Lighting Automation Technologies: If you got to do it all over again
- Thread starter electron
- Start date
Rupp
Senior Member
Reliable and cost effective are kinda tough. If you have common wires UPB is reliable but on the expensive side. If you do not have commons Z-Wave is a good protocol. Insteon is getting better and X10 is still viable for some as well.
Is UPB really that much more expensive than Zwave? The Simply Automated line of products might be cheaper? UPB and Zwave are both fine products with not that many problems noted compared to Insteon. X-10 is well X-10 and can have issues but some people have had great success (SH devices had the paddle issue).
Is Insteon really getting better? Some (currently shipping Icon devices) are having a 50% failure rate or so according to users on the SH forum. Eventually SH will fix the problem but they are still shipping them so a lot will wind up on ebay etc. What will be the next big issue? With Insteon there is almost always a product or two with a problem that requires the user to replace it (tact switches, firmware, devices not operating per the instructions/advertising, whatever this new problem is but (rumored to be a diode overheating but no admission by SH yet [if ever]).
The high quality Z-Wave switches (the only ones to get IMO) are more expensive than some of the UPB switches, so that's not a fair argument. I would definitely limit your choices to UPB/Z-Wave if you had to buy right now, or you could try to wait for ZigBee Pro based switches (but you might be waiting a long time).
nightwalker
Active Member
I agree, UPB and Zwave are pretty comparable as far as far as pricing. I personally find UPB to be easier to get setup and keep setup but that's just me.
Rupp
Senior Member
I use the HomePro line in my Z-Wave setup and have not had a single failure. This line is affordable ( if you consider paying $42 for a switch affordable 
)
http://store.homeseer.com/store/ZDW120---Z...Pro-P17C42.aspx
)http://store.homeseer.com/store/ZDW120---Z...Pro-P17C42.aspx
I think that ZigBee needs to be divided up in all their incompatible implementations. The ZigBee Home Automation Public Profile, if anybody ever implements it would be the ideal one, but the current implementations that I have heard of are either using non-public profile, or using the ZigBee Pro implementation (or both).
ZigBee Pro us much more poweful and expensive than the regular ZigBee as it has much higher processor and memory (rom and ram) requirements than the regular ZigBee. The Home Automation Public profile uses regular ZigBee, but apparently vendors prefer the much more expensive ZigBee Pro to maximize their revenue, at the expense of interoperability (and the customer's best interests).
ZigBee Pro us much more poweful and expensive than the regular ZigBee as it has much higher processor and memory (rom and ram) requirements than the regular ZigBee. The Home Automation Public profile uses regular ZigBee, but apparently vendors prefer the much more expensive ZigBee Pro to maximize their revenue, at the expense of interoperability (and the customer's best interests).
Read through this thread and many others -- thanks to those that have shared their experiences.
Any more comments on why particular systems would be your choice, especially for a new home, would be most appreciated. I see some votes for systems without any particular commentary so I'm curious as to the rationale behind some of the decisions.
For what it's worth... I'm hoping to build a house very shortly. It will have (a) a private "suite" for my mom downstairs, ( three bedrooms (with an open loft area which could be a fourth bedroom in the future) upstairs, © shared spaces (kitchen, living/dining room, etc.) as its single-family home, and lastly (d) a fairly large home office.
I'm not sure how much automation we would want initially - may want to keep things simple in order to just build the house in this economy - but would like the ability to add automation in the future and I would prefer hardwired wherever possible. Since there aren't even walls yet, and I can do that work myself, I would love to put a ton of wire (Cat 5e, coax, station wire, etc.) in and then be able to use it down the road. But, at the same time, I would like wireless to be an option for either future expandability or where a wired switch/sensor is not appropriate.
Any more comments on why particular systems would be your choice, especially for a new home, would be most appreciated. I see some votes for systems without any particular commentary so I'm curious as to the rationale behind some of the decisions.
For what it's worth... I'm hoping to build a house very shortly. It will have (a) a private "suite" for my mom downstairs, (
three bedrooms (with an open loft area which could be a fourth bedroom in the future) upstairs, © shared spaces (kitchen, living/dining room, etc.) as its single-family home, and lastly (d) a fairly large home office.I'm not sure how much automation we would want initially - may want to keep things simple in order to just build the house in this economy - but would like the ability to add automation in the future and I would prefer hardwired wherever possible. Since there aren't even walls yet, and I can do that work myself, I would love to put a ton of wire (Cat 5e, coax, station wire, etc.) in and then be able to use it down the road. But, at the same time, I would like wireless to be an option for either future expandability or where a wired switch/sensor is not appropriate.
GraysonPeddie
Active Member
I've chosen Z-Wave instead of Insteon. ray:
ray:
electronicbuff
New Member
I like the fact that the Insteon uses the devices as repeaters to strengthen signal broadcasts while also using line and wireless transmissions.
Only recently released devices are true dual mesh and so far none of the wired in devices (switches etc). I would wait a few months till the bugs surface (if any) and reliability issues seen before proceeding. There are reasons people choose not to use it again.
Neurorad
Senior Member
RadioRa2, just released last month, would be the one wireless automated lighting to choose, if price were not an option.
Avoid RadioRa - RadioRa2 is what you want.
check out radiora2.com for details
If you could wait a year, Lutron HomeWorks QS Wireless would be better (it's replacing the current versions of HomeWorks wireless).
RadioRa2 and HW QS will not be compatible with each other, so says Lutron (but anything could happen).
Avoid RadioRa - RadioRa2 is what you want.
check out radiora2.com for details
If you could wait a year, Lutron HomeWorks QS Wireless would be better (it's replacing the current versions of HomeWorks wireless).
RadioRa2 and HW QS will not be compatible with each other, so says Lutron (but anything could happen).
