Malibu, 90265

Home automation in Malibu.

A Malibu house is spread across its lot, far from the next one, and loses power every fire season. Automation there has to reach the gate, the guest house and the pool, has to run through a shutoff on the generator, and has to be built on wiring that survives salt air. County Line Electric builds that backbone and installs the systems on it.

Rough-inIs where it starts
GeneratorKeeps it running
LutronLighting and shades

Why here

Distance, weather, and outages are the design brief.

Three things shape automation in Malibu. Distance: the gate is at the road, the guest house is across the lot, the pool equipment is down the slope, and all of it needs power, network and control, which means conduit and fiber between buildings rather than hoping wireless carries. Weather: salt air corrodes outdoor connections, so exterior cameras, speakers and gate equipment are specified and wired for it. Outages: SCE shuts Malibu off in every wind event, and an automation system that dies with the grid is worse than none, so the head end, the network, the cameras and the gate are on the generator and the critical loads are planned together.

County Line builds the electrical and low-voltage backbone for those systems at rough-in on new construction, surveys existing homes before quoting a retrofit, and installs Lutron lighting and shades, security and cameras, multi-room audio and video, networking and climate on top of it. The control platform is chosen with the owner and the integrator if there is one.

Media room with a Lutron scene — Image courtesy of Lutron.

The systems

What runs on the backbone.

Lighting and shades

Lutron HomeWorks across every building, shades on the ocean glass moving with the sun.

Lutron

Gate, cameras, intercom

Fiber to the gate, cameras at the road and the perimeter, on the generator.

Audio and video

Music outside and in every room, video to every screen, outdoor equipment rated for the coast.

Network

Wired between buildings, access points placed for the house, the deck and the pool, on backup power.

Climate and energy

Thermostats, pool and spa, the generator and the chargers on one screen.

Security

Alarm, locks and the cameras on one system, reachable from anywhere.

Outdoor

Landscape lighting, outdoor audio and video, the outdoor kitchen.

Control

Keypads, touch panels, the app and voice.

20+ yrsIn businessJeff Tucker has run County Line Electric in the Conejo Valley for over 20 years.
#949580California contractor licenseLicensed, bonded and insured. Check it on the CSLB site any time.
GeneracStandby generator estimatesA written estimate after a site visit and a load calculation.
A+BBB Accredited since 2017Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau. See the profile.
5.0HomeAdvisor ratingFive stars from every reviewed job. Read the reviews.

Malibu automation questions

Does County Line Electric install home automation in Malibu?

Yes. County Line Electric designs and installs whole-home automation in Malibu: Lutron lighting and shades, gate and cameras, multi-room audio and video, networking between buildings, climate and energy, built on an electrical and low-voltage backbone installed at rough-in on new construction or after a survey on existing homes, and planned to keep running on the standby generator through an SCE shutoff.

Will the automation work during a power shutoff?

If it is designed to. County Line puts the head end, the network, the cameras and the gate on the generator and plans the critical loads with the automation in mind, so the house stays controllable and watchable through a multi-day shutoff.

Can the system reach a guest house across the lot?

Yes, with conduit and fiber between the buildings, which County Line runs at rough-in or, on an existing property, after the survey establishes the path.

The part nobody sees

The network is the house.

Every automation system runs on the network, and the network is where most systems fail. A consumer router in a closet, a single access point for a 6,000 square foot house, cameras on the same wireless as the televisions: these are the reasons a smart home stops being used. County Line builds the network the way a commercial electrician builds one: wired drops to every fixed device, enterprise access points placed from a survey of the house, separate traffic for cameras and for guests, a rack with real power and cooling, and conduit between buildings where there is a guest house or a gate.

That network is also what makes the system replaceable. Control platforms change every few years; a wired backbone does not. A house County Line pre-wires can change its control system without opening a wall.

Decide this before framing

The automation questions a builder should ask at plan review.

Where is every television, speaker, camera, keypad, touch panel and shade going, on the drawings, not in a later conversation
Where does the rack live, and does that room have power, cooling and a path to the roof for antennas
What runs on the generator: the network, the cameras, the gate and the head end should
Which buildings need to be connected, and is there conduit between them
Who owns the control platform decision, the owner, the designer or an integrator, and when is it made
What does the owner actually want to do from a phone, and what should just happen on its own

Official references

Where the facts on this page come from.

County Line links to the authorities rather than restating them. Rules change; these pages are current.

City of Malibu: permits
California Coastal Commission: the Coastal Zone
SCE Public Safety Power Shutoffs: why Malibu goes dark
Generac: propane-ready units
CSLB license check: license #949580

Next step

Tell us how the house should work.

Name, phone, city and a line about the project. The office calls back, and a site visit is scheduled if it makes sense. No pressure, no sales script.

Call (805) 499-0823

Or call (805) 499-0823. Monday to Friday, 9 to 5.