I am influenced by old obsolete Smarthouses (AMP's brand from the 1990's) that were proprietarily wired. The homeowners of these houses would like to have went back to conventional non automated AC wiring. But since the wires were ran to the wrong places, they could not. With ALC you can wire conventionally and also add cat5 to automated. This gives you the bes tof both worlds.
I like to think about the day when you want to sell your home. A house that MUST have automated lighting is harder to sell than one that does not.
There are many ways to wire your lighting system that will work. But planning for the day you might sell your home is wise. Keep the market possibilities as wide as you can. If the prospect likes your system, leave it with them, if not take it with you and install standard lighting.....
TS
Hi all- first time posting on here- I've spent a lot of time reading all the great info on here to learn for my future HA project.
I can add a personal affidavit to the above comments- My previous house (owned from 99-04) was built in 1950 and had a lv system called Touchplate in it. I had no clue what it was, just that I thought it was pretty cool to have a control panel in the master bedroom that could operate all the lights. I'd never heard of HA and didn't know anything about it.
Well within a year we started having problems with the switches and control box (which was a giant ratsnest in the attic) and I would have loved to rip that old crap out and just use regular hv, especially when it came time to sell the house. I was basically stuck with that antique system. Fortunately Touchplate is still in business so I was able to buy parts over the web and make the repairs. I suppose I could have replaced it all with a modern lv-only system, but that would have cost me thousands that I didn't have at the time.
If there's any chance you'll ever sell your house, or even if there's not, I would definitely run conventional AC wiring everywhere you normally would.
The school of "BURN AND LEARN" always leaves it's mark on your memory. You are lucky that parts were still available.
Today we are distibutors and run a training center for HA. But we started as an AMP Smarthouse dealership in 1991 and worked installing those systems until the product went away in 1995. There were over 2000 installs across the US and Canada. While we installed Smarthouses in the southern states, we also worked as a contract troubleshooter for AMP (the biggest supplier in the mix). So we saw many of the 2000+.
Eventually and after 160 Million+ dollars of investments from companies like AMP (now Tyco), Molex, AT&T, Bose, Lenox and many more, all manufacturers dropped off the radar. Now the entire supply of parts to make repairs now belongs to us as we purchased the AMP warehouse in 2002.
We still travel and implement repairs, but promote getting rid of the system through a conversion to ALC. The Smarthouse was the very first fully integrated Smarthouse product made. Believe it or not, it was invented by a very unlikely group - The Home Builders Association of America. They invented the concept and patented it - Patent number 5,101,191. Next they visited with some of the biggest names in the manufacturing circles and invited them to make products for the NEXT WAY Americas home were going to be wired.
Well of course many lined up to throw money at the concept knowing that if the Homebuilders association said the way homes were going to be wired was about to change then they would be in on the ground floor and make millions......... Or so they thought!
All across the US selected Homebuilders did one or two very nice projects in selected cities to launch the concept of THE HOME OF THE FUTURE!
One by one, each of the homes were shown in a parade of homes or model home approach. My company worked on most of the first 10 installs which started in South and North Carolina (home state of the then current national Homebuilders Association of America's president).
Sure many people lined up to view the homes. In my area one home had over 6,000 people tour the home in 2 weekends. Each giving $6.00 a head which went to charity.
But, the actual number of people who would buy the homes were few in number. Many Smarthouse stayed on the market until the price was dropped to far below costs. Some did sell to the wealthy and famous market. We have worked on Rock Star's home, pro atheletes, Nascar drivers, Politicians and many more people of influence, money and power.
Each owner has had the same disposition. They call an automated home "foolish" and even claim to be suffering from the Smarthouse curse (I will leave out some of the words they use to describe their home system).
It's not because of the technology. The Smarthouse infrastructure was top notch and has only been equaled by other brands, never surpassed. So don't think your choice of brand would have made them happier. NOT SO!
Here is the moral of the story.....
Techies and Smart DIY'ers tend to think that gadgets improve the home and make it more attractive to others. But in fact it narrows the market.
And worse yet................... If the original Smarthouse concept with at least $160 million of investment dollars from the top manufacturing names in our country can be abandoned, then any name brand can suffer the same fate.
I wish all brands well, but in tough economic times who knows who will survive and who won't? So, be careful with your wiring paths and product choices. Pick "OPEN ARCHITECTURE" and not CLOSED. Install removable technology and not permanent. Then you are probably going to be sitting pretty.
HAI, ELk and OnQ Legrand (ALC) is among those who support OPEN ARCHITECTURE and there are others.
By the way, OnQ was at one time owned by AMP. They were the division that started home automation via the Smarthouse. And they have evolved into the power they are today by "BURnING AND LEARNING"
LAST THOUGHT...... I had a face to face with OnQ yesterday. ALC is here to stay. It fit's the need for open architecture lighting. And they also have some things coming along that will really make our industry smile. Take a strong look at the
studio intercoms,
Camera systems and
audio systems all which use cat5. Then think about what you would do if you had a central communication port to link all this with HA.
That's all I am willing to say for now, but stand by for more...... And start planning the wiring for these subsystems.
TS
