Good deal E. Just to expand on this, the one main advantage of a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) is its efficiency as well as its speed and simplicity. This is why industry relies on PLC's for critical applications. No moving parts and reliability.
The more functions you can assign to your PLC the more reliable your system will be. I use mine (Ocelot) for all critical applications and only use Homeseer for "ginger bread" items (voice announcements, headline news, etc...)