Re: advice for retro installation

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Richard" <rflebbe@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

I'm surprised no one offered any advice other than to ID John Hillerman.
I'll take a stab at working through your list.  Since I am a newbie, I'll
get a lot wrong and then you'll get followups from the group experts
explaining where I went wrong.  <smile>

> Scenario:
> 3500 SF penthouse condo--kitchen, dining room, huge living room w (old)
> home theater, 2 guest rooms,2 guest baths, office, master bedroom,
> master bath w/hot tub, steam/shower, walkin closets. Interestingly, this
> was originally owned by "Higgins" from Magnum PI (can't remember his
> real name, the kitchen has numerous built-in gadgets, there are (barely
> working) automatic drapes in 5 rooms, and a set of automated pocket
> doors to close off the kitchen/dining room.

Are these now controlled by wall switches?

> There is also a highend
> security system in place, although I haven't figured out yet how to
> reset the code (I do have all the install/ops manuals, just haven't had
> time yet!), and as yet there are no plans for a landline phone.

A basic question here is whether you want your security system to talk to
your home automation system.  If so, you need to ID the make and model of
the security panel to find out if it can be interfaced to a home automation
panel.  My guess, based on the old home theater system you found is that
your alarm system probably is too old to communicate with an HA system.
It's not hard to install a new panel, though, and there are several good
manufacturers of combo HA and security panels, like HAI and Elk.  It just
might take a while to ID all the sensor cables coming into the panel if they
weren't well labeled to begin with.  You'll need a fox and hound tracer kit
to map them out.

> There are 40 ceiling lite circuits (read switches), 42 outlets of which
> 11 have lamps plugged in.

Lots of things to consider here.  How are these circuits wired?  Are there
dimmers?  Do you want to do scene lighting?  Do you have a neutral pulled to
each switch box?

> Hot tub includes 2 pumps, heater, 2 vent fans,
> 1 fill valve, an ionizer and I believe an equipment cooling fan (the
> equip is all in a tight locker 20 feet from the tub).

Centralized control equipment is good, but it may be old enough to warrant
replacement for both wear and compatibility reasons.  You have to ask
yourself how much automation you want for your hot tub.  If you can afford
such a pad, you may not care much about squeezing a few dollars savings a
month in electrical costs with an automatic controller.  You may want to
equip it with sensors to determine various conditions like temperature, fill
level, etc.

> Construction is concrete, including most partition walls.

That's a good reason to look at wireless like Zwave or Zigbee!  Running any
additional control wires tends to be a lot more difficult in concrete
construction than in wood frame.  My personal opinion is to use hardwire
wherever you can for the increased security and reliability it offers
*except* when you'll encounter problems running cables or if you don't plan
to stay long.

> Existing
> electrical is in conduit, with 3 breaker panels--one for the kitchen,
> dining room, and (I hope) the entertainment center (access to the panel
> is very difficult, I have not yet mapped out the circuits)located on the
> back wall of the kitchen; one for the rest of the house located in the
> master bedroom;  and a sub panel in the hot tub equipment locker which
> seems to control the tub and room lights in the master bath.

You might be facing coupling problems with three panels.  Most times these
are solved with the addition of couplers and repeaters, but in rare cases
they are notoriously difficult problems to solve.  If I were about to build
or in the planning stages, I would look hard at Zigbee as a protocol.  How
long are you planning to stay there?

> Although I wouldn't go so far as to say money is NO object, I'm thinking
> $5-7K for parts, to include touchscreen at entry and maybe master
> bedroom; touchscreen wireless remote for control of entertainment center
> and all lighting/hot tub/outlets/hvac/drapes/doors; interface with or
> utilize most of existing security system. I anticipate 12 preset scenes.

HAI's Omnipro II would support that sort of requirement, IIRC, at least as
far as lighting and IR control goes.

> Any suggestions as to the logic for addressing devices? (grand total
> approximately 125 separate devices)

I would suspect that's a deal-breaker for X-10 in a big condo building.
X-10 was basically designed to support 16 units per house (although you can
use 256 codes if you use EVERY housecode - lots of people use multiple
housecodes but the closer you are to neighbors the more likely you'll get
interference).

> How about preferences for a main control/interface. Dedicated xp box and
> software, or HAI/JDS etc w/ xp box for programming?

Lots of experts here really dislike using a Wintel PC as a controller for a
home automation system and I agree.  Elk M1 Gold, HAI Omni Pro II and the
ADI Ocelot/Leopard controllers are the ones most often recommended.  They
can do most of what a PC can do vis-a-vis home automation.  They have
advantages in reliability because of the smaller component counts and they
are less complex because they don't have to carry overhead for the kinds of
things an HA system will never have to do.  An HAI panel will reset in
seconds.  There are very few PCs and OS's that can beat those times, nor run
as long as a dedicated box without lockup nor run as long on backup power.

> There are three dimmable fluorescent fixtures, are there any two way
> (x10 communication) controls to replace these with? If so, do I use the
> same ballast?

What type of bulbs are used in the fixtures?  Any information on the
dimmers?  There are ways to dim fluorescent lamps using a number of
different protocols and the new CF dimmable bulbs work with many dimmers
designed for incandescent loads.

> TIA & Sorry if I'm long winded, but I'm trying to get all my ducks rowed
> up...

HTH,

--
Bobby G.