As 2020 stretches on, many families are starting to realize it may be a while before it feels normal to venture out again. In the meantime, have you considered installing or upgrading new home entertainment systems to keep you and your family engaged and occupied at home?

At Eighteen Group, we have some great ideas for new AV installations to inject fresh enjoyment into long weekends spent at home in Lake Oswego, OR. If you’re interested in starting a new project, take a look at some of our suggestions below!

Lighting is often something our customers in Portland, OR forget about while designing their smart home, but few features matter more to your health and your comfort.

The reason lighting control is so important is simple—natural light has a powerful effect on our circadian rhythms, and if our home is filled with the wrong type of light, our mood can be affected, our sleep can be ruined, and our bodies can suffer.

Here’s why it’s so important to install a lighting control system.

The dog days of summer are over and now the kids are heading back to school in Lake Oswego, OR. But for many parents, the start of school means the start of overseeing virtual learning at home, instead of sending kids back to in-person classes. And as if that weren’t stressful enough, e-learning adds new strain to a home network that is already overloaded from you and your spouse working at home all summer.

With everyone in the family requiring reliable connectivity, now is the time to upgrade your home network installation and make sure it’s up to the task of keeping your household running smoothly all day. Keep reading to learn two reasons why a fast, robust system is essential, heading into the fall months.   

Since we’re spending more time in our homes than usual, the question of how to keep everyone entertained comes to mind.

People are working and going to school digitally, and parents are having to spend more time at home with the kids thanks to the pandemic.

Having the perfect home theater setup is now more essential than ever.

Home theater setups designed by our experts in Portland, OR give you and your loved ones the opportunity to enjoy all this extra time together and bond. It’s like going to the movies except that you can enjoy the experience from your own home while keeping everyone safe.

Here are a few essential components of the perfect home theater that you might not have thought about.

Are you ready to take your home life to the next level of comfort with a smart home installation? Being able to effortlessly adjust audio/video, lighting, climate, security and more to your desired settings while sitting on your couch saves you time and energy on small, mundane tasks. It also allows you to create a more comfortable environment for relaxing at home.

But the ideal smart home requires the right foundation. Keep reading to learn 3 must-haves and how Eighteen Group — a trusted local integrator in Lake Oswego, OR — can help!

Outdoor lighting can do so much more than help you see in the dark. With the right fixtures and the right outdoor lighting design, it can boost ambiance, improve safety and security, or increase your Portland, OR, home’s curb appeal.

Getting the right look starts with the design aspect. At Eighteen Group, our experienced team can evaluate your outdoor spaces and help you build a custom smart lighting design to showcase your home in its natural splendor. Keep reading to learn a few considerations to keep in mind before starting your design.

In a breakdown of the typical residential utility bill, the EPA’s Energy Star program estimated that lighting costs made up 12.5% of the total bill. Now, we know that lighting isn’t the biggest energy suck in your Lake Oswego, OR, home (that honor goes to the HVAC system), but that still comes out to a significant amount of money spent every year. And your percentage might be even higher depending on the size of your house.

A smart home lighting control system can reduce your energy output and save you money on monthly utility bills. Every little bit helps, and over time those small reductions will add up to big savings. Keep reading to learn 3 ways smart lighting can help you save money and be more eco-conscious.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that’s prompted stay-at-home orders across Portland, OR, and the United States, home entertainment has become more important than ever. How can you keep yourself and your family occupied and in good spirits when you can’t leave the house? Multi-room audio video setups are one solution.

Keep reading to learn 3 home spaces where AV installation can make a real difference in your comfort and entertainment levels, including some areas that might surprise you!

Your home network has become more important than ever in the wake of social distancing. As you work from home and your children attend online classes, you might become more aware that your network is slow or inconsistent. Now is the perfect time to upgrade your home network. A professional can help you strengthen your system and make it more reliable while maintaining an appropriate social distance. Learn why you should trust a professional with your next home network setup in Lake Oswego, OR.

Now that the summer months are getting closer and closer, it’s time to think about your Portland home’s outdoor space and all of the ways you can enjoy it. Maybe you have a great pool and outdoor kitchen, along with perfect lighting all around. Have you installed a high-end outdoor speaker system, though, to add an extra spark to them?

If not, consider these three reasons why an outdoor speaker system can make your home more enjoyable and connected.

Watching movies is a great pastime, and if you choose the right audio video installation provider for your home theater, your media room can give you a fun place to watch all the summer blockbusters.

Watching a movie at home in an intimate, familiar setting with your friends and loved ones is comforting and gives you the luxury of choosing from any movie you want. You can even watch a movie that came out 50 years ago and would never be available to watch in a traditional movie theater.

A home media room can provide time for you to bond with your family, can be a comfortable, familiar setting for any need, and can be a multi-use space in your Lake Oswego, OR home.

As the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates social distancing, more people have been working from home than ever before. Working from home can pose several unique challenges to those who have no experience doing so. Among them, maintaining a routine without the physical separation of home and work can be difficult for some. Luckily, there are many technology tools available to help you adapt to your brand-new workspace. In this blog, we highlight specifically how LED lighting can help you to keep a routine while working from home in Portland, OR.

With a home theater, you can enjoy all the fun of going out to the movies from the comfort of your home in Lake Oswego, OR. And even better, you can enjoy all the fun in your comfiest lounge clothes and with unlimited free popcorn refills. 

But a home theater installation isn’t a project you should rush into. There are many factors you need to think about before you can create the theater of your dreams. Eighteen Group is here to help guide you through the entire process of installing a home theater. Here are 5 factors you should consider at the beginning of the project.

Have you dismissed the idea of adding motorized shades to your Portland, OR, home because you’ve heard they’re loud, bulky and difficult to use? At Eighteen Group, we’ve heard all the myths surrounding smart shades, but we’re here to uncover fact from fiction and help you realize the value that motorized window shades can add to your home.  

Keep reading to discover the truth behind the top 4 misconceptions we hear from homeowners about motorized window treatments.

Smart homes are no longer relegated to science fiction. Recent technologies have made them available to the public, and devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home have popularized the concept even more. Are you interested in adding smart technology to your home? You might be tempted to install the technology yourself, but it is more work than you would expect. Learn why you should trust a professional to install a smart home automation system in your Portland, OR home.