3000 Sq. Ft. Office and a Newbie

folkxrock

New Member
I am in the process of building an office/studio in a 3000 sq. ft. building. I don't want to re-wire the building, so I am hoping to use some HA to work the lights.
I was all ready to buy a bunch of X-10 stuff from smarthome.com yesterday, but then I started reading and now I am ready to give up. I think my setup would be considered pretty basic - but I am now lost after reading about all the other devices.
I would like to avoid a lot of headaches, so I really need to build a system that works out of the box if possible. While I would like to play with all these cool toys, I just need something that works now for the office (I will wait to play at home).

The building is 3000sq. ft. with 13 ft. ceilings and 8ft. stud walls (open above walls). I have a lot of outlets in the ceiling, two rows switched, the remaining outlets are unswitched. I need to install several florsent panels, some track lighting, and three fans. I would like the office lights to come on and off for working hours and have a display window setup that will stay on until 11 p.m. then turn off. In addition, I need to be able to control three different zones or light groups.
If possible, I would like to add a camera or two to so i can see the outside doors from my office.

So, what are the opinions on what will work best for my setup? Any suggestions would be a big help as I am a total newbie.
 
Welcome to Cocoontech! Continue reading the threads and asking questions.
Do you know if your office is on a 3 phase service as many commercial building are. If so the powerline controls such as UPB, X10 and Insteon may not work in every location in your studio. If it is not 3 phase, then any will work.
IMHO, UPB is the most likely to work out of the box. (Insteon users may disagree)A 3phase repeater is available for UPB from Simply Automated.

Good luck
Dave
 
I could use 3-phase, but I am actually trying to eliminate that system - so 2-phase.

I might also add that I will most likely only be at this location for 2-3 years, then I will be building a new office. So, I would like to keep the cost low - not cheap, but low.
 
I could use 3-phase, but I am actually trying to eliminate that system - so 2-phase.

Not sure how easy that is to do.

But, not really an issue. A whole bunch of new 3-phase couplers are about to be released. In our building here, we actually have TWO 3-phase circuits. It's not really an issue though because the automation panel can talk to both feeds. Right now we also have all lighting on the same phase so that's not an issue. When the new couplers come out, we'll probably change that.

I might also add that I will most likely only be at this location for 2-3 years, then I will be building a new office. So, I would like to keep the cost low - not cheap, but low.

I wouldn't get too worried about that. In a rent building, you'll probably take out any automation you install when you leave. You can then re-use it in your next building.
 
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