House Status Page

tmbrown97

Senior Member
OK - Now that I have my Elk M1 humming along nicely controlling my security, sprinklers, garage doors, etc - (haven't gotten to lights yet - that's next)... I want to find a simple software solution that lets me see the basic status of the house at a glance... I think I can do 100% of my control and automation needs from the Elk, but I'd like to find a cheap and easy way to set up a map or visual representation of the house and see when lights are on/off, doors are open, sprinklers are running, and motion is detected. Ideally, it would also let me trigger lights, tasks and outputs from the Elk as well.

I don't think I have any need to move any control functions off the elk - my automation needs are pretty simple - but as I sit here and check out the ElkRM from my office, I can't help but think it'd be cool and handy to see where the motion is in the house, the status of the alarm, etc.

I have a windows home server that's always on, so that would be the ideal host... or one of the desktops that's always on...

Any ideas? I know I've seen a screenshot or two like that on here, but I don't know what the software was - and I don't want to spend hundreds on a full automation package if I don't need it. So far I'm pretty happy with ElkRM and really looking forward to the new version Spanky's hinted about (and hasn't really given Dates on)...

Thx!
-Todd
 
You can get PowerHome for $69 and whip up some web pages or use the graphic Control Center that also has web support. You can also just use the canned web pages or the stand-alone distributed apps (DCC and CC).
 
if it's purely for GUI purposes, I'd advise going with the cheapest route possible.

After 18(24?) months of having the capability to see motion/open windows/etc on a GUI, I find that I haven't touched that screen in ages. Sure, it was cool in the beginning, but at this point it's just not a value-add for me.

Now seeing & turning the lights on/off, elk relays on/off, that is value-add. I use that constantly. If you can get that for $69 through PH and not have to do tons of work to do the setup, it's a score.

I also have no idea if/how Girder+NR integrate with the Elk, that's another nice low-cost thought.
 
... I want to find a simple software solution that lets me see the basic status of the house at a glance... ... cheap and easy way to set up a map or visual representation of the house and see when lights are on/off, doors are open, sprinklers are running, and motion is detected. ...also let me trigger lights, tasks and outputs from the Elk as well....

Premise Home Control plus my ELK M1 Driver will let you do that, and more, for zero dollars. For what you've described, you won't need to write any code. Using Premise Builder, you simply need to click on a few menus and drag a few objects.

Premise has a built-in web-server and, based on what objects you put into "Home", it'll automatically generate a browser-ready UI showing the status of Zones (doors, windows, motion detectors, etc), PLC Devices (lights and appliances), and Outputs (relay-controlled devices like sprinklers). The UI is designed for use by Internet Explorer.

What Premise won't let you do is display a map of your home (that would require extensive programming). However, it will let you control everything manually, programmatically, and according to a schedule; Premise Home Control is a complete Home Automation application.

If you choose to use Premise, I and other Premise users are ready to help you get up and running.
 
Back
Top