Lagerhead
Active Member
FWIW -- good, color-neutral lighting in the closets and/or wherever you select your clothes.
Broconne's Wiring Adventure
- Thread starter broconne
- Start date
This debate has always been a problem for me. I like to think about the exceptions to the rule. For instance: You wake up in the middle of the night and need to use the bathroom. You walk in and BOOM the lights come on. Now of course you could program it in such a way that between 11 pm and 7 am bring them up to 30% or something like that but if you never use the switches will you know how or where they are? I know this is a bad example but I love home automation but I think it can be taken too far.
As for bathroom exhaust fans in my house I just bought 20 of the GE timers. They have 5 options, on/off, 5 minute, 10 minute, 15 minute and 30 minute runtime (or mexican food as one person put it). I used them in my previous house and loved them. They work great. Are cheap and I can take a shower leave the room and the fan runs for an additional 30 minutes. I did have a neighbor who couldn't figure out how to use the switch which is a shame because she blew it up. That might be the worst part of that switch. I think it's easy to use but others might find it a bit intimidating.
Here is another scenario: your AC dies and the humidity starts to rise. Do you want to open up your house and try to pull the cooler air that is left out of it? I wouldn't think that is a good idea. Just a worst case scenario.
I have a gate that is setup to close at 8 pm and open at 8 am. Several times now that gate has been closed when I need it to be opened. I can open it before 8 but at 8 am it is going to close again. Its a pain in the butt. There are a couple of work arounds but nothing very elegant.
Neil
As for bathroom exhaust fans in my house I just bought 20 of the GE timers. They have 5 options, on/off, 5 minute, 10 minute, 15 minute and 30 minute runtime (or mexican food as one person put it). I used them in my previous house and loved them. They work great. Are cheap and I can take a shower leave the room and the fan runs for an additional 30 minutes. I did have a neighbor who couldn't figure out how to use the switch which is a shame because she blew it up. That might be the worst part of that switch. I think it's easy to use but others might find it a bit intimidating.
Here is another scenario: your AC dies and the humidity starts to rise. Do you want to open up your house and try to pull the cooler air that is left out of it? I wouldn't think that is a good idea. Just a worst case scenario.
I have a gate that is setup to close at 8 pm and open at 8 am. Several times now that gate has been closed when I need it to be opened. I can open it before 8 but at 8 am it is going to close again. Its a pain in the butt. There are a couple of work arounds but nothing very elegant.
Neil
Monk
Active Member
Yes - got it.
I suppose I would do something like that if I had the ability to sense humidity levels. Of course, if I manually turned the fan off, I would want it to stay off. My house will never override me. (I Hope it never gets that smart
)20 GE timers for bathroom fans? You either (1) Have a HUGE house. (2) Severe intestinal issues that require 5 fans in each bathroom.
On Scenario 2, I think I specified (but maybe not enough detail), that the relative humidity had to be a certain percentage higher than that of the hallway thermostat.
Right now, all I have is academic, house doesn't even have a foundation yet. So , all we have is plans and how I hope it will work.
However, I love the feedback and I am sure it will be helpful for many others in the future.
beelzerob
Senior Member
It's amazing you're able to put in this much forethought before the house even begins...it's wonderful. Of course, no HA plan survives contact with the enemy...but this is a very good start, and a good sifting of the lessons learned by others.
I have the front and foyer lights set to come on when I open the door and IsNight() (outside of sunset and sunrise). Of course, should I ever happen to actually get up early for work, I find going out the front door causes the foyer lights to come on when I don't need them (since I'm leaving!). It's a minor annoyance, and worth the extra effort to reach over and turn that light off as I leave (the front lights will go off on their own after sunrise)...but heff is right, you'll find things that are more annoying than they are useful.
And ya, I also realized as i wired my ALC relay into my bathroom exhaust fan that I could have accomplished the same result with a switch 1/4 the price.... but hey, it was a learning experience! No one poor is taking up this hobby....
I have the front and foyer lights set to come on when I open the door and IsNight() (outside of sunset and sunrise). Of course, should I ever happen to actually get up early for work, I find going out the front door causes the foyer lights to come on when I don't need them (since I'm leaving!). It's a minor annoyance, and worth the extra effort to reach over and turn that light off as I leave (the front lights will go off on their own after sunrise)...but heff is right, you'll find things that are more annoying than they are useful.
