Recent content by garbled

On the topic of garage doors, I've been slowly collecting parts to implement an idea I had.  Basically, I want to be able to close the garage door automatically, but never, ever open it via automation.   My current thought is a reed switch hooked to the garage, which is normally closed, so when...

I have a whole home power monitor, which I've been using to alert me when the laundry is done by watching the power usage of the washer/dryer.  I've also been fiddling with control of the lawn watering lately.   I desperately want to do the garbage can thing, but what I need for that is some...

I don't know if the ELK can control it, but I have an IrrigationCaddy, and am super happy with it. It's got a really nice interface, and it's pretty hackable, if you want to fiddle with it directly.

This is similar to what I'm currently playing with.  I've been mucking with values and numbers for a few weeks now.  Right now, I have a pretty simple setup:   1) Every 30 minutes, check all 4 sensors.  Find the highest sensor value.  If it's over a specific value (right now, using 25cb) water...

I'm starting a new project to use soil moisture sensors to control lawn irrigation.  I have installed some Davis tensiometer sensors in the ground, and have them hooked up to a hobby boards 1-wire system.   Right now, I'm just starting to get data from the sensors, so I don't know much yet. ...

Insteon is "sort of" hardwired.  It has both powerline trasnmission of control, and wireless.  You can't shutoff the wireless side however, if that is a concern for you.

The programming manuals for the Vista 20P's are available online if you dig.  I had an ADT, and it was pretty easy for me to erase the configs and re-program it from scratch.

That's pretty tiny!  My plan for the mailbox was twofold.  1) A wireless window reed sensor for the door itself, and then 2) Honeywell makes these nifty little object presence sensors, I think the idea is you put a piece of art or something on them, and then when it gets lifted, it goes off. ...

What kind of panel is it?  Actually, I guess what are the model of smoke detectors you have?  Perhaps you could replace it with a Vista 20P?

It's been years since I built that room, but here is something on amazon that is similar.  They have them in lots of different sizes, depths, and configurations.  This will at least give you an idea of what I'm talking about.  I don't necc. reccomend the one I'm linking.  ...

I would run them through the little red circle in your picture. I think conduit is optional, but given that you appear to have 2x6 studs there, you could probably get away with a 2" PVC.  However, it might need to be EMT instead with a fireplug at the top for inspection purposes.   Depends on...

What I did was just run it all in-between the two studs, bundle it together with zip ties, and left it there.  When the drywall was done, I cut a hole in the drywall, and mounted a wall-mounted 19" rack right over the hole, and installed patch panels.   I'd say it largely depends on what you...

I'm replying to the original post here, not so much the excellent discussion of DIY hardware.   What are you using for software?  I ask because I've been doing the DIY thing, but more on the software side.  I'm cobbling together various parts and controllers, and writing DIY control software for...

I'm planning out the next stage of my home automation, and one of the things I'm trying to do is achieve some kind of automatic occupancy sensing for the lights.    I cannot easily cut the door jambs apart and wire in homemade beam breaks, so I'm trying to think of other possible solutions. ...

I have pictures of every single wall in the house taken the day before the sheetrock went up.  This has saved me so many times.  I've had to edit where network wires come in and out of the house, and I can literally look at the picture, count studs, drill a hole, and pull the wire out.