tmbrown97
Senior Member
Hi All,
The last time I automated my house was back in 2011, and it was a carryover from one I did in 2008. Back then, there were a lot less options, and this whole consumer automation craze hadn't started. Then, I used what I felt were the best options - an Elk M1G, UPB, and RCS Communicating Zone Thermostats, along with some Elk accessories for more inputs/outputs, like doorbells and sprinklers and things like that. The house was about 4,000sq ft and had roughly 75 lighting zones. I loved the simplicity; the single Elk app controlled everything; nothing was cloud based, and there were no ongoing subscription fees.
Where I felt it was lacking:
I also later added cameras and they had their own app, and no real integration with the other systems.
Now I'm starting over. The new house is 3 stories, and about 7,000 sq. ft. I'm trying to figure out the best way to go. It's important that anything I do fits the million dollar home aesthetics and adds resale rather than detracting, so I'm hoping for as much of a PRO solution that I can hand off to a local HA installer should I sell the house.
I really liked the flexibility of the Simply-Automated UPB line, and would not be opposed to going that route again, as long as I get a reliable signal. There's a hot tub and a sub panel, and tons of fluorescent lights... I hope I wouldn't be wiring in filters and chokes everywhere... but I could do it. I've never used Zigbee or ZWave, so I don't know how they'll do with a house of that size. I also have access to RadioRA2 enhanced, but that's at quite the additional cost.
One thing I really want is a couple of touchscreens and a good controller, like a Control4, Crestron or RTI. Of those three, I have dealer access to RTI; not the others. I love the built in intercom functionality, and the fact that I could give the kids a controller for their Hue bulb, their lights, music, etc if I were to put a small touchscreen in each room.
All the kids have Echos in their room - I haven't checked for a driver yet, but that'd be cool if they could show what's playing on the Echo on an RTI screen. The house also has about 8 audio zones - could use more, as that's primarily the main floor, along with the deck and master bedroom. In-wall is just volume controls inline; all the speakers run to the main floor entertainment cabinet.
I think this time I need to tie in Z-Wave regardless, because I want those little motion/light/temp sensors around quite a bit of the house ultimately controlling the UPB lights, and I'll need 5 or so deadbolts. I assume I'll need to have a handful of the plug in socket/repeaters to make this work. I know light switches could also accomplish this - I just don't know that they're as flexible, or that they won't add too much chattiness if I go with 20 motion sensors, deadbolts, outlets, and about 100 light loads.
This time I plan to add a DoorBird to the front door, and a driveway sensor, along with probably 8 or so exterior cameras around the perimeter, along with some outdoor motions to catch anyone lurking around the deck or windows at night.
I know the Elk can handle the security needs but it's wiring needs are pretty specific, especially if I want more speakers at the keypads. Existing wired security is a 21yr old DSC. Any reason to consider a Vista or DSC? I do want to be able to link things like, whenever X-zone opens, turn on X-light, or whenever exit timer expires, turn off all lights, etc. Do the other panels report every event as reliably? Any benefit to the Vista or DSC other than them being cheaper?
I know many of you are dealing with similar or bigger projects, and have experimented WAY more with the more recent offerings. I'm just curious what your thoughts are if you were starting off today and had similar goals. Any pitfalls to stay away from? Any experience with RTI and using it as the main controller? Can I bridge RTI with IFTTT or SmartThings or anything like that? Will Z-Wave work reliably in a house that size?
I'd love to hear any thoughts/suggestions. I'm due to start this all in a couple weeks as long as there are no surprises. I'm looking forward to starting this again and integrating the new offerings! Sorry this is a long ramble... there's so much to cover starting from scratch again.
The last time I automated my house was back in 2011, and it was a carryover from one I did in 2008. Back then, there were a lot less options, and this whole consumer automation craze hadn't started. Then, I used what I felt were the best options - an Elk M1G, UPB, and RCS Communicating Zone Thermostats, along with some Elk accessories for more inputs/outputs, like doorbells and sprinklers and things like that. The house was about 4,000sq ft and had roughly 75 lighting zones. I loved the simplicity; the single Elk app controlled everything; nothing was cloud based, and there were no ongoing subscription fees.
Where I felt it was lacking:
- No way to tie in any cloud control like IFTTT or Alexa/Google Home/Apple HomeKit integration.
- No way to tie in HUE
- Limited ability to tie in Z-Wave deadbolts. I never bothered because I didn't want to add the infrastructure just for 1-2 locks to the Elk, even though I had the locks.
- Really no good touchscreen options unless I wanted to mount an iPad to the wall; even then, nothing custom unless I added in 3rd party software.
I also later added cameras and they had their own app, and no real integration with the other systems.
Now I'm starting over. The new house is 3 stories, and about 7,000 sq. ft. I'm trying to figure out the best way to go. It's important that anything I do fits the million dollar home aesthetics and adds resale rather than detracting, so I'm hoping for as much of a PRO solution that I can hand off to a local HA installer should I sell the house.
I really liked the flexibility of the Simply-Automated UPB line, and would not be opposed to going that route again, as long as I get a reliable signal. There's a hot tub and a sub panel, and tons of fluorescent lights... I hope I wouldn't be wiring in filters and chokes everywhere... but I could do it. I've never used Zigbee or ZWave, so I don't know how they'll do with a house of that size. I also have access to RadioRA2 enhanced, but that's at quite the additional cost.
One thing I really want is a couple of touchscreens and a good controller, like a Control4, Crestron or RTI. Of those three, I have dealer access to RTI; not the others. I love the built in intercom functionality, and the fact that I could give the kids a controller for their Hue bulb, their lights, music, etc if I were to put a small touchscreen in each room.
All the kids have Echos in their room - I haven't checked for a driver yet, but that'd be cool if they could show what's playing on the Echo on an RTI screen. The house also has about 8 audio zones - could use more, as that's primarily the main floor, along with the deck and master bedroom. In-wall is just volume controls inline; all the speakers run to the main floor entertainment cabinet.
I think this time I need to tie in Z-Wave regardless, because I want those little motion/light/temp sensors around quite a bit of the house ultimately controlling the UPB lights, and I'll need 5 or so deadbolts. I assume I'll need to have a handful of the plug in socket/repeaters to make this work. I know light switches could also accomplish this - I just don't know that they're as flexible, or that they won't add too much chattiness if I go with 20 motion sensors, deadbolts, outlets, and about 100 light loads.
This time I plan to add a DoorBird to the front door, and a driveway sensor, along with probably 8 or so exterior cameras around the perimeter, along with some outdoor motions to catch anyone lurking around the deck or windows at night.
I know the Elk can handle the security needs but it's wiring needs are pretty specific, especially if I want more speakers at the keypads. Existing wired security is a 21yr old DSC. Any reason to consider a Vista or DSC? I do want to be able to link things like, whenever X-zone opens, turn on X-light, or whenever exit timer expires, turn off all lights, etc. Do the other panels report every event as reliably? Any benefit to the Vista or DSC other than them being cheaper?
I know many of you are dealing with similar or bigger projects, and have experimented WAY more with the more recent offerings. I'm just curious what your thoughts are if you were starting off today and had similar goals. Any pitfalls to stay away from? Any experience with RTI and using it as the main controller? Can I bridge RTI with IFTTT or SmartThings or anything like that? Will Z-Wave work reliably in a house that size?
I'd love to hear any thoughts/suggestions. I'm due to start this all in a couple weeks as long as there are no surprises. I'm looking forward to starting this again and integrating the new offerings! Sorry this is a long ramble... there's so much to cover starting from scratch again.