Hello everyone,
This is my first post on this forum but I have been reading it for a lot of hours since 2 weeks. In 2 months, I will start building my house and I want some nice home automation features. English is not my first langage, but I will try to be clear as much as possible. I have looked for the 101 wiring guide, but I couldnt find it.
The house has 2 stories, a basement and a garage. Each floor is around 900 square feet.
Basement
Home theater room (TV and audio system)
Family room (maybe a TV)
Utility room (Where all the cable and equipment will go)
Bedroom
1st floor
Kitchen
Dining room
Living room (TV)
Office
Hall with front door
2nd floor
1 master bedroom
2 children bedroom
2 batchroom
Now the harder part .. wich component to buy. I live in Canada, so it's easier to buy from reseller around here. But we don't have much choice.
Controller
I looked for HAI and ELK. My choice will be HAI Omni Pro since the wife want some security in the house. Anyone know a good place to order it in Canada? If not, where is the best internet site to order from in the USA ? I checked Smarthome.
Security
Cameras
I want indoor and outdoor cameras. The choice is not easy. If I go with analog cameras, there is so much choice! But I will need a camera server, like the one from HAI and it's expensive. If I go with IP cameras, there is less choice and they are more expensive. Any suggestion? I really want to have the feeds on my computer and be able to record them.
Motion detector
Sicne I will use the Omni Pro, I want to add security features. Can I use any model and it will integrate easily with the Omni? This is what I found. What is the best thing to look for in an outdoor model? Should I bother buying outdoor model too? What kind of cable do we usually use for these? 24/2? I just found out yesterday and the first number is the size and the second is the number of wire in the cable
Door and windows sensors
Pretty much the same question as the motion detector. Can I use any type with HAI? Wich type of cable to use ?
For the garage, I found this.That's weird to have it on the floor, but I guess it's how most people install it.
Smoke detectors
I live in Canada, so I guess I should look for ULC tag? If read a lot of post about this on the forum but I don't understand everything. 1 per zone, all linked together ... It would be nice to know where the fire is. Anyone did it with an HAI controller? This is the GE and this is the FSA. What is the difference between 2 wire and 4 wire model?
Siren
It is a good thing to have one for a plan B? Because, I guess if we have a audio system, we can broadcast an audio message.
Door bell
Same thing as the siren. Would be better to use the audio system, but just to be sure, should I install one?
Lighting
Since I will go the UPB route, I will need the HAI phase coupler. I will also need 4 wire to each location, 2 for power, a ground and a neutral. Is that right? Smarthome has a lot of switches so I will look into that. Anyone know another website to compare the prices? Should I run a cat5 to each location just in case I change technology in the future?
Audio
I'm still wondering what to do with my audio. Pretty much all my music is on MP3 format. I will have a Windows Home Server run in the utility room. I have looked at Russound and Nuvo. Both product look really nice, especially the nuvo keypads. The problem is, I need a music port or a kind of interface to bring the mp3 from my computer to the sound system. I also checked Casatune. The PCI card is great, but the keypad are not looking so good. I will need some help to choose a good solution. I will put Cat5 cable to all the future keypad location and audio cable from the keypad to the speakers.
Speaking about audio cable, what is a good size and model to run? Anyone can give me some link?
Video
In the same boat as Audio. I have read a lot of thing about component vs HDMI. I will buy an HD capture these like Hauppauge If you have better suggestion, go ahead. I want to record HD cable TV and be able to watch it in the house. For that, I looked at Sage TV. But since we won't have a lot of TVs in the house, maybe I can just run a low power computer connected to the TV ?
HVAC
I will get some omnistatII to connect to the Omni. What is the difference between single stage and multi stage?
Network
I will run a lot of Cat5 cable in the house and leave them in the wall. It's easier to run them now than after they closed the walls. I like to use these wall plates. Makes all the connectors look nice.
I still have a lot more questions, but I also need to do more reading. Any help will be appreciated.
