Comfort vs HomeVision

[Williams Christopher C <CCWILLIAMS@xxxxxxx>]

Hi folks,

Some time ago I sent a message asking what you would recommend in
preference to a CM12U for home automation.

The two systems that I have been looking into and am rather keen on are
Comfort and HomeVision.

These devices obviously are aimed at different areas but have a high
degree of overlap,  I would like to ask a few questions about these
devices if I may:

It seems that the ideal solution is to use both.  My plan is to make
Comfort responsible for all security related issues and the HomeVision
responsible for all home control.  We have a TV in nearly every room and
I think it would be ideal to feed HV screens, via a modulator, to all
TVs for local control.  It seems to me that ideally I should connect HV
to Comfort so that HV can make use of the occupancy sensors connected to
Comfort, can be controlled remotely using the telephone and knows when
the system is in Away mode for example. Comfort could also ask HV to
switch appliances on as requested to give that 'lived in look'.

As I see it there are several ways of doing this:

1. Use X10 signals to send messages between the two devices (not keen)
2. Use RS232 to send messages( better, not sure on range )
3. Use the zone I/O lines of Comfort to connect to the I/O lines of
HomeVision (even less keen)
( I had thought about using RS485, but according to Andrew Roberts the
RS485 interface in Comfort is purely for internal use.)=20

I think it is currently possible to use the second option with a PC
in-between running the ACE software?  Can this be done, to a limited
extent, without a PC, i.e. Comfort connected directly to HV and
responses/events setup to send messages over RS232?  I have just bought
myself a TINI Java computer that I am hoping to program to control heat
boost and ventilation in our bathroom and shower room, I may be able to
use this (via RS232) to link the two devices.  One day I may even be
able to use it to provide a Web interface!!?

There are a couple of reasons why I would rather not use a PC in my home
control setup (at least initially), one I don't have one!, and two I
don't really want a PC running 24hrs/day. (Don't really need a H/D for
home control)

I would appreciate any comments on my proposals:

Is this overkill, should I plump for one or other device?  I feel that
both devices could compliment one another rather well.
Can anyone who uses both (Mark M?) comment on how they talk to each
other?
Which should I purchase first! (can hardly afford one, let alone both at
the moment!)

Can probably sell Comfort to the Wife easier, due to obvious benefits of
security ( We currently have a cheap wireless job from Wickes that has
just packed up!  Could try and fix it, but that may not be in my
interest!! :) Apparently a capacitor has failed causing the keypad to
eat batteries in 2 weeks.  Response want =A347 to fix it, or =A349 to
replace it!!!!!!! ( Any ideas which capacitors are most likely to give
this fault - electrolytic? ( Nigel? ) ) ) Sorry! for the excessive
brackets!!

However, I would be tempted to use it's home control features, which no
doubt the wife will hate! ( She hates technology/gadgets! ) This will
make it very difficult to justify HV :(

Any thought/comments would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Chris Williams



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