newer model a few years down the road,” Paul noted.

Speakers that Beat the Heat

Outdoor speakers are another matter. Here, Integral looks for longevity.

“The housings of most outdoor speakers are made of materials that rust and deteriorate over time due to the intense sunshine and saltwater we deal with constantly,” Paul remarked.

To avoid call backs to replace and/or repair speakers, Integral’s go-to for outdoor audio is Coastal Source. “It’s proven time and again to be the most durable, reliable, high-quality outdoor speaker on the market,” Paul said.

However, for Paul and his team, there’s more to like about Coastal Source than the rugged yet visually attractive weather-resistant housings. The twist-and-lock cable connectors, which also happen to be IP68-rated, require no splicing of cable, which makes the installation easier for Integral installers and provides an airtight, waterproof, fail-safe connection to ensure peak audio performance for years. Another perk of this unique connector design: Adding speakers is a breeze, which for Integral’s largely retrofit customer base, is a fairly common exercise.

Cable Conduit and Wi-Fi Coverage

When you utilize outdoor areas as much as Integral’s clients do, you’re bound to eventually do some updating. “We often revisit projects to add speakers, modify the lighting design, change out a TV, or integrate a new water feature into the automation system,” Melanie related.

Plus, with the majority of Integral’s business stemming from retrofit projects, proper futureproofing is always front of mind. A consultation with their clients about current and future plans for the outdoors is standard practice, as is running plenty of conduit underground.

“Conduit costs just pennies on the dollar and prevents the expense and mess of trenching into existing yards to lay new cable,” Paul explained. “Our years of experience creating outdoor living environments and familiarity with the climate and terrain gives us the foresight to know what to put in now and what to plan for later.”

Integral extends the life and performance of outdoor environments further by deploying a well-designed and configured Wi-Fi network.

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“Bottom line: If you don’t have a good network, you’ll have issues, whether that’s inside or outside the house,” Paul explained.

Integral starts with a Pakedge router for the headend and outdoor-rated Wi-Fi access points from Araknis for the exterior locations. “No matter how the technology in an outdoor area grows, changes and evolves, a strong, reliable Wi-Fi umbrella will support it all,” Melanie said.

Mobile Apps for Snowbirds

South Florida has its fair share of part-time residents — “key candidates for app-based home control,” Melanie noted. Integral recommends this style of control to most customers — part-time or permanent — as it complements an active, outdoor lifestyle. No matter where they are — traveling to the state for the winter, on the golf course, by the boat dock or lounging by the swimming pool — a mobile app puts Integral’s customers in control of their outdoor and indoor environments.

“As long as the Wi-Fi is stable, the speakers are well connected, and there’s a comfortable spot to get away from the sun, outdoor living doesn’t get much better,” Paul said.

By customizing their time-tested products, designs, and installation techniques to myriad residences along the coastline, Integral is helping homeowners enjoy the sun, surf, and climate that make South Florida such a great place to reside. x

South Florida Smart Home Manufacturers and What They Offer

Coastal Source (Marathon, FL): Outdoor speakers/landscape lighting designed with durable housings to fend off damage from moisture and UV rays and airtight, waterproof connectors maintain peak audio performance.

ADT (Boca Raton, FL): Provides residential, small and large business electronic security, fire protection, and other related alarm monitoring services throughout the United States.

Future Ready Solutions (Bonita Springs, FL): Advanced connectivity products with a focus on fiber optics for the delivery of 8K/48Gb HDMI and 10Gb networking and beyond.

Progressive Screens (Sarasota, FL): Motorized shading solution for parts of the country prone to intense storms and sunshine.

Straight Wire (Hollywood, FL): Develops and produces world-class cables and related accessories, predominantly made in the USA, primarily for consumer audio and video enthusiasts.

Rosewater Energy Group (Sunrise, FL): Creates an appropriate Power Plan for integration clients, managing the RoseWater product installation and providing remote monitoring capabilities for both the integrator and client user.

Why Reboot (Miami, FL): Provides commercial-grade networks that address the demands of advanced control and automation technologies in connected residential, commercial, and luxury marine environments.