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Thanks Dan,
I can see your reasoning and had not reached
the
conclusion that your redundancy was due to any one unreliable
component. It
got me wondering if a totally automated approach is ok. There are many
approaches to HA. Hence the question.
What i want to do is remove manual control, i
want
automation. I don't want a fancy interface to turn lights on, i want
intelligent automation.
I intend to move on to lights, as you say this
can
be flawed. Thats why the main area i indend to do first are the
outside
flood lights (no big deal if it fails), the stair case (covered by
emergency
lights). I have no intention of moving so have no requirement to retain
normal
switches. I intend to remove them totally and i am using relay control
rather
than iffy X10. I may retain manual switches in say bathroom &
kitchen.
Having worked in electronics, i can say
comfort is
manufactured to a very high standard in particular the pcb which is of very
high
quality. I have had one comfort failure but even this may not have been in
comforts control e.g failure of supplied component. I suspect this was a
very
rare occurance and probably less likely than a mains fuse failure or as you
point out lightening.
When our kitchen light failed. It was not the
fuse
or the switch or the tube or the starter or the light fitting. It was the
WIRE,
twin & earth solid core copper. The least high tech component and even
had
this been controlled by a room of computers, it still would have
failed!!!!!
I guess in around about way i was asking for
views
on if a automated system with no redundancy is a too risky approach or if
carefully designed would be no more prone to failure than a fuse, bulb or
piece
of wire.
Sorry if i inferred any unreliabilty of
comfort.
That is not the case.
Steve
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2001 12:38
PM
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] How reliable is
comfort
Steve,
First I want to clarify my comments regarding the
doorbell and redundant systems. My philosophy of keeping each of my
HA
systems independent of each other so that if 1 system is down the others
will
work, does NOT come from having unreliable equipment in my house.
Both
my HV and Comfort systems have worked flawlessly since I installed
them.
Instead, it comes from the reality that eventually 1 of these systems will
likely fail and I don't want to lose all HA features when it does. I
had
a lightning strike 2 years ago (Comfort was not yet installed) that took
out
my HV. Since all HA devices have local control, I was still able
to
operate everyhting manually until I got the HV repaired.
Also, since I am a software developer, my systems
are
in a constant state of change. So, I need to plan for the case when I
write bad software for 1 of the systems or I short 2 wires together and
blow
something up (which is much more likely than 1 of these systems failing I
think).
So,
my answer to your question is that from my experience (which is admittedly
only 1 system so far), Comfort is very reliable.
Another of my design philosophies is that my
lighting
has local control and does not use any special wiring that the average
electrician can not work on. This allows me to sell my house and take
my
HA stuff with me, or leave the HA stuff. In either case, the new
owners
can replace the X-10 wall switch with a "normal" switch. And, they
can
operate the lights if the system is down. I would not consider
installing lights where there was no local control. I am not sure
that I
could program into my system all the scenerios where I might want the
lights
on and/or off.
Consider if you will ever just want to leave these
lights on for some reason. And, if controlled by a motion sensor,
will
it see a child walking into the room? What about pets? The list
goes on and on. Obviously this is a personal preference/situation
decision that you must make and you may not agree with my thinking, which
is
fine. I just wanted to point out a few things.
Dan
-----Original
Message-----
From: steve
[mailto:steve@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2001 1:46
PM
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxxSubject: [ukha_d] How
reliable is comfort
Hi,
Following on from Phil's recent long reply and
a comment of Dan's on the comfort list refering to duplication of manual
systems and HA (Door bell's).
Up to now my HA kit has handled the heating of
my home and my flats next door. PC based and no big deal when it crashed. I
am now moving on with addition of comfort & have on order a SEP01 and a
LEM01. I have been busy constructing 4 x 4 relay boards for mains
control.
It is my intention to control lighting on a
stair case (2 flights, 3 landings) and kitchen and bathroom having no
manual
control just comfort. The staircase is covered by 3 maintained emergency
lights and although only 8w we never actually use the existing lights. So
no
great danger of failure here.
I have removed the ify element of X10 by using
the relays. (i have an x10 dusk/dawn light that works fine for weeks then
despite being told its command every 5 mins can look a though it has
failed.
Then as if by magic next days its fine). So back to my question. Having had
one comfort failure generally how reliable is comfort ?
Steve.
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