RE: DIN-rail switches, dimmers, etc - why ?

["Nigel Giddings" <nigel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Chris,



I think the issue here is one of size, or volume.



Placing the control equipment near to the point of use requires a space
large enough to mount the controller. To be able to disguise the
controller and access it easily I think is key. There is nothing to say
how many locations you should have for installing the controllers...



Another issue is cost, as you suggest home running everything back to a
central location or locations require a lot wire. This can be designed
out by using efficient cable routes in a new build to some extent but
even then by the time you have run up and down the wall, avoided some
immovable objects and got back to your hub it can result in many metres
of cable.



On the plus side a 4 way dimmer module or 8 way dimmer module should be
cheaper than 4 or 8 times 1 way dimmers... You then have to consider the
enclosure as a cost and running additional control wires, although this
can be a bus arrangement.



Having recently been through this I erred on the side of long term
maintenance rather than cost of installation. I have two purpose
designed areas that act as Hubs for all the 'dry systems' in the house.
One in the basement, and a second in the loft. The second loft location
saves quite a bit of cable that would just run up and down the house for
no good reason. If I were doing it again I would install two consumer
units, one in each location, as it is I only have one in the basement.



One of the things I have managed to avoid is having too many junction
boxes, and those I have are exposed in 3" square adaptable boxes
either
hidden in the 400mm basement ceiling service void (the whole ceiling is
open but painted midnight blue) or in the loft storage area fitted to
the runs of trunking. All the plumbing joints are also in service voids
separate from electrical services, there are probably less than 20 Tees
in the whole house as I have used manifolds to feed all of the
individual taps.



I think you have to accept that you will use many (kilo)metres of
electrical wire... This is modern living, the trick I think is to keep
to a minimum what can be seen...



Maybe one day I'll get round to fully explaining what I have done, why
and what I would do differently... given enough cash...



HTH



Nigel



PS Foot is now out of plaster after 8 and a bit weeks... just started
hobbling round so can start doing some more of those little jobs still
to be done like the automated gates and whole house audio....



-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Hunter [mailto:cjhunter@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 08 December 2007 19:40
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: [ukha_d] DIN-rail switches, dimmers, etc - why ?




see a quad DIN-rail dimmer (4x 250W) with all the usual facilities
(LEDs, GPI, etc) has just been released by Idratek ... they do DIN-
rail relay units, too ... and I think C-Bus have similar things ...

but

the DIN-rail approach has been around for a while, of course, but I'm
struggling to understand the logic in the modern HA context ... it
means wiring things (individual things, small groups of things) all
the way back to the consumer unit (or other such) ... which is not
very economical in terms of wiring, and a lot more hassle when fault-
finding, surely ?

I know great arrays of DIN units, with their LEDs, can look
impressive, but isn't that approach is redundant now that full views
of what's going-on can be had via Cortex (in this case), Homeseer,
Indigo, etc ... wouldn't it be better to have the control units
close to what they're controlling, in a less obtrusive format ... ??

I'm missing something ...

Chris

PS: any news of the DFP units that featured so enticingly as icons in
the Cortex V22 release notes ?





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