Who is doing home lighting automation?
carsonheim
10 years ago
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MFatt16
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agocaben15
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Whole House Automation
Comments (3)My experience is limited to government security and A/V systems where the two could not "touch" each other. I recommend you meet with 2-3 people who specialize in whole house automation. This is an area that can easily cost as much as a house. There are numerous variables involved which will be largely determined by your budget and personal taste. Questions include: are you videotaping your camera coverage (and what is your time coverage) and how many cameras do you plan to use? A/V can cover even more areas as well -- large screen TV and/or projector, home theater lighting control, multi-zone & multi-control (i.e., separate audio sources) speakers, etc. And then you get into remote control of your house via the internet. HVAC, webcam viewing, and home lighting control are some of the more popular ways of monitoring a home from afar. The best way to save money with your builder is to have the system specified with a detailed layout design before the first stud goes up. The builder needs to know what you plan to do. You should also meet with your builder's electrical sub as early as possible to determine if he/she has any experience with wiring these kinds of systems. You may need another sub if the electrician is inexperienced or uncomfortable with performing the work. Your costs will soar if you have to go back into ceilings, floors, and/or walls after they are finished. You can certainly save by doing some work yourself but you want to stick to what you know to avoid holding up the builder and incurring costs greater than your labor savings. Good luck......See MoreHome Automation: Lighting
Comments (4)Thanks for the responses. We have an open floor plan, so I guess I unless sensors are really well placed. It might cause to many lights to come on. My light designer also doesn't seem to be in favor of them due to increase cost, I am still not sure what the cost difference there is. The wiring seems the same, besides running some type of ground to the motion sensors. There are so many options, it is going to take some research. She also thought LEDS were so much money compared to flouroscents. Mentioned static elecricity for LED tape lights which make them less effective. I think I will install occupancy/vacancy switches in the bedrooms, laundry rooms and possibly bathrooms and leave it at that. Right now we are making a lighting plan and she is not in favor of 6" housing for recess and wants 5", but I am thinking of using cree 575 home dept bulbs. Maybe we will mix and match. Does anyone know if recess housing for all practical purpose is the same if you get ICAT or are there functional differences?...See MoreHome Automation Wiring
Comments (3)I think what you're doing is a GREAT idea, and anyone building now who doesn't, is crazy. Materials-wise, it's a very small cost. As I understand the Cat 6 standard, it's more about cable lengths than speed vs Cat 5e, 5e is fine for gigabit which is as good as we get right now, althought I do see some cat 6 rated plugs etc around at the moment. One of the main things to consider is that data or cable wiring should not share a wall cavity with power wiring, ie there should be a stud separating them. I'm not sure what people are using for the automation stuff or if they're just using cat 5e/6 for that too. If you buy a 1000' roll and find you will have plenty left you can use it to do your telephone runs too, as far as I know that's permitted use (although cat 3 which is telephone rated is a lot cheaper)...See MoreHome Automation ?
Comments (21)JC hit it. There are SO many companies producing "gizmos" that there are going to be issues. Above and beyond the "boy that's cool factor", the reality is for any "gizmo a" to work with "gizmo c or gizmo d", getting any given number of companies to do this and work with a gizmo from another company is going to be anything but mission impossible. Tech is mostly based on "if this, then that rules". In other words you pull into the garage and your door automatically closes so we need a rule "if the garage door closes, then turn on the lamp in the living room IF..." Then one day the company that makes "gizmo a" comes out with the "upgraded gizmo a"... well guess what, NOTHING ELSE WILL WORK WITH IT. Think iPhones here. They are making what, 2 plus new models per year? Seems like the iPhone 5 was here and now it's gone. Try to find support and the latest and greatest apps for that phone, good luck with that. Planned obsolescence. In years to come, it'll take a major player such as Apple, Amazon or Google to put together the COMPLETE package. I frequent a very popular online boating forum and here is one such post from a day ago regarding "smart houses". --------------------- I got really into SmartThings last year, replaced all of our switches, added sensors to all of the doors, integrated with my harmony hub, integrated with Google home and Alexa, ifttt, etc. SmartThings is a great open platform for those who like to tweak and customize. However, I'm not sure I'd do it again. Out of the box, the basic automation that SmartThings (and wink too, I bought one of those and sent it back because it did next to nothing for automation and there was no ability to add community-developed extensions) offers are exactly that...very basic. Like too basic to be anything other than a novelty IMO. To really automate with complex rules (when someone comes home then do x but only if nobody else is already home and the garage hasn't opened in the past 30 minutes, for example), community-developed rule machines are necessary. Since they are community based, support is limited and they can (and do) stop working randomly, requiring constant updates and a decent amount of time on the community forums. I like the idea of HA but the REAL usefulness and "set it and forget it" type rules are not there yet. For the time being, I'll stick to turning on my lights and watering my lawn the old fashioned way. IT WORKS....See Morecarsonheim
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