Thank you,
LJ
This is my first post on this forum but I have been reading it for a lot of hours since 2 weeks. In 2 months, I will start building my house and I want some nice home automation features. English is not my first langage, but I will try to be clear as much as possible. I have looked for the 101 wiring guide, but I couldnt find it.
The house has 2 stories, a basement and a garage. Each floor is around 900 square feet.
Basement
Home theater room (TV and audio system)
Family room (maybe a TV)
Utility room (Where all the cable and equipment will go)
Bedroom
1st floor
Kitchen
Dining room
Living room (TV)
Office
Hall with front door
2nd floor
1 master bedroom
2 children bedroom
2 batchroom
Now the harder part .. wich component to buy. I live in Canada, so it's easier to buy from reseller around here. But we don't have much choice.
Controller
I looked for HAI and ELK. My choice will be HAI Omni Pro since the wife want some security in the house. Anyone know a good place to order it in Canada? If not, where is the best internet site to order from in the USA ? I checked Smarthome.
Security
Cameras
I want indoor and outdoor cameras. The choice is not easy. If I go with analog cameras, there is so much choice! But I will need a camera server, like the one from HAI and it's expensive. If I go with IP cameras, there is less choice and they are more expensive. Any suggestion? I really want to have the feeds on my computer and be able to record them.
Motion detector
Sicne I will use the Omni Pro, I want to add security features. Can I use any model and it will integrate easily with the Omni? This is what I found. What is the best thing to look for in an outdoor model? Should I bother buying outdoor model too? What kind of cable do we usually use for these? 24/2? I just found out yesterday and the first number is the size and the second is the number of wire in the cable
Door and windows sensors
Pretty much the same question as the motion detector. Can I use any type with HAI? Wich type of cable to use ?
For the garage, I found this.That's weird to have it on the floor, but I guess it's how most people install it.
Smoke detectors
I live in Canada, so I guess I should look for ULC tag? If read a lot of post about this on the forum but I don't understand everything. 1 per zone, all linked together ... It would be nice to know where the fire is. Anyone did it with an HAI controller? This is the GE and this is the FSA. What is the difference between 2 wire and 4 wire model?
Siren
It is a good thing to have one for a plan B? Because, I guess if we have a audio system, we can broadcast an audio message.
Door bell
Same thing as the siren. Would be better to use the audio system, but just to be sure, should I install one?
Lighting
Since I will go the UPB route, I will need the HAI phase coupler. I will also need 4 wire to each location, 2 for power, a ground and a neutral. Is that right? Smarthome has a lot of switches so I will look into that. Anyone know another website to compare the prices? Should I run a cat5 to each location just in case I change technology in the future?
Audio
I'm still wondering what to do with my audio. Pretty much all my music is on MP3 format. I will have a Windows Home Server run in the utility room. I have looked at Russound and Nuvo. Both product look really nice, especially the nuvo keypads. The problem is, I need a music port or a kind of interface to bring the mp3 from my computer to the sound system. I also checked Casatune. The PCI card is great, but the keypad are not looking so good. I will need some help to choose a good solution. I will put Cat5 cable to all the future keypad location and audio cable from the keypad to the speakers.
Speaking about audio cable, what is a good size and model to run? Anyone can give me some link?
Video
In the same boat as Audio. I have read a lot of thing about component vs HDMI. I will buy an HD capture these like Hauppauge If you have better suggestion, go ahead. I want to record HD cable TV and be able to watch it in the house. For that, I looked at Sage TV. But since we won't have a lot of TVs in the house, maybe I can just run a low power computer connected to the TV ?
HVAC
I will get some omnistatII to connect to the Omni. What is the difference between single stage and multi stage?
Network
I will run a lot of Cat5 cable in the house and leave them in the wall. It's easier to run them now than after they closed the walls. I like to use these wall plates. Makes all the connectors look nice.
I still have a lot more questions, but I also need to do more reading. Any help will be appreciated.
Thank you,
LJ