Home Automation

[thecoalition]

Starting a new thread because I don't want things to get lost in the whore posts...

So I am looking to start doing some home automation. I know at least 1 person does this professionally. Let's get a discussion going on if you have done it, are thinking about it, or have any experience with it.

For me, I am too lazy to learn Arduino and build my own stuff so I am going to purchase my stuff. The expense is greater up front, but I know that things will work. Here's my ideas:

Thermostat - I am leaning towards the Ecobee3 but the Nest is still in the running. Nest acquired Revolv not too long ago and also does the drop cams.

Hub - Saw the SmartThings hub had solid reviews across the board

Cameras - unknown at this time, but I want at least 2 (front door/side door that points at my driveway)

Light Switches - on the fence about brands, but I think these will be necessary since my wife is a big light leaver oner.

Locks - Expense is a little high on these. Not sure whether they are even worth it. If I go with them, I am leaning Yale or Schlage and fully motorized. Battery life is a concern since these seem to run off wifi for the full automated ones.

I am just starting to look into this stuff so let's see if anyone wants to take the journey with me

 

[Prime]

Can home automation be done cheaply. Yes. If you want 10 different apps that each do one specific thing.

You have your app for the lights, the app for the thermostat, the app for the camera, etc.....

What I do is sell systems that bring all of that under one roof. One app that does the lights, locks, AV, cameras, security systems, whatever you want. Is it the cheapest way to automate your house? Nah. But as a professional, I can tell you that it's the right way.

The number one product that I sell in this arena is Control4. All they do is automation. Because of that, they work with almost every other automation product on the market. Yes. They do have their own lighting, thermostats, amplifiers, and the like.

But. You want to use Z-wave lighting? Sure. We can do that. Nest thermostat? Absolutely. It's my number one reason for going with a system like this. The 3rd party support is incredible. And it's always getting bigger.

Biggest thing to think about when getting into home automation is how am I going to invest my money to make my life easier.

Example.

I have a button next to my bed that will turn off all the lights in the house, lock the front door, and set the alarm when I go to sleep.

If my alarm goes off, all of the lights in my house turn on. Mainly so I can see to shoot someone.

If you walk into my front door at night, the living room lights come on unless the TV is on.

All of my lights in hallways and in my bathroom have timers. Hallways are 10 minutes. Bathroom is 45 minutes. Destroying the bathroom? Turn the fan on. It'll turn itself off in 45 minutes.

All of my exterior lights come on at sunset. Whenever sunset is throughout the year. And turn off at 130am.

These are the kind of things I mean. Little tasks that happen in the background that you don't need to think about. All done through one interface. That can either be a handheld remote, iOS device, Android device, computer, or right on the tv itself.

Welcome to my world.

 

[thecoalition]

Jay what prices are we looking at for a "basic" control4 system? If it's Crestron like, then that's too pricey for me. This house will last me the next 6-8 years before I move onto something bigger/better for the family. I don't want to flush 20k down the drain in a system I can't take with me. At least with some of the smaller, piece-meal systems, I can get the majority of basics down without the cost. Zwave stuff with a smart hub allows for quite a bit of what you mentioned, with a pretty small price tag and a singular app.

 

[Prime]

It's not crestron money. I'd live in a much bigger house if I was selling crestron. Heh.

Check out the website. www.control4.com

Entry level controller (HC250) retails for $750.
It has 4 IR ports for IR control, two can be used as RS232. One contact, one relay, audio in and out.

But daddy controller (HC800) retails for $1500. 6 IR ports, 2 dedicated RS232 ports, 4 each contacts and relays, audio in, 2x audio out.

Handheld remote runs $300.

Controllers support virtually unlimited IP control and a few hundred zigbee devices.

But here's a big plus. You can start small. Start in one room with the baby controller get a system up and running. Then as you get bigger and bigger you can add a second small controller or the big one. However you want. The entire system is scaleable and can be as big or small as you want.

Of course, I would never charge retail to a fellow Xer. But we can discuss that elsewhere.

 

[thecoalition]

Good to know - I will not be buying everything at once so it's good to know I have a scaleable option. I am looking into all sorts of stuff, and I have seen some people on various HA forums say that while control4 and similar systems are nice, there are still much cheaper ways to do it. Perhaps you'll sway my opinion when I drive to your place and can see it in action.

 

[Prime]

Oh, there's definitely cheaper ways to do it. And the Redditors will be quick to tell you that too. It's no surprise to me that they hate corporate systems and want to do anything and everything themselves. And there's nothing wrong with going that route.

But you have to be prepared to to really get into it and devote a lot of time and headache on it. Really if you think of your time as an expense, the DIY stuff is almost a wash with a real system.

 

[thecoalition]

Yea - I won't be purchasing anything until I see some form of demonstration. I've seen too many "this system is awesome!" "no, that system sucks" type threads. All I know is that I have a general idea of what I want, but am open to options.

 

[Prime]

Absolutely. I'll give you the full tour.

 

[J Everett]

If I wasn't in an apartment, I'd definitely go the route that Jayis selling. I've seen it in action; my cousin has her house fully pimped out with Control4 based automation. My favorite thing she has is that her door locks and front porch light respond automatically to her cell phone connecting to her network when she comes home.

But, since I live in an apartment, I have Belkin Wemo outlets and bulbs, and a Nest Thermostat, all linked to my Amazon Echo. Total invested so far: about $450 (got Ech for $99 while in beta). Best part is being able to tell the Echo to turn lights on/off or adjust the thermostat with voice commands. Can do all that from the Amazon Echo app on my phone as well, at home or away. Pretty neat. Visitors are impressed, which is a nice bonus.

