Re: What Infrastruture? - newbie question

["Jonathan Shaw" <semi.jon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> You should find www.idratek.com has a higher Googlerank than me :-)

It is pretty close!

>  The
> Idratek system has a lot of capability and is highly integrated, it
> certainly goes further than lighting control.

Yes I like the concept of a degree of built in intelligence a failure
protection (Reflex).  Cortex appears to be Object oriented by design
which looks good when adding new devices of a certain class - common
functions get inherited.

> ...I would recommend that
> you contact Idratek and speak to them directly if you are
interested in the
> other capabilities.

Did just that and spoke to Karam, who I think is the MD, amazing he
picked up the general phone - they must be v small.  Very frank and
helpful discussion, I was expecting more of a sales pitch.



>Depending where you live you may be able to arrange a
> visit to see an installed system. I ended up spending about 5 hours
looking
> at an install and what could be done with it ... and more stuff has
been
> added since then.

Good idea - I am in Sunny Suffolk.



>
> For Star wiring you can bring back your loads to a consumer unit
per floor
> and mount it high up on a wall, rather than necessarily have the
huge
> expanses of rack that some people have fitted in. Basically you
have to have
> enough space for the load switching capacity that you desire.

Good point and one I've incorporated into my proto FAQ (see other
post this morning)


>
> You could have a hybrid scheme. The control cabling would have to be
> separated between the two hard-wired systems and obviously mains
would need
> to be starred to allow the C-Bus option. As you know, I mix X-10 and
> Idratek, the Idratek system software integrates X-10 control, which
allows
> plug-in modules to be used as well.


Karam mentioned Idratek now support Rako.  The integration isn't as
diverse as say Comfort (which seems the direct competitor offering
harware and s/w integration). However they do support xAP so that
will help if is becomes more widely adopted.



>
> Having said that, in my opinion HA has a "network law"
effect (the
value
> increases as the square of the connections), so the more you
integrate the
> better the effect. In a hybrid system you need to ensure that you
have means
> of passing information from one system to another at a minimum, and
you will
> have to do more work yourself to get it to work.
>
>

Yes, not being an electronics buff or programmer by trade I think I
need to avoid systems that require lots of DIY ... getting the house
in shape is pushing my DIY enthusiasm to the limit!

Thanks
Jon