RE: Any advice for ambitious newbie?

["Chris Bond" <chris@xxxxxxx>]

Only when you keep buying things - you also need lots of excuses lined
up for SWMBO

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Harrison [mailto:Mark.Harrison@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 06 August 2002 2:58 PM
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Any advice for ambitious newbie?

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,
make a huge difference to your lighting requriments.

I'm guessing from your description that you're going for some
full-height architectural spaces. I'd be asking a series of questions
here... what is going to be the interior finish of your roof? Is it
going to be something worth 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 reflections
off, low, light ceilings. Reading lamps tend to have low shades, and
(when 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 ambient lighting, and task light for specific things like "the=
reading chair" 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 plugs&q= uot;
(to distinguish them from normal plugs)... Use a "patch panel" ap= proach
to this lighting, even if, for the moment, you don't wire them up, it
does enable you mix your individual lighting circuits around later 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 independantly and "patch" them as you want - if you do this,= use
"dual pole, dual throw" rather than just "make or break swit= ches" 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 light 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 house that are designed for a tungsten
emission spectrum. As such, I'm more into lights that turn themselves
off automatically when I'm not in a room for more than a couple of
minutes. (But reliable occupancy detection may be harder 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 you're a Perl programmer), but HomeVision's MASSIVE
advantage is that development of schedules in itis QUICK with a capital
QUICK. If, like me, you're cash-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 also builds a SQL database from the MP3 metadata, and allows some
quite complex selection of playlists using a SQL-like syntax... or just
a simple "show me all the artists" from the front panel. The Rio'= s
looking a bit 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 TOSLINK out.)


--- Other toys

Central vacuum system? Not particularly automated, but a cool thing. I'm NOT going for a "robot vacuum" yet, since the cost/benefit compar= ed 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,
HomeVision 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 different types of plants.


Anyway, let us know how you get on... and on-site consulting available
in exchange 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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