 

[thecoalition]

Jay - thoughts? Seems like a good price but I know the new sense version is coming out:
http://goo.gl/h5rdGa

 

[Prime]

That's an awesome price. And I love Schlage.

 

[NMTerras]

PM sent Jay

 

[thecoalition]

So the mom in law bought me a smart things hub v2 off my amazon wishlist...so today I bought 2 GE zwave switches (1 dimmer, 1 on/off) a smart things motion sensor (to try for now) and a first alert wireless smoke/co detector.
Yea apparently you're supposed to have 1 in each bedroom and outside in common areas between them plus at least 1 on each floor without bed rooms...I have 2...none in the bedrooms.

So I'm going to start out just setting up my office to do this:
If it's early/late - turn on the lights either on ramp up brightness or at a percentage.
If no motion is detected in the room for 10mins - turn off overhead light - trying this out because I don't want it to turn off on me while playing on the pc. Not sure how sensitive it is. If it doesn't work, I'll use it in another room such as a bathroom or something.
I'm going to play around and see how it goes. Then I'm sure I'll start getting quite a few ideas. I have a list of items I want but the more stuff I see the more I keep thinking, oh I can do this and that and some other thing.

I'm also looking at getting some leak detectors to put in the laundry room and around my fish tank. Also want to get a few more smoke alarm/co alarms, but at $50 a piece I can't swing doing it all at once.

 

[Tay-Lo]

So the mom in law bought me a smart things hub v2 off my amazon wishlist...so today I bought 2 GE zwave switches (1 dimmer, 1 on/off) a smart things motion sensor (to try for now) and a first alert wireless smoke/co detector.
Yea apparently you're supposed to have 1 in each bedroom and outside in common areas between them plus at least 1 on each floor without bed rooms...I have 2...none in the bedrooms.

So I'm going to start out just setting up my office to do this:
If it's early/late - turn on the lights either on ramp up brightness or at a percentage.
If no motion is detected in the room for 10mins - turn off overhead light - trying this out because I don't want it to turn off on me while playing on the pc. Not sure how sensitive it is. If it doesn't work, I'll use it in another room such as a bathroom or something.
I'm going to play around and see how it goes. Then I'm sure I'll start getting quite a few ideas. I have a list of items I want but the more stuff I see the more I keep thinking, oh I can do this and that and some other thing.

I'm also looking at getting some leak detectors to put in the laundry room and around my fish tank. Also want to get a few more smoke alarm/co alarms, but at $50 a piece I can't swing doing it all at once.

so does it connect to a server somewhere for it to work at all? I was looking at wink awhile back but it has to connect to their server to work at all.....which means your internet goes down....it no worky....their server goes down....it no worky

 

[Prime]

It should still worky in the house. If there's no Internet it won't worky outside the house.

 

[caseycamby]

Don't mind me... Just reading and following along. I'm quite interested for a guy with no house hehe

 

[thecoalition]

so does it connect to a server somewhere for it to work at all? I was looking at wink awhile back but it has to connect to their server to work at all.....which means your internet goes down....it no worky....their server goes down....it no worky

So the smart things hub connects to the router. Yes if the power goes out or the internet goes out then the automated actions won't work. However, everything will still work manually. Since I moved in July we lost power once and that wasn't even from a storm. Some yahoo fell a tree onto a power line in another neighborhood (we middle classers have buried lines).

 

[Tay-Lo]

I think im going to try out wink. I have a power strip ordered that im pretty sure i dont need a hub for.

I really wish door sensors were cheaper but theyre expensive as eff for all platforms.

Sent from my pocket computer

 

[thecoalition]

Be wary - I've read some nightmares about wink.

 

[Tay-Lo]

As have i. Smartthings just doesn't seem to have enough options right now where wink has a ton. .....but having so many partners and ways of using wink instead of the original manufacturers app might be why there have been problems.

I'm just going to stay with a couple of plugs and maybe a few for sensors to check it out. While i work out of town i want to be able to mess with a few things and make the house look more occupied than a simple timer for a lamp.

Sent from my pocket computer

 

[thecoalition]

Options in terms of...? If you're referring to the "Stuff" and the "things" it's because smart things integrates with almost anything running zwave. They have a compatible list but I'm finding most things running zwave work or people have coded it up and throw it onto github.

 

[Tay-Lo]

Well i got a wink hub, power strip with 2 smart ports and a receptical with 1 smart port. So far its been pretty easy setup.

I have a switch in my house that does both inside and outside bulbs so i plan on putting smart bulbs in them so i can have them on the way i want/need/makes sense.

Sent from my pocket computer

 

[Tay-Lo]

Options in terms of...? If you're referring to the "Stuff" and the "things" it's because smart things integrates with almost anything running zwave. They have a compatible list but I'm finding most things running zwave work or people have coded it up and throw it onto github.

Wink does z-wave, zigbee and other comm types. It just seemd from looking that wink had more partners for devices. That might have changed since i paid attention. So far wink has been easy....dont know about reliable yet

Sent from my pocket computer

 

[YouWatchHockey]

This is what I do to make money as well and I would have to agree with Prime. Control4 is the way to go!

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[Prime]

This is what I do to make money as well and I would have to agree with Prime. Control4 is the way to go!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

Oh yeah? Didn't know own we had another integrator here. What's your story.

 

[YouWatchHockey]

I've worked for two companies. Digital entertainment systems and One source innovation. I'm a big lighting nut! I've installed the big names. But I do have to say for the price Control4 is a sweet package.

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[Prime]

Awesome. Glad to know.