panthers1788
New Member
Long story short first, I am looking at doing home automation in my house which is being remodeled right now. I would like a setup where I can have a touch screen control panel and integrate the system with lighting, theater room integration, whole home music, thermostats, and maybe security (maybe, might be getting an ADT system for their monitoring service). Is CQC the answer? What controller would you recommend? What lighting technology, z-wave, insteon, etc...
For the background now:
I had a home automation setup before using Mi Casa Verde Vera controller and Z-wave (lights, security system, outlets, locks) and now that I am remodeling I want to pick the best option. I really like Creston and Control4's touch panels (I don't like their price, and the fact that you can't add anything to the system yourself) and when looking for alternatives to those two HomeSeer and CQC is what I have come across. I gave a call into HomeSeer to get a few questions answered, but found the agent on the other end of the call to be not very forthcoming or helpful which may have turned me slightly away from their product (maybe just one bad experience so I am open for a discussion on it). Why I am leaning more toward CQC over HomeSeer is due to the home theater integration that it appears to have. Am I correct in saying that it would be something that would work nicely in a home theater setup as well as controlling automation throughout the house? Also, when comparing CQC with the other mentioned companies/systems does CQC support just as many devices/protocols (Insteon, Z-Wave, Zigbee, etc...) This is just to get the discussion started, I have many other questions but I will just list a few below that I am thinking.
What is the best controller to get for CQC?
What lighting should I go with (dimmer switches, light switches, etc..)?
I am a software developer by profession so I don't think I should have an issue with setting up the environment, is that true?
For the background now:
I had a home automation setup before using Mi Casa Verde Vera controller and Z-wave (lights, security system, outlets, locks) and now that I am remodeling I want to pick the best option. I really like Creston and Control4's touch panels (I don't like their price, and the fact that you can't add anything to the system yourself) and when looking for alternatives to those two HomeSeer and CQC is what I have come across. I gave a call into HomeSeer to get a few questions answered, but found the agent on the other end of the call to be not very forthcoming or helpful which may have turned me slightly away from their product (maybe just one bad experience so I am open for a discussion on it). Why I am leaning more toward CQC over HomeSeer is due to the home theater integration that it appears to have. Am I correct in saying that it would be something that would work nicely in a home theater setup as well as controlling automation throughout the house? Also, when comparing CQC with the other mentioned companies/systems does CQC support just as many devices/protocols (Insteon, Z-Wave, Zigbee, etc...) This is just to get the discussion started, I have many other questions but I will just list a few below that I am thinking.
What is the best controller to get for CQC?
What lighting should I go with (dimmer switches, light switches, etc..)?
I am a software developer by profession so I don't think I should have an issue with setting up the environment, is that true?