RE: NEW HA PROJECT

["Paul Gale" <groups2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Aaron,

I guess one of the big questions that anyone here will ask you is how much
you want (or are willing) to spend once you see what lovely kit is
available!?

In my situation, I have a CBus lighting system (see latest posts) that is
very capable and has some very nice control options including LCD, glass
faced DLT controllers - including blue LED's!!!!! - all good gadgets must
have at least one blue LED! ;)

Heating is now controlled by a Honeywell Hometronic system and every
radiator has a wireless TRV so I now have individual zoning and unlimited
setpoints/time programs per day of the week. I'm also nearing completion
(at last!) of a largish (and very complex) loft conversion which has UFH
and an inverter air con system. These are both linked into Hometronic too
and work intelligently with each other. I also have 4 x Integra electric
Velux windows that will also be brought into the system to allow automatic
and manual remote operation. I have the control interfaces for these but
not yet decided exactly which system they will get linked to. Oh, and all
the blinds are electric and will be remotely manually and/or automatically
controllable. The loft also has a number of zones of floor RGB LED lights -
all controllable to whatever colour is needed. These will be controlled via
one of the systems detailed below.

TV/DVD/Sat/Music/HD etc etc is also distributed around the house via
several systems - the AV stuff is switched via a couple of matrix AV
switchers. Composite for most SD TV's via an Extron MAV128 and HD via a
KeyDigital HD switcher. The outputs of these (in Node 0) are sent through
the whole house Cat5e system via Keith Doxey's Kat5 AV boxes (allows
sending of video/audio/digital audio long distances over Cat5 with no loss
or interference etc). Various music sources (mainly satellite radio and
huge MP3 collection via a music server) are played into 12 zones in the
house via ceiling speakers and distributed/amplified via 2 x Russound
CAV6.6 whole house amps. These can also do composite video switching and
routing.

Alarm is dealt with via a Comfort alarm panel with second slave panel to
deal with all the zones (I put at least one PIR in each room to allow some
form of occupancy detection). This also allows remote interrogation via
telephone and will dial out on various configurable occurrences.

I have a couple of HA controllers - the main hardware HA controller is the
excellent HomeVision Pro unit that does all mission critical hardware HA
control. I also have HomeSeer software controller running on a dedicated HA
PC in a 19" rack case (also have 3 other rack unit PC's running other
tasks). The Comfort alarm is directly linked to the HomeVision controller
so I have full control and reporting of all alarm features. This means I
can "do stuff" when the alarm is armed to away mode, the alarm
goes off, garage door is opened (also electric and controlled by Comfort)
etc etc - very flexible. These hardware systems are also directly linked to
HomeSeer so basically everything is controllable by everything else!

I also recently bought on of Kevin's SUPERBLY EXCELLENT (is that enough for
another marketing payment Kevin ? ;) ) CBus/HomeVision/xAP hardware gateway
units. This allows even more control over the lighting and integration with
many many other HA systems. For example, this allows me to intelligently
control bathroom and toilet fans rather than just have a timer option -
e.g. the main bathroom fan only comes on if the light has been on for 2
minutes or more and also takes into account the time of day and what mode
the alarm is in etc etc.

I have a whole load of other software apps and various other HW HA gadgets
- some of the more notable are James' xAP switchboard. This allows incoming
calls via my 3 telephone lines (home and business lines) to be announced
over the whole house audio system via one of the great TTS voices. Even
better, the system can also link to an Outlook contact list, so if you use
that, your contact names are spoken rather than a telephone number.

I don't yet have touchscreens mounted although I do have a number of
17" panels and a desktop unit waiting to be commissioned. I run the
touchscreen HA software, MainLobby and would use this on these once they're
in. Up until now, I've been running MainLobby on desktop PC's as a method
of controlling and monitoring most of my HA systems - including CCTV. There
are other options although a lot of us on list are still waiting for a
truly affordable touchscreen option that neatly fits into a wall.

Oh, and I also have a CCTV system run by the very capable and flexible
Geovision hardware/software product. This runs on a separate CCTV server
PC.

I hope this rambling makes some sense and gives you a few pointers - there
are just so many ways to achieve a result - some cheap and others VERY
expensive - so it all depends how much you want to spend and also how much
time you want to devote. My systems have been built up over the last 6-7
years and are still very much an on-going project (especially with my
conversion still being built).

HTH?

Paul.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of c8les
> Sent: 17 January 2008 05:52
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: [ukha_d] NEW HA PROJECT
>
> Hello,
>
> I am looking to install some Home Automation.
>
> I have currently re-wired upstairs in a star configuration with
> Cat5e and twin and earth for all power circuits. I've bragged about
> this stuff so much to my wife and its still not working. Although
> most of the lights are 'temporarily' wired, and can be switched
> on/off quite safely, with rubber gloves!!(Hope no one from IET is
> here!)
>
> Initially, I would like to install the following, but am looking for
> a good quality base system, so that additions can be done when I
> start downstairs;
>
> Touch Screen in each room (4 off ) and one on landing area to
> control the following.
>
> Control of lights, on-off and dim.
> Control of Electric under-floor heating.
> Control of Electric Window Blinds.
> Able to call up existing CCTV system.
>
> I would like to install/program all items myself. What I would like
> to know, is what would you experianced people recomend, and where
> can I get the necessary equipment?
>
> The problem I'm finding is that many manufacturers want
> an 'installer' to do the work - One, I cant afford it, and Two,
> Thats money I could be spending on more Home Automation Toys.
> Maybe I'm just not speaking to the correct person(s)?????
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Aaron Coles
>
>
>
>
>
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