We’re in the process of building our home, 3000 sq ft, single story, u-shaped. Right now, all the walls are open & we’ve started to wiring the lights. Concurrently, I’ve been working on designing our home automation system and last night I started wondering, do I really need Elk?
We’re going to use Insteon & the ISY-994i for all the lighting & controls.
For window treatments, I’m hoping to use Somfy motors, but still I’m still waiting to hear back from Automated Shades so it’s not yet confirmed. I contacted Elk & they told me that the M1 doesn’t directly communicate with any window treatments.
As for security, I’m planning on mounting 4 IP cameras (still undecided on the brand) on each corner of the house. None of the Elk compatible brands seem to have exceptional night time resolution or the ability to zoom. In addition to a NVR, I’d also like a modulator to connect the camera feed to the TV. -If anyone has any feedback on modulators &/or video-doorbells, I’d love to hear your thoughts.-
I don’t have plans for any motion sensors as we have two big Rottweiler/mutts that are a pretty good deterrent; besides, I think they would set the sensors off like it’s a carnival. I also don’t have any plans for window sensors as our windows are all casement & would have to be broken to get in. Maybe I should consider perimeter sensors….
Climate control was the big reason I was leaning towards Elk. We’re going to have 4 zones, which means 4 thermostats, which are generally ugly & wall clutter. I really like the Elk Navigator touch screen, it’s the only Elk keypad I would consider. I contacted Elk and they told me “The ELK-M1MPNAV allows you to view the temperature of supported thermostats but doesn’t support discrete control meaning you will not be able to adjust the temperature settings or mode.” I haven’t been able to find any thermostats with a sleek interface that are compatible with Elk, so at this time I’m leaning towards the Ecobee. As I understand, you can control any zone from any unit or from its native app. It’s only downfall is that it isn’t wired (cat5 style) & the units communicate via Wi-Fi.
I’m still thinking of other things to add/automate. As they say, over-kill is underrated.
I was really excited about Elk, but I just don’t see where it fits in. I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts & feedback on my design so far.
We’re going to use Insteon & the ISY-994i for all the lighting & controls.
For window treatments, I’m hoping to use Somfy motors, but still I’m still waiting to hear back from Automated Shades so it’s not yet confirmed. I contacted Elk & they told me that the M1 doesn’t directly communicate with any window treatments.
As for security, I’m planning on mounting 4 IP cameras (still undecided on the brand) on each corner of the house. None of the Elk compatible brands seem to have exceptional night time resolution or the ability to zoom. In addition to a NVR, I’d also like a modulator to connect the camera feed to the TV. -If anyone has any feedback on modulators &/or video-doorbells, I’d love to hear your thoughts.-
I don’t have plans for any motion sensors as we have two big Rottweiler/mutts that are a pretty good deterrent; besides, I think they would set the sensors off like it’s a carnival. I also don’t have any plans for window sensors as our windows are all casement & would have to be broken to get in. Maybe I should consider perimeter sensors….
Climate control was the big reason I was leaning towards Elk. We’re going to have 4 zones, which means 4 thermostats, which are generally ugly & wall clutter. I really like the Elk Navigator touch screen, it’s the only Elk keypad I would consider. I contacted Elk and they told me “The ELK-M1MPNAV allows you to view the temperature of supported thermostats but doesn’t support discrete control meaning you will not be able to adjust the temperature settings or mode.” I haven’t been able to find any thermostats with a sleek interface that are compatible with Elk, so at this time I’m leaning towards the Ecobee. As I understand, you can control any zone from any unit or from its native app. It’s only downfall is that it isn’t wired (cat5 style) & the units communicate via Wi-Fi.
I’m still thinking of other things to add/automate. As they say, over-kill is underrated.
I was really excited about Elk, but I just don’t see where it fits in. I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts & feedback on my design so far.