House-o-matic: Semaphoric Smart Homes brings luxury technology to the suburbs.

WHEN Ben Salisbury and his wife moved into their Sherman Oaks town home last year, the building came prewired with Internet access, satellite TV in every room and the capacity to add an elaborate entertainment center.

But Salisbury wanted more, so he asked Matt McKenna, owner of Moorpark-based wiring company Semaphoric Smart Homes, to add other controls so that the lights, central heat or air conditioning go on and off at pre-determined intervals throughout the day.

"There's a lot of other stuff he can do," said 29-year-old Salisbury. "I love all that stuff."

It's that kind of attitude McKenna is counting on.

Unlike most home automation companies, which target the owners of multimillion-dollar mansions, Semaphoric offers additional perks such as automated lighting controls, fiber installation and drapes that open automatically.

McKenna is piggybacking on new hardware and software suppliers who are taking advantage of cheap Asian manufacturing and advances in wireless technology to lower prices. He plans to have 120 homes pre-wired this year, with a handful coming back for more technology gadgets.

"A lot of people don't know this is affordable," he said. "How much would it cost to replace the carpet? $10,000 to $20,000. You can spend that to control a home theater, the Internet and turn the lights on and off."

Pre-wires

This year, 83 percent of homebuilders are expected to offer structured wiring in their new homes, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, up from 76 percent in 2004. Such wiring covers basics such as high-speed Internet access, McKenna said, but not more complex automation, such as lighting controls, automated blinds and remote access, which allows the homeowner to control lights and other features from a distant location via the Internet.

Those kinds of systems, often running over $100,000, have been generally targeted to large new homes and gut-and-build renovations in which thousands of feet of cabling could be installed.

Instead, McKenna said he can set up a system for $40,000 by purchasing his products from Control4, a Salt Lake City start up that sells lower-priced home automation systems using generic technology.

Control4's products, taking advantage of advances in Bluetooth and WiFi wireless communications, can be installed without wires in existing homes, creating a mass market for its products. McKenna said he can buy an automated lighting dimmer for $100 instead of more than $300 from other suppliers.

Josh Christian, marketing vice president of DSI Entertainment Systems in Studio City, another home automation company, acknowledged that "a lot of companies are coming out of the woodwork trying to make automation systems that are cheaper" although he maintained that proprietary systems are superior to some of the lower-cost options.

DSI generally works on homes of at least 5,000 square feet installing systems that cost from $150,000 to $1 million each. The company works with one of two manufacturers, Crestron Electronics and AMX Corp., which build proprietary systems for the home that can be custom-designed.

Mass market

McKenna thought up the idea for Semaphoric while working as a chief information officer at a staffing firm in Florida, where he managed the company's computer database, Web site, network and security system.

He began consulting on the side to business owners, who told him how they would like automation systems for their homes. "They weren't millionaires," he said. "They were upper middle-class business owners with money to spare."

In 2003 he began pitching homebuilders that he could install lower-priced home automation packages for middle-class homeowners, and within six months he had attracted the interest of MWH Development Corp., a mid-size Los Angeles homebuilder.

McKenna borrowed $10,000 and used part of his $40,000 in savings to move here in 2003 and start the company, which is based at his home office in Moorpark.

Mark Handel, principal of Calabasas-based MWH, said he viewed the wiring as a marketing tool and chose McKenna to do it over others. "There are a lot of people who pre-wire homes, but few can do all the work that is required," he said. "Matt is the computer wizard."

Semaphoric now has two full-time installers who work off-site, along with an accounting person and a salesperson. "You don't know how powerful it is until you live in it and use it," McKenna said. "And we're betting people will."

Semaphorlc Smart Homes

Year Founded: 2003

Core Business: Provide lower cost home automation and computer networking for middle-class homeowners

Revenues in 2003: $25,000

Revenues in 2004: $300,000

Employees 2003: 1

Employees 2004: 5

Goal: Expand into markets outside Los Angeles such as Orange County, San Diego and Fresno

Driving Force: The reduced cost of technology and middle-class homeowners' desires to automate their homes