Re: one switch operated 6 seperate light areas, who makes this?

["Mark Thomas" <mrt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

gary wrote:
> Thanks for the tips Mark.  Starting a house build in a couple of weeks
> (depending on how fast my permits go through).  I like neat things like I
> see in home automation/audio.  Last night I was reading on some UPB items.
>
> Now I just need to figure out how these things work.  I've seen them in show
> homes but don't know how they are wired.  I am going to pull my own permit
> for wiring so it will all be done by me.  So when I get started I have to go
> like crazy and know my stuff in advance.

Sounds like the first thing you'll need to do is choose a technology.
X-10 and UPB communicate over the existing power lines, so no extra
wiring is necessary. X-10 is cheaper, but requires lots of vigilance to
keep it reliable. UPB is much more reliable, but is a relatively new
technology with a smaller product line (i.e. no UPB sprinkler
controller yet, etc). Insteon is an X-10 replacement by Smarthome that
reduces some of the problems with X-10 yet remains backward compatible.
There's also Z-Wave where switches communicate wirelessly. Check
archives of this newsgroup for lots of discussions on these
technologies.

But since you have the luxury of wiring your own new house, you may
want to also consider a wired lighting control system. These are much
more expensive and usually require Cat-5 to each switch location. But
they are as flexible, fast, and reliable as you can get. A couple of
vendors are Lutron, Centralite, Vantage.

>
> I really liked that 2 gang switch system that controlled 6 (or 8?) lights.
> I walked through a home being built the other day and they had a gang for 9
> light switches.  They had to bolt 2 boxes together to make that number.  I
> think that is a but crazy and will look silly.  How would the push button
> lighting system have been wired?  Relays?

It may have been a hardwired system like the above. Usually Cat5 to a
central controller.

>
> When you have say a light switch and you want to do that neat stuff like
> have the light slowly increase or decrease as the switch is turned on and
> off, how is that done?  Do I need to run cat 5 to switch boxes and use
> special switches?

Pretty much all the technologies offer switches with configurable "ramp
rates." Some can be set up with different ramp rates for different
"scenes."

>
> Also for the whole house audio, do I run cat 5 to where I want the speaker
> controls in each room and then run speaker wire to each area I want speakers
> and then home run all the wires to the mechanical room?  For the sound
> source i.e. stereo, do I run wires from there to the mechanical room and
> then do I my tying together there as needed?

Many of them need to be wired that way; however, some have amplified
keypads, which means you only run speaker wire from the speaker
locations to the keypads. Running the speaker wire through the keypads
to a central location will prepare you for anything!

Good luck.