Adrenaline
New Member
Hey guys,
I've been reading up a lot and my head is swimming with all of the options and information, but I think I've narrowed down my decisions and have just a few questions. I'm hoping you guys can help narrow down the areas that I need to dig into a lot deeper.
First and foremost, home automation things that I think I want to achieve at some point in the future in priority order:
I have gotten permission to run cables and conduit before drywall goes up and I've read the Wiring Your house 101-103 documents and I want to do the necessary wiring up front because of ease and cost. The more I've researched, however, the more and more I think I want to go with a wireless solution for a lot of the above items. I really like the Z-Wave technology for lighting and power outlet control, so I don't feel like I need to pull tons of wires all over the place. I do plan to run speaker wire and CAT5e to all audio zone locations, but other than that I'm struggling to find a big reason to run a lot of cables.
Am I missing something?
I feel like the vast majority of what I listed above can be done with wireless solutions today except for the whole-home audio. I know sonos has some wireless solutions, but I really like the new Monoprice unit and would look to use monoprice in-ceiling speakers throughout. I also want to have conduit going from behind my entertainment center to the A/V closet and from the A/V closet to the attic so I can run wires in the future if the need arises.
The other big question I have beyond wiring is what controller to use. I like the idea of Cloud-based control with something like SmartThings and IFTTT, but also see some pros with using a controller like Vera3. I will probably use a collection of IPADs (mounted or mobile) to be the nerve center for all automation. I am a software developer, but don't have a lot of hardware integration experience (although I think I could pick it up rather easily). Can you guys give me any guidance with which direction to head? Stick with SmartThings interface and use cloud-based control or get a Vera3 and something like CQC and write my own control layer?
(tl;dr)That's my big two questions right now:
Am I missing something with less wiring in today's wireless world?
What controller should I be focusing on?
Thanks for any input!
I've been reading up a lot and my head is swimming with all of the options and information, but I think I've narrowed down my decisions and have just a few questions. I'm hoping you guys can help narrow down the areas that I need to dig into a lot deeper.
First and foremost, home automation things that I think I want to achieve at some point in the future in priority order:
- Lighting control (including some motion sensing)
- Whole home, multi-zone audio
- Video Monitoring
- Intercom system (telling the kids to be quiet or supper is ready)
- Power outlet control
- Preventative sensors (water sensors with shutoff valves, electricity monitoring, etc...)
- ???
I have gotten permission to run cables and conduit before drywall goes up and I've read the Wiring Your house 101-103 documents and I want to do the necessary wiring up front because of ease and cost. The more I've researched, however, the more and more I think I want to go with a wireless solution for a lot of the above items. I really like the Z-Wave technology for lighting and power outlet control, so I don't feel like I need to pull tons of wires all over the place. I do plan to run speaker wire and CAT5e to all audio zone locations, but other than that I'm struggling to find a big reason to run a lot of cables.
Am I missing something?
I feel like the vast majority of what I listed above can be done with wireless solutions today except for the whole-home audio. I know sonos has some wireless solutions, but I really like the new Monoprice unit and would look to use monoprice in-ceiling speakers throughout. I also want to have conduit going from behind my entertainment center to the A/V closet and from the A/V closet to the attic so I can run wires in the future if the need arises.
The other big question I have beyond wiring is what controller to use. I like the idea of Cloud-based control with something like SmartThings and IFTTT, but also see some pros with using a controller like Vera3. I will probably use a collection of IPADs (mounted or mobile) to be the nerve center for all automation. I am a software developer, but don't have a lot of hardware integration experience (although I think I could pick it up rather easily). Can you guys give me any guidance with which direction to head? Stick with SmartThings interface and use cloud-based control or get a Vera3 and something like CQC and write my own control layer?
(tl;dr)That's my big two questions right now:
Am I missing something with less wiring in today's wireless world?
What controller should I be focusing on?
Thanks for any input!