Re: Fw: Understanding Comfort...

[john.benfield@xxxxxxx]

>Last time I heard EIB was getting even harder to  get into than it had
been previously. You used to have to take a 2 grand  training course and
then buy the >software at hundreds of pounds after that just  so you
could
program your own system!

It's still the same. The course is about =A31K (and one week) and yes you
need to buy the software. And that's not exactly the best around. Robust
but not very intuitive. I'm told that once you've been trained it quite
easy. Also the EIB components are quite expenses (more than C-Bus). However
there are a number of places to get them from and the range is very
extensive.

>The Comfort-Clipsal C-Bus tie up sounds a better  plan to me - have you
any ideas of cost of C-Bus stuff yet?
I've meet with Clipsal recently and they are actually pushing an alarm call
Galaxy. They stated that the two can be integrated (as can Comfort).
However they couldn't show me anything to prove it.

To get into C-Bus is allot easier. A half or one days training and a copy
of the software (about =A3600 all in). I asked for the price list from
Clipsal and they sent me the trade prices. I'd be happy to publish a couple
of examples, but not the entire thing.

Their system looks easy to design and configure, with later expansion being
quite easy. I'm not due to make any decisions for a couple of months, and
installation won't take place for at least six months (yer right). So I
don't have allot of info to pass around at present. However come September
next year, expect a big rise in HA questions coming from my direction.

>_IF_ money was no object though, I would defo go  with a hardwired
system
like C-Bus.
Ah, now's here's the rub, I won't say that money's not object, but as I
will be spending a couple of grand (and a bit more) on a profession
lighting designer, I will be installing a good hardwired configurable
system to take advantage of it.