Alright. I had a chimney fire and now have a bunch of walls open in my old (1930s) house. I like playing with home automation type things and would like to run wire now. I'm not so sure what I SHOULD run or the base equipment I should get. It sounds like the Elk M1g is something I should be looking at.
Here is what I want to accomplish:
General House:
Basic Security system with no monthly bill. Email / Text notification is ideal since I dont have a landline. I assume there aren't any with skype support. The downstairs of my house is 888sqft. There are three entrances (front / back / french doors) and 8 sets of windows (some are double / tripple windows). I'm really only concerned with monitoring the downstairs entrances... If someone is going to try to get in my upstairs windows... well good luck. I'd like a couple motion detectors (I have pets) and the ability to easily add some cameras down the road when money permits. Each room will have an ethernet jack. Some maybe will have two. I dont see the need for much more than this since everything is wireless now a days anyways. The ethernet jack can also function as a phone jack... i dont have a phone line and never plan to again... but for resale reasons its good to at least have
Living Room / home theater:
My remote is a Harmony One and I will be using that for (hopefully) everything.
I'll have recessed lighting around the perimeter of the room as well as a central main light (separate switches for the two) I'd like to be able to dim them via remote. I also have a remote controlled drop down 108" movie screen that needs to be controlled. I want to be able to hit a button on the harmony (Watch movie) and have the lights dim and the screen lower. There is also a little Mini Split heater / air conditioner in this room that is remote controlled (no thermostat).
Might mount in wall speaker (should i mount two speakers or is one ok?) This will be for ambient music (if i want loud great sounding music i'll use the home theater) and any notifications from security system etc...)
Video distribution in this room. I'll have a LCD on a stand and the movie screen will more than likely drop down in front of it. I'd like to plan forward and have video distribution above fire place as well. A 1080p projector will be mounted on the ceiling and will need HDMI 1.3 to it.
My home stereo equipment:
Denon 3808 receiver
Paradigm titans and center channel.
12" sub
Xbox 360
AppleTv running Boxee (might switch to a mac mini or something that can handle 1080p decoding)
Dining Room:
Dimmable light - just one light in this room (not necessary to be remote controlled but the walls are open so it would be nice).
light switch for porch lights
Kitchen:
Video distribution here as well as audio. This will either be controlled by an out of site modded xbox or I might build a computer for this instead though so its easy to lookup recipes. Probably have a ~20" lcd mounted to the wall. 2 in ceiling speakers for audio. Lights should be dimmable... not necessary to be remote controlled but if it can be done for cheap... why not.
3 bedrooms:
Dimmable lights - not necessary to be remote controlled unless it can be done affordably
in ceiling speakers for audio
video distribution
Bathroom
inceiling audio
distributed video
Outside porch
audio and video distribution
I think thats it... am i missing anything?
I've done A LOT of reading but don't have the time to really dig in and learn too much right now. I have to become somewhat educated on many other areas due to the fire and many large purchases coming up due to it (have to research fireplaces / inserts / stoves as well) and i have my bathroom ripped apart so i'm trying to figure that out as well. So i really appreciate any help i can get!
My main questions:
1. If I get the Elk M1g now how much $ am i looking at if i just want it for security (and ability for it to email / sms / skype me alerts)
2. What sort of cables should i run for video distribution? I dont want a plate on the wall with 2 coax an HDMI Component and composite... I figure Coax and HDMI is fine.
3. My "media closet" is centrally located upstairs and will be easy to run cables where i need. Is it cheaper to run HDMI over cat5 or should i just get some in wall rated HDMI cables from monoprice?
4. what cable should be run to the windows. If one bank of windows has three opening windows (Like this photo) do i need 3 runs of the cable?
5. It would be NICE to have a way to plug an item into the wall in a bedroom or kitchen and be able to utilize the in ceiling speakers. Is this possible? a headphone jack might be easiest since a laptop or ipod would both be able to play through it... anything really.
6. If I get a component matrix switcher to handle most/all the video distribution... how are the inputs selected? Is it remote based (so i'd have to have a remote in each room) or do you have to go press a button on the matrix switcher to change which input is which? a nice web app for this would be nice!
7. What am I not thinking of?
Concerns:
I dont want to have a tremendous amount of switches or wall plates... Wiring should be simple and standard and work if the main brain goes down (if this is possible with hardwired) I don't mind running cat5 or something to the switches if I need... but i don't want to do some proprietary system that won't work if i move in 5 years and take the Elk (or whatever) with me...
I can't spend a tremendous amount of money up front. Like i said... i'd like to get my wiring down and the main brain for things now so it works at almost an entry level. The living room i would like to have up and running though so i can have my home theater complete.
thanks for reading my long rambling post! I truly appreciate any help.
