Dipping my toes into HA - Advice?

[broconne]

Ahh OK - It is a slightly different problem I am looking to fix. Primarily, people turning off the light at the source when they shouldn't. Significant other, house cleaners, etc.

that's a different problem indeed. I think a lower-tech solution might be best in that case.
One low-tech way would be to replace the sockets with switchless ones. The sockets are cheap and easy to find and the wiring is easy as long as you can take the lamps apart.
The really-low-tech solution would be to fix the switches in the ON position with some epoxy or duct tape.

good luck!

Thanks! I will look at Lowe's again or maybe Home Depot - I couldn't find any switchless sockets before that would fit.

 

[RichardU]

Pre-wire is good, but conduit is better when it comes to locations where you might have a TV, receiver, DVD player etc.

 

[broconne]

Pre-wire is good, but conduit is better when it comes to locations where you might have a TV, receiver, DVD player etc.

Can't argue with that. I hope to have two chase runs from the attic to the basement. Conduit to a few key places couldn't hurt either MBR TV area / downstairs TV area.

My current plan for "whole house video" is Vista MCE with extenders. However, you never know what is coming up next
But whatever it is, lets hope it is ethernet based

 

[Steve]

My current plan for "whole house video" is Vista MCE with extenders.

You may want to have a look at SageTV before you commit 100%.

 

[sic0048]

My current plan for "whole house video" is Vista MCE with extenders.

You may want to have a look at SageTV before you commit 100%.

+1

Nothing can compete with Sage right now for a full feature system with extenders IMHO. That wasn't the case 12 months ago, but now with the Sage HD extenders and lots of tuner choices (including the new Hauppauge HD-PVR) I think it is a better system than even MS Media Center.

 

[broconne]

My current plan for "whole house video" is Vista MCE with extenders.

You may want to have a look at SageTV before you commit 100%.

+1

Nothing can compete with Sage right now for a full feature system with extenders IMHO. That wasn't the case 12 months ago, but now with the Sage HD extenders and lots of tuner choices (including the new Hauppauge HD-PVR) I think it is a better system than even MS Media Center.

My understanding was that Sage did not support CableCard. 50% of my TV is ESPNHD/ESPN2HD/HBOHD and Showtime HD. Would be a deal breaker for me sadly.

 

[broconne]

Thanks for all the tips guys. I read the wiring your house 101 (but I only read it once )

I have decided to wire to the switches with CAT5 so I can do OnQ for lighting.

I have some initial questions even after reviewing the document.

Does anyone make fan speed control switches for the OnQ system?

What do people recommend for intercom solutions? I am looking for front door type intercom and a listen in ability for nursery, etc?

There was no mentioning of wiring for door locks in the house 101 document. I want the ability to know that doors are locked (from a CQC display, etc) and to lock doors that aren't locked. I know there is a z-wave door lock coming out soon - but anything wired?

Wiring guide didn't mention a lot of info on door sensors - I was thinking of putting sensors in all closets/pantry doors to automatically turn on and off lights - any reason not to?

I would like multiple temperature sensors in different rooms throughout the house - are there any recommendations for sensors that can be flush to the wall and use CAT5?
Likewise, I would like humidity sensors in the bathroom to automatically turn on fans - any recommendations there?
I didn't see any "appliance" style switches for OnQ - to turn on a bathroom fan - do they exist or do I end up with a mishmash of switch types?

I don't particularly like the OnQ scene switches (at least the ones from setnet) - are there other styles? Can I get custom engraved ones for OnQ?

Last question for now - is there any reason to wire cat 5 to power outlets for future control purposes?

 

[broconne]

One more ALC/OnQ Question. I noticed there is a slave switch for 3-way lighting which is cheaper than the regular dimmer switch.

Can you wire 2 regular dimmers to the same light or do you have to use the slave switch? I don't want lighting to not work if there is a problem with my controller.

Thanks!

 

[DaveGee]

Dipping my toes into HA - Advice?

Sure, buy steel toe boots first!

That's one bit of advice that just about everyone here will most assuredly agree on *and also* a rare occurrence around most HA forums!

Dave

 

[sic0048]

My understanding was that Sage did not support CableCard. 50% of my TV is ESPNHD/ESPN2HD/HBOHD and Showtime HD. Would be a deal breaker for me sadly.

Well the ONLY way to get cablecard in a computer is to buy an extremely overpriced OEM machine. You cannot build your own or add cable cards to an exisiting machine.

However, you can record any HD station now using the Hauppauge HD-PVR which takes the component output of any source (cable/sat STB, BlueRay DVD player, etc) and records the stream. The decoding of the encrypted stream is handled by the STB still, and the HD-PVR handles recording the stream after this decoding. So all those encrypted channels that you get over cable you do have a way to record now. Sage is one of the few media software packages to support the HD-PVR at this time. I'm sure more will come, but there are not many options at this point.

The only real drawback to the HD-PVR is that you need 1 STB for each HD-PVR. So if you want to be able to record two HD streams, you'll need two STB and two HD-PVRs to do it. But this is still a much cheaper solution than buying a computer with cablecard tuners.

 

[broconne]

My understanding was that Sage did not support CableCard. 50% of my TV is ESPNHD/ESPN2HD/HBOHD and Showtime HD. Would be a deal breaker for me sadly.

Well the ONLY way to get cablecard in a computer is to buy an extremely overpriced OEM machine. You cannot build your own or add cable cards to an exisiting machine.

However, you can record any HD station now using the Hauppauge HD-PVR which takes the component output of any source (cable/sat STB, BlueRay DVD player, etc) and records the stream. The decoding of the encrypted stream is handled by the STB still, and the HD-PVR handles recording the stream after this decoding. So all those encrypted channels that you get over cable you do have a way to record now. Sage is one of the few media software packages to support the HD-PVR at this time. I'm sure more will come, but there are not many options at this point.

