RE: Any advice for ambitious newbie?

["Mark Harrison" <Mark.Harrison@xxxxxxx>]

Bruno,

Welcome. You should be warned that this group can work out very expensive
:=
-)


--- Lighting

You haven't said how you're intending decorating, which will, of couse,
mak=
e a huge difference to your lighting requriments.

I'm guessing from your description that you're going for some full-height
a=
rchitectural spaces. I'd be asking a series of questions here... what is
go=
ing to be the interior finish of your roof? Is it going to be something
wor=
th lighting for its own sake? Is it a light colour (and therefore suitable
=
for providing lighting washes by bouncing hidden lamps off it)?

Now, personally, I've adopted a "no visible lightbulbs" approach
=
(except in the kitchen), so everything is done with uplights and
reflection=
s off, low, light ceilings. Reading lamps tend to have low shades, and
(whe=
n I remember) crown silver bulbs so they don't puddle the ceiling too
much.=

If I were lighting an architectural space with a dark ceiling, however,
I'd=
think about big floor level halogen uplights washing walls to provide ambi=
ent lighting, and task light for specific things like "the reading
cha=
ir" and the "keyboard light."

If you're still at the first fix stage, then I'd strongly recomment
running=
individual T&E cable runs back to a central "wiring closet" =
and terminate them in-room with the "small, round-pin, three point
plu=
gs" (to distinguish them from normal plugs)... Use a "patch
panel=
" approach to this lighting, even if, for the moment, you don't wire
t=
hem up, it does enable you mix your individual lighting circuits around
lat=
er when you've been in the house for a while.

Likewise, running your ceiling fixtures back as individual runs rather
than=
on a ring gives you lots of flexibility about controls, whether you use X-=
10, DMX, or just light switches. Obviously, you run the switches back
indep=
endantly and "patch" them as you want - if you do this, use
"=
;dual pole, dual throw" rather than just "make or break
switches&=
quot; so you can use this for 2 or 3 way switch control later if you
decide=
to.

In terms of energy efficiency - don't forget that the most fuel-efficient
l=
ight is one that's turned off. Personally, I dislike fluro-discharge
lamps,=
as I'm sensitive to flicker, and tend to have quite rich colours in the ho=
use that are designed for a tungsten emission spectrum. As such, I'm more
i=
nto lights that turn themselves off automatically when I'm not in a room
fo=
r more than a couple of minutes. (But reliable occupancy detection may be
h=
arder in your kind of spaces than in mine.)


--- Control

Homevision... believe me, once you've got one, you won't go back :-) There
=
_is_ a good Linux front end to it. Misterhouse is great (particularly as
yo=
u're a Perl programmer), but HomeVision's MASSIVE advantage is that
develop=
ment of schedules in itis QUICK with a capital QUICK. If, like me, you're
c=
ash-rich, time-poor, then this is kind of key :-)


--- MP3 playing

Consider devices like the Rio Receiver, the AudioTron and the SliMP3. 

The Rio will support Linux servers using JReceiver (a custome server that
a=
lso builds a SQL database from the MP3 metadata, and allows some quite
comp=
lex selection of playlists using a SQL-like syntax... or just a simple
&quo=
t;show me all the artists" from the front panel. The Rio's looking a
b=
it dated - its web interface is flakey (third-party), its LCD is very
poor,=
and its sound quality has been overtaken by devices like the AudioTron... =
However it's cheap (if you can find one, since it's discontinued...) I
have=
6, bought at different prices - 1 @ =A3150 (shortly after it was launched)=
, 4 @ =A3100 (personal import), 1 @ =A390 (s/h).

The Audiotron and SliMP3 have better control but are pricier. The ideal
for=
me would be an AudioTron in the bedroom (where the main hi-fi lives) with =
a separate DAC, and Rios in the subsidiary rooms. (The AudioTron has a
TOSL=
INK out.)


--- Other toys

Central vacuum system? Not particularly automated, but a cool thing. I'm
NO=
T going for a "robot vacuum" yet, since the cost/benefit
compared=
to paying a local au pair to come in a couple of times each week and clean=
the place is still weighted in Teri's favour :-)


--- Watering

Homevision can control some relatively inexpensive valves. Again,
HomeVisio=
n provides (out of the box, but can be expanded) 8 digital outputs, each
of=
which control a zone. My own garden (will have) 4 watering zones for diffe=
rent types of plants.


Anyway, let us know how you get on... and on-site consulting available in
e=
xchange for coffee :-)

Regards,

Mark




-----Original Message-----
From: Bruno Prior [mailto:bruno@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 5 August 2002 11:59
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: [ukha_d] Any advice for ambitious newbie?


Sorry, in advance, for the very long post.

[... which is snipped, to save space ...]

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