Hello, folks. Just joined. I'm about to start a project -- it's going to be mostly a hobby/experimental thing, but here's a few things I'd like to accomplish:
* Get the heat under control. The house has 3 zones, all heat pumps (all separate systems, no dampers). The programmable thermostats the builder installed look for any excuse they can find to turn on the aux heat. Daytime setback is 2 deg F below the evening setting? So sorry, we'll use the aux heat to recover and waste all that energy we saved during the day, and more. I want the system to anticipate based on the outdoor temp, and not use the aux heat unless it absolutely has to.
* Not have to do the nightly garage check before I go to bed. I want the system to shut off the garage lights if they are on, and lower the doors if they are up.
* Be able to control all of the outside lights from one location. We have lights in the front on two floors, lights in the back on three floors, and floodlights around the exterior. Right now you have to run all over the house to turn them all on or off.
* Manage the HVAC depending on whether I am working from home on a given day (don't have a regular schedule for when I work from home), or whether my wife and I are going to be working late, or whether or not we have house guests.
* A bunch of lighting things depending on what is going on in the house.
* Some basic security.
* Some form of audio distribution and control.
* Fire monitoring for the garage, which is currently unprotected.
The house is two years old, and we did some pre-wiring when we built it. I've been looking into this stuff for a while, and I'm getting close to buying an HAI OmniPro II, a thermostat, an outdoor temp sensor, a PIM, and a couple of UPB dimmers and switches. I'll install these in the basement rec room, which will be my lab for this. When I see how that works, I'll decide what to do next.
* Get the heat under control. The house has 3 zones, all heat pumps (all separate systems, no dampers). The programmable thermostats the builder installed look for any excuse they can find to turn on the aux heat. Daytime setback is 2 deg F below the evening setting? So sorry, we'll use the aux heat to recover and waste all that energy we saved during the day, and more. I want the system to anticipate based on the outdoor temp, and not use the aux heat unless it absolutely has to.
* Not have to do the nightly garage check before I go to bed. I want the system to shut off the garage lights if they are on, and lower the doors if they are up.
* Be able to control all of the outside lights from one location. We have lights in the front on two floors, lights in the back on three floors, and floodlights around the exterior. Right now you have to run all over the house to turn them all on or off.
* Manage the HVAC depending on whether I am working from home on a given day (don't have a regular schedule for when I work from home), or whether my wife and I are going to be working late, or whether or not we have house guests.
* A bunch of lighting things depending on what is going on in the house.
* Some basic security.
* Some form of audio distribution and control.
* Fire monitoring for the garage, which is currently unprotected.
The house is two years old, and we did some pre-wiring when we built it. I've been looking into this stuff for a while, and I'm getting close to buying an HAI OmniPro II, a thermostat, an outdoor temp sensor, a PIM, and a couple of UPB dimmers and switches. I'll install these in the basement rec room, which will be my lab for this. When I see how that works, I'll decide what to do next.
