Home Automation - the home will outlast its brain - then what ?

S

swb_mct

Member
10 years ago we rebuilt a family cabin and re-wired it to control Lighting/HVAC/Well-Pump and Other with an HAI OMNI-II system. I made a 2 year hobby out of programming the system including lighting-scene automation based on the security-modes and about 8 exterior motion detectors. I just now had to add power-ventilation and powered-dampers to manage a humidity/mildew problem in an inaccessible crawl space. Another 15 lines of code to run ventilation conditional on seasonal and real-time weather variables.

This property is in an extended family covenant and will remain in the family for the next generation. Someone is going to be ticked-off when they learn its going to cost 'a fortune' to have a commercial provider come in to replace all Security / Lighting and HVAC controls with a new platform. We didn't wire for high-voltage switching in many conventional locations so it won't be easy to revert to an unprogrammed system.

Now that I have said that, I guess it will be up to me to finance having all this stuff replaced and updated eventually.

There is no real point to this post, but just wondering if others wonder about the sunset-factor of their home automation efforts.

ONE SPECIFIC QUESTION
We have 2 two stage HAI thermostats - How long can I plan on having a replacement available - Does Leviton have an end-of-life policy on HAI components ? Or should I buy critical items preemptively ?
 
Like everything, you cannot count on things to last forever.  Your concern about the wiring is only relevant today but imagine houses built in the 1800's that had no electricity.  No one even knew what electricity was, so as the world around the 1800's houses changed, adaptations became necessary.  If family will be ticked-off for receiving a no cost family cabin, they should be reminded they are family.
 
You cannot count on having the same brand and model of thermostat available for any home; even if you buy spares now, the capacitors and components can degrade over time and the "spare" may only last a few months of fail without expectation. Many people don't realize digitally printed photos will only last so long as the inks degrade; same is true of even CD's and DVD's.   One should always have spares for "critical" items otherwise you're like the person restoring an old car; it may take years to find a throttle level, a door handle, or even the simplest part.
 
EOL policy is that once nothing is available; nothing is available.  Of course you may find a good tech that does circuit board repairs....
 
  • I too have about 1400 OPII program lines with 60 UPB dimmers, 4 stats, 4 locks, HiFi2x16 zones, 10 outputs, 40 security contacts, motions, smokes, temps, & humidity and am wondering the same thing. 
  • Within a year or two the OP II, thermostats, & WiFi will not be repairable or replaceable with like hardware.
  • Soooo what to do to transition to a replacement automation system?  I am hoping that someone will come along with a modern home automation all inclusive replacement & which I can program as easily. 
  • Maybe Echo/Alexa and their connectivity device partners + routines will be the able to do the job?
 
chasers03 said:
  • I too have about 1400 OPII program lines with 60 UPB dimmers, 4 stats, 4 locks, HiFi2x16 zones, 10 outputs, 40 security contacts, motions, smokes, temps, & humidity and am wondering the same thing. 
  • Within a year or two the OP II, thermostats, & WiFi will not be repairable or replaceable with like hardware.
  • Soooo what to do to transition to a replacement automation system?  I am hoping that someone will come along with a modern home automation all inclusive replacement & which I can program as easily. 
  • Maybe Echo/Alexa and their connectivity device partners + routines will be the able to do the job?
Click to expand...
I see 4G technology replacing WiFi and all other RF signals in the house.
 
LarrylLix said:
I see 4G technology replacing WiFi and all other RF signals in the house.
Click to expand...
This isn't helpful or correct.  Perhaps you meant 5g but you might replace your cable modem with a 5g modem but you will always have wifi.  As long as any of us here are alive wifi will be the communications method.
 
To answer the original poster the fact is you can replace your thermostats with anything else and there are a ton of options.  I do my least interaction with a thermostat.  Any current programmable / wifi thermostat has scheduling.
 