Here is what I want to accomplish:
General House:
Basic Security system with no monthly bill. Email / Text notification is ideal since I dont have a landline. I assume there aren't any with skype support. The downstairs of my house is 888sqft. There are three entrances (front / back / french doors) and 8 sets of windows (some are double / tripple windows). I'm really only concerned with monitoring the downstairs entrances... If someone is going to try to get in my upstairs windows... well good luck. I'd like a couple motion detectors (I have pets) and the ability to easily add some cameras down the road when money permits. Each room will have an ethernet jack. Some maybe will have two. I dont see the need for much more than this since everything is wireless now a days anyways. The ethernet jack can also function as a phone jack... i dont have a phone line and never plan to again... but for resale reasons its good to at least have
Living Room / home theater:
My remote is a Harmony One and I will be using that for (hopefully) everything.
I'll have recessed lighting around the perimeter of the room as well as a central main light (separate switches for the two) I'd like to be able to dim them via remote. I also have a remote controlled drop down 108" movie screen that needs to be controlled. I want to be able to hit a button on the harmony (Watch movie) and have the lights dim and the screen lower. There is also a little Mini Split heater / air conditioner in this room that is remote controlled (no thermostat).
Might mount in wall speaker (should i mount two speakers or is one ok?) This will be for ambient music (if i want loud great sounding music i'll use the home theater) and any notifications from security system etc...)
Video distribution in this room. I'll have a LCD on a stand and the movie screen will more than likely drop down in front of it. I'd like to plan forward and have video distribution above fire place as well. A 1080p projector will be mounted on the ceiling and will need HDMI 1.3 to it.
My home stereo equipment:
Denon 3808 receiver
Paradigm titans and center channel.
12" sub
Xbox 360
AppleTv running Boxee (might switch to a mac mini or something that can handle 1080p decoding)
Dining Room:
Dimmable light - just one light in this room (not necessary to be remote controlled but the walls are open so it would be nice).
light switch for porch lights
Kitchen:
Video distribution here as well as audio. This will either be controlled by an out of site modded xbox or I might build a computer for this instead though so its easy to lookup recipes. Probably have a ~20" lcd mounted to the wall. 2 in ceiling speakers for audio. Lights should be dimmable... not necessary to be remote controlled but if it can be done for cheap... why not.
3 bedrooms:
Dimmable lights - not necessary to be remote controlled unless it can be done affordably
in ceiling speakers for audio
video distribution
Bathroom
inceiling audio
distributed video
Outside porch
audio and video distribution
I think thats it... am i missing anything?
I've done A LOT of reading but don't have the time to really dig in and learn too much right now. I have to become somewhat educated on many other areas due to the fire and many large purchases coming up due to it (have to research fireplaces / inserts / stoves as well) and i have my bathroom ripped apart so i'm trying to figure that out as well. So i really appreciate any help i can get!
My main questions:
1. If I get the Elk M1g now how much $ am i looking at if i just want it for security (and ability for it to email / sms / skype me alerts)
2. What sort of cables should i run for video distribution? I dont want a plate on the wall with 2 coax an HDMI Component and composite... I figure Coax and HDMI is fine.
3. My "media closet" is centrally located upstairs and will be easy to run cables where i need. Is it cheaper to run HDMI over cat5 or should i just get some in wall rated HDMI cables from monoprice?
4. what cable should be run to the windows. If one bank of windows has three opening windows (Like this photo) do i need 3 runs of the cable?
5. It would be NICE to have a way to plug an item into the wall in a bedroom or kitchen and be able to utilize the in ceiling speakers. Is this possible? a headphone jack might be easiest since a laptop or ipod would both be able to play through it... anything really.
6. If I get a component matrix switcher to handle most/all the video distribution... how are the inputs selected? Is it remote based (so i'd have to have a remote in each room) or do you have to go press a button on the matrix switcher to change which input is which? a nice web app for this would be nice!
7. What am I not thinking of?
Concerns:
I dont want to have a tremendous amount of switches or wall plates... Wiring should be simple and standard and work if the main brain goes down (if this is possible with hardwired) I don't mind running cat5 or something to the switches if I need... but i don't want to do some proprietary system that won't work if i move in 5 years and take the Elk (or whatever) with me...
I can't spend a tremendous amount of money up front. Like i said... i'd like to get my wiring down and the main brain for things now so it works at almost an entry level. The living room i would like to have up and running though so i can have my home theater complete.
thanks for reading my long rambling post! I truly appreciate any help.