And ya, I also realized as i wired my ALC relay into my bathroom exhaust fan that I could have accomplished the same result with a switch 1/4 the price.... but hey, it was a learning experience!
No one poor is taking up this hobby....
beelzerob
Senior Member
Pull in cool air via bathroom vent fans? I'm just thinking that would be hardly effective at all. Granted, if your AC died, you'll do whatever you can...but is that really a practical idea?
I DO highly recommend a whole-house fan, by the way (since I didn't see it in your plans). We absolutely love ours. I was sick and tired of having to run the AC to cool off the house when there was an abundant supply outside the house, but no breeze to bring it through. Now, we just open some windows (Important step!!), turn on the fan, and have something like 7k CFM or more swapping out all that hot air. It's WONDERFUL. I guess it depends on your climate some...but we'll often leave it on low just for the sweet breeze coming in.
I think he was pointing that out as a side affect if I didn't have a reference humidity level to work off of. That if it was humid inside the fans could turn on and not turn off.
I was thinking about that. The attic is very finish-able in this house, and there is no real way to put a whole house fan in without potentially ruining that finishability. I had a whole house fan growing up in NJ - but it is so humid in NC that there is really a very limited window that you could use it.
We are kinda getting away from the HA stuff but let met say some things here. A whole house fan will leak. I am not a fan of whole house fans. The house I bought (which is pretty big, it has 10 toilets but there are 11 fans because the master has one for humidity besides the two for the toilets) did what I wanted to do. They sealed the attic and sprayed the underside of the roof with isoneyne (i am pretty sure that is spelled wrong (sorry)). Anyway it makes my attic semi enjoyable to be in even in the heat and I have air handlers in there which really appreciate it! The air handlers also have economy air exchangers. I plan on integrating them in the following way. If the outside temp and humidity is reasonable and the interior thermostat calls for cooling it will turn on the energy exchange unit. This seems far more efficient to me. It uses my venting in my house which I would hope is strategically placed, I don't have to open windows (which my kids will certainly climb out of) and I don't have screens. In florida with the hurricanes you would have to have them on the inside and they can be unsightly.
Hope this adds some other perspective!
Neil
p.s. You can get a whole house fan that is nice and has an insulated cover that automatically seals it when not in use. Problem is you need to vent your attic still.
beelzerob
Senior Member
Well, I'd say that something that pulls in cooler outside air and spreads it throughout the house is a good idea, whether a wholehouse fan that just sucks in the outside air and blows it out your attic, or some ducting that draws in outside air and distributes it via your HVAC fan.
But again, I guess that does depend on the location. In AZ this would have been very useful, as you get the wretchedly hot days and then cold nights (but the house inside is still hot)...here in central PA, I find it gets cool at night no matter how humid, so we frequently have it on pulling in cool air.
Having it connected to your HVAC system also removes the dangers of causing a suction in your house in regards to combustion exhausting.
But again, I guess that does depend on the location. In AZ this would have been very useful, as you get the wretchedly hot days and then cold nights (but the house inside is still hot)...here in central PA, I find it gets cool at night no matter how humid, so we frequently have it on pulling in cool air.
Having it connected to your HVAC system also removes the dangers of causing a suction in your house in regards to combustion exhausting.
drozwood90
Senior Member
It's amazing you're able to put in this much forethought before the house even begins...it's wonderful. Of course, no HA plan survives contact with the enemy...but this is a very good start, and a good sifting of the lessons learned by others.
I have the front and foyer lights set to come on when I open the door and IsNight() (outside of sunset and sunrise). Of course, should I ever happen to actually get up early for work, I find going out the front door causes the foyer lights to come on when I don't need them (since I'm leaving!). It's a minor annoyance, and worth the extra effort to reach over and turn that light off as I leave (the front lights will go off on their own after sunrise)...but heff is right, you'll find things that are more annoying than they are useful.
And ya, I also realized as i wired my ALC relay into my bathroom exhaust fan that I could have accomplished the same result with a switch 1/4 the price.... but hey, it was a learning experience!No one poor is taking up this hobby....
You could fix that. Put a pressure pad by the front door.
Then use something like blradar or doomotion or roll your own or <take your pick> to tell direction.
