A smart home automates and integrates its functionality. A security system can turn on the lights in your home, or a garden watering system can kick in when the mercury rises. Also, your thermostat can dial up before you walk in the front door.

BRAINY ABODES You're a busy person, so let your house help you out with some smart features. Wouldn't it be nice to find that when you pull into the driveway, the garage door opens, the front door unlocks and the air conditioning turns on. Welcome home! In a typical smart home, modern systems, such as heating, lighting and security, are integrated to "talk” with each other and interact in ways that keep you safer and allow you to save money on things like utilities. Smart functionality starts with special wiring to link the systems to a computerized command center.

AWAY FROM HOME Smart-home components can be handled manually or automatically, but what about access when you are traveling? That's easy! Just Web enable your home through smart technology–then open a Web page to see whether you turned off the coffeepot. View real-time images of your home's interior on your cell phone, or send a text message to turn on the heat in your vacation ski lodge so it's toasty warm when you get there. Just say the word, because advanced systems offer voice-recognition activation.

THE NEXT STEP If you can't schedule a trip to the annual Consumer Electronics Show (held in January every year) to view the latest in home automation and electronic gadgetry, contact your local smart-home professional to wire your home for "smart.” Or, see what's available online: