CBUS In the USA

[FrankMc]

Hi Guys

Just noticed this post on the CBUS Forums here in Oz and thought you guys might be interested............

Frank Mc

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Hey guys.
Been lurking for awhile and finally decided to post.

I've been working with the C-Bus product here in Nevada with a lot of help and support from the Tennessee guys since mid summer. Everything is going real well, availability and delivery of product has never been an issue (the project is being done in phases as it is an existing facility) and even though we order the items at the last minute we have never had a delay due to not having the parts. Some of the multi-sensors we got for the initial phase were still in the box that was sent from Australia to Square D over here, but we had them to do the job.

The technical support out of Tennessee has been some of the best support that I have got in the automation trade, it seems that at every phase the electrical engineer has made changes to the sequence (the system controls solar dampers for natural light with fluorescent for when there is not enough natural light, with timed override off for showing of videos etc.) and no matter what changes were made the guys back east have had a solution and database back to me in a timely manner.

I was lucky enough to be able to visit the Adelaide CIS facility right before I started working on the project and I have to say those guys are some of the most friendly and helpful guys around. The whole experience has been a good one and I look forward to working with the product and people in the future.
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[BraveSirRobbin]

I've been working with the C-Bus product here in Nevada...

Where at in Nevada?

 

[kontrolphreak]

Hey there guys.

Saw Franks post in the CBus forum and followed the link here, seems like a nice site you have here.

I'm in the commercial automation industry (mainly HVAC DDC) and we just started doing lighting controls on one of our projects. It's for the Clark County School District (which encompasses all of the Las Vegas valley to Mesquite in the North and the Nye county line by Parump to the West).

The Square D Clipsal line has been good to work with and as I stated in the above quoted post the support has been top notch from the guys in Tennessee (Jon, Greg and the guys). We basically used a standard set of 5 devices in each room and just ordered a whole bunch of the same type of devices. I don't know the availability of some of the other devices, but there wasn't any delays in the project due to availability of the products we needed.

As I mentioned above I come from a commercial HVAC DDC background and this is the first lighting/home automation system I have dealt with, but even with my limited exposure it seems that CBus is a robust, reliable and user friendly system.

 

[electron]

Welcome to CT!

This definitely sounds interesting. Can you give us an idea of how much it would cost to automate a regular switch, how it interfaces computers etc.? Thanks!

 

[kontrolphreak]

Thanks for the welcome.

I don't know pricing, but from what I heard Square D were releasing the high end switches initially in the US (Saturn and Neo). These switches are pretty powerful, with the ability to store scenes in them and do some other minor logic. They are fully configurable (LED indication, type of switch [dimmer, timer, bell press, on, off, on/off etc.], IR pickup on the Neo). The Multi-Sensor is pretty cool with must of the logic for my project residing in it. The output modules have some good features - overrides on each circuit, override indicator.

For PC connectivity we are using the CBus to IP interface on the job, and I am using a CBus to Serial interface (a little easier to use as a temporary connection then IP) for my tech work.

As I mentioned this is my first experience with lighting/home automation controls after 6+ years of HVAC automation and I can say so far it has been a great experience.

 

[electron]

I guess I will have to see if I can get some pricing information, sounds pretty interesting.

 

[FrankMc]

Hi Electron

I would imagine the US pricing would be much the same as that for the UK......

Have a look here for UK prices......you,ll need to do some conversion but it gives you some idea...
http://www.cbus-shop.com/

HTH
Frank

 

[FrankMc]

Thanks for the welcome.

I don't know pricing, but from what I heard Square D were releasing the high end switches initially in the US (Saturn and Neo). These switches are pretty powerful, with the ability to store scenes in them and do some other minor logic. They are fully configurable (LED indication, type of switch [dimmer, timer, bell press, on, off, on/off etc.], IR pickup on the Neo). The Multi-Sensor is pretty cool with must of the logic for my project residing in it. The output modules have some good features - overrides on each circuit, override indicator.

For PC connectivity we are using the CBus to IP interface on the job, and I am using a CBus to Serial interface (a little easier to use as a temporary connection then IP) for my tech work.

As I mentioned this is my first experience with lighting/home automation controls after 6+ years of HVAC automation and I can say so far it has been a great experience.

For those who might be interested Heres a pic of the Saturn switch kontrolphreak has mentioned in his post.......The front cover is made of glass....The DLT (not mentioned) switches are also very nice as they have the Saturn type buttons as well as a small lcd screen much like the stargate type......

http://www.hobby.armaghelectrical.com.au/page79.html

Frank