rocketmonkeys
Member
Hey all. I've got the house nearly built, wiring is all there, now I have to figure out the controller, protocol, and especially lighting switches. I'm going nuts since I have to make some decisions quickly, and I've got so much else going on. Right now, I need to choose the light switches, but that also means I have to choose some things like the controller, protocol, etc.
Here's my plan so far:
-Protocol: Zwave or UPB, probably Zwave. I need to have a wireless lock, so that implies zwave. Zwave light switches seem cheaper (thought maybe not for LED dimmers).
-Lights: lots of recessed Cree LED lights from Home Depot.
-6 On/off light switches
-6 Dimmer light switches
-Most of the switches will be 3-way, so additional aux-switches as well
-Wireless deadbolt (kwikset zwave?)
-Controller: USB dongle + custom software?
Later, motorized blinds (all hardwired), webcams (hardwire cat5e), maybe motion detectors, smoke/fire alarm relays, various sensors (cat5e), garage doors.
For the controller, ideally I'd love to be able to write some custom software on my linux home-server to run all of this. Maybe that's a little too ambitious. I do have an ubuntu home-server that I planned for this purpose. I wonder if I could get a USB zwave interface, use an existing library to handle the protocol (open-zwave, etc), and write my own code (or extend something like pytomation).
For light switches, it's taking a bit of research to find good/available/reliable switches. The on/off ones seem easier. The dimmers seem hard. Looks like evolve dimmers work well w/ LED lights & they're cheap ($50 vs. the Leviton VRE06's $220 price tag).
Some questions I'm researching now:
- Should I choose something else (UPB/zigbee) over zwave?
- Will I be able to do USB dongle + custom/cheap software for a controller, or will I have to get a hardware (mi casa verde) or software (homeseer) commercial product?
- Are the evolves the best choice for zwave dimmers + 3-way + LED lights?
Any advice you guys can give would be helpful. I'm trying to research this on my own (which is how I've gotten to this point), but there's quite a lot of info to go through and I'm going to be making some choices fairly quickly.
Thanks!
Here's my plan so far:
-Protocol: Zwave or UPB, probably Zwave. I need to have a wireless lock, so that implies zwave. Zwave light switches seem cheaper (thought maybe not for LED dimmers).
-Lights: lots of recessed Cree LED lights from Home Depot.
-6 On/off light switches
-6 Dimmer light switches
-Most of the switches will be 3-way, so additional aux-switches as well
-Wireless deadbolt (kwikset zwave?)
-Controller: USB dongle + custom software?
Later, motorized blinds (all hardwired), webcams (hardwire cat5e), maybe motion detectors, smoke/fire alarm relays, various sensors (cat5e), garage doors.
For the controller, ideally I'd love to be able to write some custom software on my linux home-server to run all of this. Maybe that's a little too ambitious. I do have an ubuntu home-server that I planned for this purpose. I wonder if I could get a USB zwave interface, use an existing library to handle the protocol (open-zwave, etc), and write my own code (or extend something like pytomation).
For light switches, it's taking a bit of research to find good/available/reliable switches. The on/off ones seem easier. The dimmers seem hard. Looks like evolve dimmers work well w/ LED lights & they're cheap ($50 vs. the Leviton VRE06's $220 price tag).
Some questions I'm researching now:
- Should I choose something else (UPB/zigbee) over zwave?
- Will I be able to do USB dongle + custom/cheap software for a controller, or will I have to get a hardware (mi casa verde) or software (homeseer) commercial product?
- Are the evolves the best choice for zwave dimmers + 3-way + LED lights?
Any advice you guys can give would be helpful. I'm trying to research this on my own (which is how I've gotten to this point), but there's quite a lot of info to go through and I'm going to be making some choices fairly quickly.
Thanks!