The problem is that home automation is not security and its in constant flux.  Elk I guess is our best chance or a Control 4 but that is not DIY....
 
heffneil said:
This isn't helpful or correct.  Perhaps you meant 5g but you might replace your cable modem with a 5g modem but you will always have wifi.  As long as any of us here are alive wifi will be the communications method.
 
To answer the original poster the fact is you can replace your thermostats with anything else and there are a ton of options.  I do my least interaction with a thermostat.  Any current programmable / wifi thermostat has scheduling.
 
The problem is that home automation is not security and its in constant flux.  Elk I guess is our best chance or a Control 4 but that is not DIY....
Click to expand...
Yes I did mean 5G. I missed that one.
 
If you use 5G inside your house there will not be any need for WiFi. WiFi is a different protocol. We don't use RS232 anymore either.
However I now have WiFi that supports 4 Gbps on my router.
 
LarrylLix said:
We don't use RS232 anymore either.
Click to expand...
Still using RS232 and RS485 and strongly prefer it over wi-fi or any other wireless tech. Only have a few lights on wi-fi, and they are the weakest point in my otherwise awesome home automation ;) 
 
LarrylLix said:
Yes I did mean 5G. I missed that one.
 
If you use 5G inside your house there will not be any need for WiFi. WiFi is a different protocol. We don't use RS232 anymore either.
However I now have WiFi that supports 4 Gbps on my router.
Click to expand...
You're wrong there.
5G will still be a WAN connection. You're still gonna need a LAN unless you want all of your devices to be exposed to the public.
5G will go to your router just like any current internet provider.
Not sure why people think 5G is so much different than current cell connections?? It's the same thing only faster.
 
Frunple said:
You're wrong there.
5G will still be a WAN connection. You're still gonna need a LAN unless you want all of your devices to be exposed to the public.
5G will go to your router just like any current internet provider.
Not sure why people think 5G is so much different than current cell connections?? It's the same thing only faster.
Click to expand...
You're confused there.
This is about LAN connections not WAN connections. People want speed and WiFi has limitations that will make it obsolete.
 
My current WiFi is exposed to the public. Moot point. 5G is not reserved for anything. It's just a fast protocol.
 
Ok but 5g isn't the point here.  People still want to be an island.  I use my Amazon Echo to control all my lights.  It works great especially when my hands are full - but when the internet is down - its dead.
 
Back to the original point - I don't know the right answer.  I am looking at our next home and really don't know what to use.  I have two HAI Omnipros in the box waiting to be used because I am most comfortable and it works really really well.  The problem is investing in dead end tech BUT name something better?  I don't know the Elk line but sure I could get used to it.
 
There aren't good security and alarm systems.  I don't want wireless junk - it just doesn't work well.  I can barely stand UPB!  Its inconsistencies in my home today are frustrating.
 
I don't know the right solution but im glad other people are talking about it and thinking about it.
 
Here still happy with my OmniPro 2 panel.  I am older now and see that avenue / door has been closing for a while now. 
 
That said too I am getting up there in age and tinkering with new stuff just to work the brain here.
 
I still like my wired sensors stuff but yeah they were and still are a PITA to install.  My UPB in wall switches just work fine and I am OK with them.
 
Just replaced a family members XFinity Home set up to a Ring Alarm configuration which is integrated to Alexa which was easy peasey to do.  It is all wireless and I have been typically a wired person.
 
Here gravitating towards modded off the cloud WiFi switches and purchased a couple of WiFi dimmer switches to tinker with and install by families house.
 
My plan is to hold onto my current components for as long as they last. I have OP2 and I bought a bunch of spare parts from HAI in case I need replacement, including a spare board itself. I have an old Elk M1 (early 2000) that I use as part of my system, I was able to bring it up to the latest version and it works great. I still have 22 year old Stargate controller that is in charge of analog sensors, and it works so well that sometimes I forget I have it. So my bet is that the old boards were built to outlast the lifetime or near that.
 
I was hoping we'll see expansion not contraction in the home automation industry, but I was wrong. I do not see any change coming any time soon. The need for data collection by companies pushed out all vendors who were not part of the IOT line.
 
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