HAI Roadmap

madas

Member
Current Setup - many of which is now 10+ years old and has done a fabulous job over the past decade
 
  • HAI OmniPro with lots of hard wired zones and a few wireless (less than 5)
  • HAI OmniPro subpanel to cover another part of the house
  • A couple of HAI thermostats
  • a bunch of 5.7e screens (about 6)
  • Used to use Z-wave from the device but now handle that through Homeseer
  • iphones/mobile devices control the house through homeseer
  • many of the HAI motions used for events in homeseer
  • HAI outputs used for several items like Somfy blinds, Peizo buzzer, some relays for HVAC
 
We are in the process of building a new detached building and I was considering adding a sub-panel in that building but It doesn't appear that they can be purchased anymore?
 
Also - all of the other equipment is aging now - i've lost 2 of the screens over the past 18 months and I have bad flicking on a couple more.
 
Now that this line has been abandoned - what are people using as an upgrade path? above and beyond my immediate sub-panel problem I suspect I will have other issues over the next few years if I do not start a gradual upgrade or at least have a plan.
 
Would love to hear what others have done.  I do most things DIY and I have Homeseer, HomeAssistant and RedNode all in the mix (all dockerized on my NAS) but for the base controller (security and touchscreens) I generally want something that is rock solid.
 
Appreciate your thoughts.

 
 
I plan to continue using HAI equipment for as long as it lasts. Some items are still available on ebay. I have an extensive zone/output setup and I do not see the benefit of replacing it at this point. However, for the newer additions I have Elk M1. I integrate some of its zones into HAI system directly via outputs-to-zones connection. Specifically I have newer Honeywell sensors that are configured in Elk, but their state is passed on to HAI panel as well. Depending on your needs for the detached building, this could be an option. Alternatively, you could integrate the 2 systems via Homeseer or HA. There is not much available on the market today that could replicate HAI or Elk. Some people use Loxone, but I have no experience with it.
 
Thank you for your thoughts on this.  Can you elaborate on how I would integrate an Elk expansion into my existing HAI system? I sounds like I could put an Elk in the new building and then later on (when it dies) replace my main controller with an Elk.
 
For those that use the Elk M1 - do you have any touchscreens or similar around the house or do you just use regular keypads and relay on other systems to provide touch screen interfaces? has anyone moved from the Omni screens to an equivalent that works with Elk?
 
I use Elk M1 panel, not an expansion. The expansions could only talk to their native panels. Elk has its own touchscreens, but not as functional as HAI's. There is no camera integration for example. You can put the Elk panel in your new building, connect it to HAI system, and later use it to replace the HAI panel while also adding an Elk expansion. Like I mentioned earlier, either connect the Elk outputs to HAI zones, or use a software controller to pass info between the two systems. You may also be able to connect the two panels via messages between serial ports.
 
I don't understand why you use one to get to the other?  Seems needless unless the m1 is an aggregator and then you just know "the elk has problems"?  Why take the extra hop?
 
Please don't read that as criticism I am genuinely curious?
 
heffneil said:
I don't understand why you use one to get to the other?  Seems needless unless the m1 is an aggregator and then you just know "the elk has problems"?  Why take the extra hop?
 
Please don't read that as criticism I am genuinely curious?
I am not sure I understand your question. The OP needs and expansion board for HAI system, but they are now hard to find. So one solution is to use Elk M1 instead and relay the new zones information to the HAI panel. I use Elk for completely different reason, to link the Honeywell wireless sensors to the HAI system.
 
it sounds like i'm better off right now pulling some additional wires to the new building and just utilizing the spare zones on the main panel - at least until the panel dies.  It doesn't seem to make sense to replace a working panel with an Elk panel at this point.
 
Any thoughts on touch screens? my gut feeling it to switch the screens near the entry doors back to just keypads and then spread a few homeseer touchscreens around the house.
 
@picta I was confused why you were checking zones and then converting the m1 outputs to inputs on the omni.  I see its converting wireless so that kinda makes sense.
 
@madas if you are going to pull wires out there look as a 22/12 so you have more pairs.  Also look in to some surge because its important.  You can do so optisolaters I did that in my garage and lost one from transient lightning which its meant to do.  Otherwise watch Ebay for an expansion enclosure and run fiber :)
 
Android keypads are cheap.  I am playing with Home Assistant but this weekend I am going to dig in to homeseer for comparisons sake.
 
Any thoughts on touch screens? my gut feeling it to switch the screens near the entry doors back to just keypads and then spread a few homeseer touchscreens around the house.
 
My wife prefers using the keypad that I have installed versus the Omnitouch 5.7e's and Windows tabletops with OmniTouchPro.
 
Here mostly use tabletop touchscreens with embedded windows that run Homeseer touch and speaker and they run fine with OmniTouch Pro modded with Automation Studio.  Homeseer touch designer is a tad easier than Automation Studio for me.
 
i would replace the HAI panel with an ELK.  And wire that into a good automation control system.  Use the automation system's touchpanel and hide the ugly ELK keypad.  Only one keypad is required for the ELK.
You should be able to reuse all sensors and wiring with the ELK.
Move the HAI logic into the automation controller.
The above is becoming a popular upgrade due to the HAI's non existence
 
I hate to say it - but i think you are right.  I think even using some home assistant GPIO boards and forgoing the elk? I haven't gotten that far but I am quitie smitten with home assistant and I was reluctant.
 
Runs well on a raspberry pi.
 
Maybe for water sensors, other sensors (not alarm / motion / entry) tying them to home assistant with the GPIO board makes sense?
 
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