home automation

[falcon999]

I wondered if anyone in here is doing any type of home automation?

I frequent this message board so I figured I would ask.

X10, zwave, upb etc.

I'm looking into automating my outdoor lighting and also my media room, and then going from there.

I already have a ton of ir repeaters in the house.

[Uther]

I looked into X.10 stuff a few years back. Seemed interesting, but a bit cumbersome. There was a newer software/wireless protocol (not sure it was zwave) that I looked into briefly when I was considering upgrading my irrigation system to a computer-controlled smart system.

The other stuff, HVAC, etc. seems also highly custom-build and subject to rapid obsolescence of the components. Some years back (>10?) Even IBM had some obscure line of home controllers. Most of these systems used a central cabinet with fixed-specification computer to manage stuff and almost all of them needed a lot of wiring that was non-existent in older homes.

There are however, increasing opportunities to at least collect/report on data such as HVAC, Pool, etc.

A buddy of mine with an aptitude for tinkering had his irrigation system under Internet control since the late '90s. He also had an x.10 interface, but I don't know if he still has it, since at that time the web page he controlled it from was practically unsecured.

Keep us informed, I'd love to hear what can be achieved.

[Common Sense Al]

A couple ideas...

There are wi-fi thermostats that you can control over the Internet. I assume you just connect it to your home wi-fi network.

For some outdoor lights, I simply use this and it works great:
http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-Econosw ... 600&sr=1-1

Maybe you want to get more complicated, but if not, then the above might be best.

[falcon999]

there is a new powerline standard out there called UPB and apparently it's much much better than x10. Apparently x10 had some issues, which I did have some problems with that back in the day.

I'm seriously looking at using a software package called Homeseer to control everything, it would run on a computer that you keep on all the time. I already have 2 of those, so that's would be easy enough. This thing apparently has plugin that let you connect to upb, x10, insteon and zwave, and you then program it to do whatever.

I like the wifi thermostats, I've been looking at nest actually but i'm trying to get one that would be connected to the system and make it automatically managed.

the reason I have researching this, because if you are a diy'er they have a local store that sells mostly online but they have a retail store inside their warehouse. http://www.automatedoutlet.com/

I haven't really wanted to get a contractor to do this, but instead do it myself slowly over time.

[Uther]

You should really look into getting a low-power computer (Intem Atom , for instance) to be always-on, otherwise you might be surprised at the energy cost of running a high-end PC with a graphics card.

[falcon999]

actually i just use the built in graphic card on the motherboard, it's fine for surfing the web.

well i just bought me 5 dimmers today and a signal booster so it will reach aways, hopefully i get it wired up this weekend.

[Uther]

Right on cue, some news from Microsoft research on their "HomeOS" and "Home App Store."

The Microsoft Research Whitepaper on the Home OS: http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/157701/homeos.pdf

The website: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/homeos/

Videos, links and ... well, it is still a research project, live in only 12 homes somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Wonder if Bill will be automating that 50,000 sq ft mansion of his as part of beta-testing?

[falcon999]

i think it's already pretty automated, bill's house.

but yeah i was looking at that, and hopefully i can incorporate some of that...