Home, safe and sound: automation improves home office security and temperature control.

An estimated 40 million Americans are now working either fUll- or part-time from a home office that was once a drafty attic, cold basement or isolated spare bedroom. These spaces, chosen out of convenience, are usually not the most comfortable or secure to work in. Often there's a lack of temperature control, or security is a concern. But advances in home automation can help regulate temperatures and provide security--for less money than you might expect.

In struggling to get the temperature right in your home office, you could be wasting energy--and money--heating or cooling the rest of the house. You may also risk having expensive equipment overheat or exposing irreplaceable files and data disks to heat and humidity. Zonal temperature control, which heats or cools only designated rooms or "zones," may be the answer.

Although most of the automated temperature control systems on the market are designed for installation in new homes, you can modify your existing heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system to give you control over temperature settings in individual rooms. According to Myra Moore, senior analyst with Parks Associates, a Dallas-based consulting and marketing research firm specializing in residential technology, you can modify your existing system by installing motorized dampers. The cost of installation, depending on the size of your home, ranges from $1,200 to $2,500.

Heating or cooling only your office, and not the rest of the house, drops the average utility bill 20% to 30%. That could pay for system modifications in just four years.

To safeguard your home, products range from high-end comprehensive alarm systems to low-cost motion detectors. A Cadillac version is the Honeywell 6000 Home Security System (800-345-6770), which protects homes from burglary, fire and other emergencies (gas leaks, etc). This system, which uses specially installed wiring, can be set to monitor specific areas of the house, leaving you fire to roam about your office, kitchen and a nearby bathroom during the day. If the system senses an intruder, you are alerted immediately. Costs start at $895, installed.

On the much lower end of the scale are motion detectors that use infrared technology to detect intruders. One such unit is the Telko S002 Motion Activated Alarm Chime, which costs just $40, runs on a 9-volt battery, requires no wiring and installs in just a few minutes. The system, which allows you to monitor any areas of the house you choose, sounds an ear-piercing alarm when triggered. It's available from Safety Zone, 7916-L Tysons Corner Center, McLean, VA 22102; or call 703-821-6991 and refer to item no. 835371.

Video-entry systems are another way many home-office workers are enhancing their security. By mounting a video camera over the front door, running wiring to your office and installing special software on your personal computer, you can see who's at the front door before getting up to open it. You simply click on a special icon on your computer and call up the video image on the screen. If the person at your front door is from Federal Express, you'd probably want to answer it. But if you see a vacuum cleaner salesman, you could keep on working.

Because the cost of video cameras and monitors has dropped dramatically, this kind of security is relatively affordable. Basic systems start at $1,000 and are available at any major electronics dealership. But if $1,000 seems high, check out the SMS-W2 Wireless Video Monitoring System by Vivitar. For a suggested retail price of $349.95, you receive a small black-and-white monitor and battery-operated camera that can send video and audio signals up to 120 feet away.

Such security devices protect your office equipment from theft. So some of the cost of installation may be tax deductible.