Re: What would you do differently if you were to automate a new home from scratch?

[Marc_F_Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 8 Aug 2006 13:58:28 -0700, "Carlos" <csa2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
<1155070708.257578.144270@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

>
>Marc_F_Hult wrote:
>
>> Existing or new construction?
>>      If existing, do you plan renovation of infrastructure, remodeling?
>>
>> Construction? US/Canada (wood?) or Hispanoamérica (wood? masonry?)
>>
>> Self-installed ? Yes, no, some?
>> Self-maintained ? Yes, no, some ?
>>
>> Number of stories?
>>
>> Square feet/meters?
>>
>> Budgets for  lighting, "home automation", security, and
>>              media/entertainment ?
>
>
>It is an existing, masonry construction, which will be partially
>remodelled.
>
>The solution does not have to be self-installed, but should be mostly
>self-maintained.  It has three stories, about 7500 square feet (700
>square meters).
>
>The budget for the automation is $15,000 to $20,000 - but that includes
>the plasma TV's and speaker system.
>

The key need is wiring which is typically most efficiently done as part of
construction or remodeling. I own or have owned five brick (and)or stone
houses. My approaches have ranged from building wood and plaster-board walls
inside the masonry structure (house within a house) to chiseling pathways
for wiring in stone walls. All were much harder than working in the typical
US and Canadian stud-wall construction generally assumed in discussions in
this newsgroup (I trimmed the newsgroups to comp.home.automation).

And of the subsystems that you are considering, the most important from
several perspectives in my opinion is the lighting. Power Line Control (PLC)
lighting systems such as X-10 (and derivatives such A-10, PCS and Lightolier
Compose), INSTEON and UPB and those using radio frequency (RF) (Lutron
RadioRA Zigbee, Z-wave) are intrinsically less robust than lighting that is
"hard wired". RF systems are particularly problematic in masonry houses
because masonry attenuate the RF signal and sometimes includes steel mesh or
other reinforcement that further attenuates.

There are two major variants of hard-wired lighting ( i.e., not PLC, not RF)
that you should consider, namely 1) those that have the dimming modules in
each room with hard-wired low-voltage control wire to each dimmer and 2)
those that have the dimming modules in one or more central locations as well
as having low-voltage control wiring to the wall-mounted controls.

(Mostly) proprietary hard-wired lighting systems:

Brightan Systems 	www.brightan.com/
Clipsal 		www.clipsal.com
Centralite 		www.centralite.com
Day Light Controls      www.daylightcontrols.com
Futronix   		www.futronix.com
LEAX 			www.leaxcontrols.com
Leviton 		www.leviton.com
Lightolier 		www.lolcontrols.com
Lite Touch 		www.litetouch.com
Lutron			http://www.lutron.com/CLC/
MicroLite     		www.microlite.com
Nexlight  		www.nexlight.com
NSI/Luma-Net		http://lms.leviton.com/productsfamlist.aspx?id=3
Touchplate 		www.touchplate.com
Tridonic ATCO		www.tridonicatco.com
Vantage Controls   	www.vantagecontrols.com

One of the proprietary systems with an architecture/topology that is also
adaptable to non-proprietary systems, and therefore enjoying a degree of
"future-proofing", is Centralite (www.Centralite.com). Jist my own
perspective.

Also google DMX512 and(or) DMX-512 for the world standard in
stage/theatrical/entertainment hard-wired lighting that also has
applicability to architectural and HA lighting.

There other standard protocols (eg Lonworks/LonTalk, DALI, BACnet ).

I'd start out by determining which of the hard-wired alternatives you want
to explore and which are supported by installers in your country and region.
Then design the installation of low-voltage wiring to be done at the same
time as the installation of the lighting wiring. (In any case, if you have
3-phase, 4-wire AC power, make sure that you run separate neutrals to each
load to avoid flashes or flickering caused by common-neutral cross-talk.)
That could take up some/much/most/all of your budget depending on how you
proceed (do-it-yourself, electrician, home-automation specialist) and how
extensive (Does every load need to be automated, or just some?). Getting the
wiring (and fiber-optic) infrastructure done well may save much frustration
and additional expense later on if you have retrofit new systems or replace
compromises that didn't work out.

You may decide to contact a www.Crestron.com or www.AMX.com representative.
They can do most anything related to home automation, 'wherever enough money
is found'.

...Marc
Marc_F_Hult
www.ECOntrol.org