If I remember right, you have sensors on your outside doors, right? If the door opens and the pad is off turn on the hall lights and front lights.
IF the pad is triggered, THEN the door is opened, you don't need to trigger the hall lights.
--Dan
hucker
Active Member
Another vote for whole house fan. We have it in seattle and it works very well on the few evenings a year where the house temp is hotter than the outside air (hot hot summer days). We have one of the VERY quiet fans...1500cfm and it is in our bedroom and it is quiet... Highly recommended.
I won't let it come on unless it sees a door or window open on the alarm system... If you have fire places and they are burning and you turn the fan on that isn't so cool Hasn't happened...yet
I won't let it come on unless it sees a door or window open on the alarm system... If you have fire places and they are burning and you turn the fan on that isn't so cool
Hasn't happened...yet
beelzerob
Senior Member
I won't let it come on unless it sees a door or window open on the alarm system... If you have fire places and they are burning and you turn the fan on that isn't so cool
Hehe..ya, I've been concerned about that too...considered trying to put a thermometer in the chimney stack so I could veto the house fan request based on that...but it's not that big a concern. The overlap between when we'd want to suck in cool air from outside and when we'd be likely using the fire is pretty narrow.
We don't have a gas water heater or gas furnace, so I'm not all that concerned about sucking in combustion products.
Laundry Room -
2D and 3D!
H/A Equipment:
Occupancy Sensor
Door Contact
Lighting:
There is 1ALC/OnQ prewire for the overhead light
H/A Goals:
(1) Turn on the lights when occupied
(2) Turn off lights when unoccupied for a duration.
(3) Notify us when the door is closed for more than a specified duration (Cats can't get to the litter box)
Pipe Chases:
There are two pipe chases in this room
(1) 1 for running things behind the laundry machines (current sensors for each washer and dryer, water sensor for washing machine)
(2) 1 for the TV - For access to the cameras in bedrooms 2, 3, game room and front door.
Whole House Vacuum:
Vac-Pan for litter
The laundry room in 2D
3D!
2D and 3D!
H/A Equipment:
Occupancy Sensor
Door Contact
Lighting:
There is 1ALC/OnQ prewire for the overhead light
H/A Goals:
(1) Turn on the lights when occupied
(2) Turn off lights when unoccupied for a duration.
(3) Notify us when the door is closed for more than a specified duration (Cats can't get to the litter box)
Pipe Chases:
There are two pipe chases in this room
(1) 1 for running things behind the laundry machines (current sensors for each washer and dryer, water sensor for washing machine)
(2) 1 for the TV - For access to the cameras in bedrooms 2, 3, game room and front door.
Whole House Vacuum:
Vac-Pan for litter
The laundry room in 2D
3D!
Neurorad
Senior Member
Cabinets above W/D should extend from top of W/D to the ceiling. You can't have enough storage in the laundry room.
Room for a utility sink, drying rack, or ironing board?
Where will you keep the central vac hose? It usually hangs on a wall - laundry room might be a good place.
I'm unfamiliar with a vacuum pan for litter. Do you dump cat litter into it? Or is it like a cat toilet?
Is that a touchscreen/monitor in the 3D pic?
Room for a utility sink, drying rack, or ironing board?
Where will you keep the central vac hose? It usually hangs on a wall - laundry room might be a good place.
I'm unfamiliar with a vacuum pan for litter. Do you dump cat litter into it? Or is it like a cat toilet?
Is that a touchscreen/monitor in the 3D pic?
He said he was using a hide-a-hose in a previous post. The hide-a-hose store the hose in the attic and comes out a port in the wall. If was going to install a cental vac it would use this system!
I believe, but could be wrong, that the vacuum pan is a sweeper port. You see them in kitchen toe kicks. You open it with your foot and sweep everything right in to it. Another great idea.
In this room I would suggest a nice washer pan for holding any leaking water. They make some really nice ones. Not those cheapo plastic ones you get at home depot. Also there is a nice system for the dry duct that recesses it in the wall so there isn't a kink. Just make sure that everything is roughed in on the proper sides. If this is second story (and I believe it is) I would suggest 12" on center floor joists and an additional layer of plywood screwed - not nailed. The front loaders and even the top loading HE (high efficiency) units all have concrete counterbalances. They can wreak havoc on your house if it isn't designed to support that kind of weight!
Neil
