beelzerob
Senior Member
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!".
Edit: Heh...answered most of those. By the way, forgot to say...with OnQ, if your controller goes absolutely kaput, the lights still work just fine. You obviously would lose external control of them, but the switches operate the loads just like before. My first test setup was wiring the dimmer and relays and testing those before I even wired in the controller...they work just fine.