Re: Help to 'sell' me CBUS

[Ben McCormack <yahoogroup@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

We have a couple of DLTs as well. To be honest I am not 100% convinced
by t=
hem as you have to look at them to read what is on the display. Not saying
=
they are bad just not perfect for me but they do look very very cool.

With the Saturns I try and keep similar settings in similar places ie

Top left throughout the house turns on the lights you would expect from
tha=
t location.
Bottom right turns off all the lights in that area


I am not aware of cycling scenes on the Saturns. from my pov not sure you
w=
ill even need more than 5/6 scenes. For me that may just become confusing.


cbus installation - The best way I have seen is the following.

Normal sparky wires all lighting zones and runs the 'feed' cable back to
th=
e cbus dimmer area.
cbus sparky comes along and make the final connections and wires up the
cbu=
s side. (I used Ben Adison - http://www.benaddison.com/. On the
list and co=
mes recommended by a few of us.)
I personally used Ben to do the whole thing and have added some later
light=
ing circuits.

Programming of the system is completed a number of ways via a PC and cbus
s=
oftware. I guess the easiest interface is the USB one (http://www.cbus-shop=
.com/product_info.php?cPath=3D161_27&products_id=3D578) so will cost
you ar=
ound =A3300. I had Ben do the electrical side (My install - http://www.flic=
kr.com/photos/thinkinghouse/page7/)
I then did all of the cbus programming, this of course depends on your PC
s=
kills.

Control

Apart from the switches Control is I guess the most complex subject.

In an ideal world I would like to control my whole House via ipad and this
=
includes

Sonos
Cbus
Comfort
IP cameras - not got yet
IR for TV, Sky etc etc

Unfortunately I cannot find the perfect solution to control all, the same
w=
ould apply with most lighting systems. When I was planning I would get a
sh=
eet of A3 and write all the systems in the house and then work out which
on=
es you want connected and finally how they could connect.


Just seen your latest mail

Cbus have also just released a new product called Wiser that is the PC
inte=
rface and also an interface with iPad. I personally don't know too much
abo=
ut them as I don't have one (http://www.wiserhomeautomation.com/
- http://w=
ww.cbus-shop.com/product_info.php?cPath=3D161_25&products_id=3D933)

Dimmer do have binary ie On or Off

2 vs 4 vs 6 Button - The issue is people coming into the house that are
not=
used to the system. 6 buttons is confusing.
Also if you consider our lounge with 10+ zones, to be perfectly honest
most=
of the time we use 1 scene that has most lights on 50%. So in reality you =
could control that with a couple of 2 buttons.

We are M1/M25 junction if that helps.


Ben


On 30 Oct 2010, at 09:12, Brian Smith wrote:

> Hi Ben
>=20
> Thanks for the feedback.  All good points and I agree that the Saturn
> switches are the nicest looking.  Have you looked at the DLT versions
at
> all?  I wondered if they would be useful in increasing the usage of
each
> button as (I think) the function could change depending on conditions
/
> button presses.  If you're not using DLTs, how do you physically label
ea=
ch
> button with it's function?
>=20
> Also, can you elaborate on the functions you have buttons configured
for?=
Ie
> if I bought the 6 button versions, do I configure each button as a
scene
> (which I'm assuming would limit to 5 scenes and off) or do you have
butto=
ns
> that could allow you to cycle through scenes (as I have now on the
Futron=
ix
> unit).=20=20
>=20
> WRT overall control, I am definitely looking for something like IPAD
> control.  This would mainly be for music control of Squeezebox but
would
> also like to be able to integrate heating and lighting control too.  I
ha=
ve
> looked HomeSeer and HS Touch in the past but have yet to make a
purchase.
> Does this factor in to how you would use CBUS or just the selection of
CB=
US
> vs any other product?
>=20
> Another question from an installers perspective.  Having spoken to my
> sparky, he has not used CBUS but has used RAKO and is happy to 'give
it a
> go'.  Would you expect this to cause any issues?  If I do the 'design'
> should the install and commissioning be straightforward between us? I
was=
n't
> sure if there were any installer only software / hardware elements
that
> would make it difficult without.
>=20
> Thanks again
>=20
> Brian=20
>=20
> PS.  Would love to come and see a demo but we are Surrey way so it
would =
be
> a bit of a punt unless we could lose the rugrats :-)
>=20
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
> Ben McCormack
> Sent: 29 October 2010 21:19
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Help to 'sell' me CBUS
>=20
> Brian
>=20
> I have installed cbus so will try and give you my views.
>=20
> I initially based my decision on what switches looked best. At the end
of
> the day this is the bit that you interact with everyday. Of all of the
> central lighting systems the cbus Saturns were the nicest and liked by
my
> wife as well.
>=20
> I would suggest you work out how many circuits you plan to have in
total.
> Personally if you are 8 or under I would suggest cbus will be
uneconomica=
l
> and would look at Lutron or something similar - Note I have not done
the
> calculations but thats my general feeling.
>=20
> We have large open plan rooms in the house. We have 10 zones in the
loung=
e
> and cbus allows us to have multiple lighting configs triggered from
multi=
ple
> switches.
>=20
> It is the same setup in the kitchen with multiple zones.
>=20
> Cbus does link well to Comfort, I have the link but not made use of it
> yet.Planning to do all lights off when the Alarm is armed etc etc.
>=20
> Also consider if you want to control the whole setup from a iPad or
simil=
ar.
> I have purchased a Pronto TSU9600 and currently playing with a cbus
modul=
e
> that allows cbus control from the remote.
>=20
> Overall I have been very happy with cbus. It is not cheap but give a
lot =
of
> functionality. Happy to give you a demo if you are around
hertfordshire.
>=20
> Hope this helps
>=20
> Ben
>=20
>=20
> On 29 Oct 2010, at 16:36, Brian Smith wrote:
>=20
>>=20
>>> Hi Guys
>>>=20
>>> For years and years I have been promising myself that when the
> opportunity came I would go for a CBUS install but now that that
opportun=
ity
> is here (from a two story rear and side extension) I'm getting cold
feet
> with regards to what I actually gain from it.=20
>>>=20
>>> I currently have a 4 channel dimmer module from Futronix so
like the
> functionality of a single button controlling pre-set levels on all 4
> channels etc.  The extension plans will create a largely open plan
ground
> floor with living, dining and kitchen areas so I was assuming that
CBUS
> would allow me to have multiple switch points (at entry / exit for
exampl=
e)
> that can set scenes throughout the whole space but the detail on what
is
> possible with CBUS is a bit of a mystery to me.=20
>>>=20
>>> So I was hoping a few kind souls on this list with practical
experience
> of cbus could describe the functionality they have created (mainly
with
> regard to lighting but I am also interested in heating and audio
control)
> and whether it is all delivered with cbus or in combination with other
ki=
t
> like Comfort etc.  I just need a few examples of real world use really
to
> hook onto and sell to the wife :-)
>>>=20
>>> Thanks
>>>=20
>>> Brian
>>=20
>>=20
>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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