The only real drawback to the HD-PVR is that you need 1 STB for each HD-PVR. So if you want to be able to record two HD streams, you'll need two STB and two HD-PVRs to do it. But this is still a much cheaper solution than buying a computer with cablecard tuners.

Some great information here. I understand there is a price premium for the CC machines - part of the cost of cable labs approval I assume.

To be honest, I sort of swore off recording from an STB during the Tivo 1 days -- didn't like IR occasionally failing. But Sage seems to offer some unique advantages. I will have to revisit this when I get closed to deploying the video solution.

Thanks for the info!

 

[sic0048]

Some great information here. I understand there is a price premium for the CC machines - part of the cost of cable labs approval I assume.

To be honest, I sort of swore off recording from an STB during the Tivo 1 days -- didn't like IR occasionally failing. But Sage seems to offer some unique advantages. I will have to revisit this when I get closed to deploying the video solution.

Thanks for the info!

I would agree that using IR to change channels isn't the best scenerio. I'm still trying to get it to get my new HD-PVR to change the DishNetwork STB I have. The good news is that Sage does support USB connections to change channels if your box allows it. I know most of the DirectTV boxes have this ability. I would research to see if your cable company has any boxes that would work like this. If they do, make sure you specifically ask for one of those boxes.

Sage has definitely been making some giant leaps forward in the last year. First they came out with the HD Extender (the HD-100) and now they have support for the HD-PVR component tuner. There have been a lot of people that have left WMC and VMC recently and moved over to Sage because they were sick and tired of Microsoft not living up to expectation.

Heck, I just learned today that I can take my HD extender with me anywhere and watch anything on my Sage server back at the house as long as I have a decent internet connection at the local location. So I can take it on vacation or to my parents house and watch my recorded TV or DVDs. Pretty slick IMHO.

 

[toymaster458]

To be honest, I sort of swore off recording from an STB during the Tivo 1 days -- didn't like IR occasionally failing. But Sage seems to offer some unique advantages. I will have to revisit this when I get closed to deploying the video solution.

Thanks for the info!

Just an FYI, Tivo now has the ability to be controlled via telnet on the HDTivo's

 

[broconne]

Since my post above was a bit rambling figured I would restate it here with questions specifically called out by number:

OnQ Questions
1) Does anyone make fan speed control switches for the OnQ system?

2) Can you wire 2 regular dimmers to the same light or do you have to use the slave switch? I don't want lighting to not work if there is a problem with my controller.

3) I don't particularly like the OnQ scene switches (at least the ones from setnet) - are there other styles? Can I get custom engraved scene switches?

4) I didn't see any "appliance" style switches for OnQ - to turn on a bathroom fan - do they exist or do I end up with a mishmash of switch types?

Generic Wiring:

5) There was no mentioning of wiring for door locks in the house 101 document. I want the ability to know that doors are locked (from a CQC display, etc) and to lock doors that aren't locked. I know there is a z-wave door lock coming out soon - but anything wired?

6) Wiring guide didn't mention a lot of info on door sensors - I was thinking of putting sensors in all closets/pantry doors to automatically turn on and off lights - any reason not to?

7) I would like multiple temperature sensors in different rooms throughout the house - are there any recommendations for sensors that can be flush to the wall and use CAT5?

8) I would like humidity sensors in the bathroom to automatically turn on fans - any recommendations there?

9) Is there any reason to wire cat 5 to power outlets for future control purposes?

10) What do people recommend for intercom solutions? I am looking for front door type intercom and a listen in ability for nursery, etc?

 

[beelzerob]

I would like multiple temperature sensors in different rooms throughout the house - are there any recommendations for sensors that can be flush to the wall and use CAT5?
Likewise, I would like humidity sensors in the bathroom to automatically turn on fans - any recommendations there?

Thought toymaster would jump on this....

check out the datanab sensors....essentially flush (or at most like a nickle's width sticking out), or just a regular wall plate. Lots of sensors, including humidity. I have temps in every room, all wired back to a Datanab AI32, and then processed via CQC. Check out that site for the various options, or just ask Kirk Kanak (toymaster). Oh, and cat5 works fine for those...I used 22/4 wire. They share a ground, so I have 3 sensors all working off 1 run of 22/4....with cat5, you could get 7 going off one run if you were ambitious.

I'll answer what I can for OnQ. I am going with onq, I have wired for it already, and I have a small setup, but it's not in the walls, it's on my workbench because I'm writing the CQC driver for it. Currently, it has simple 2-way on/off control, and that's all, but I'll implement the full spec as there is more demand for it.

There is a relay control and an dimmer control...that's about it. So, for a fan you'd use a relay. I plan to use one of the datanab humidity sensors and an onq relay to turn on the bathroom fan when it senses high humidity (the fan is just outside our steam shower).

No one likes the OnQ scene switches, so don't feel bad. For 3-way control, you would use one dimmer to control the actual load, and then all other switches that control that load are the dummy switches. In fact, for n-way control, it's the same thing...so, 3, 4, 5 way, doesn't matter, same scenario.

You can't get custom engraved switches, but someone in these forums not too long ago pointed to a custom engraver for switch plates. It looked pretty freakin' awesome, but so was the cost. Do a search for it, it should show up.

Last question for now - is there any reason to wire cat 5 to power outlets for future control purposes?

Easy answer...if you have the time and money...do it. Just run a cat5 to the top of the box and tape it there (far enough back so the drywallers don't rip it to shreds). If you're talking open walls and the sky's the limit, then whenever you ask "should I wire for X or for Y?", the answer is always "BOTH...and then more!".