Thank you for all of the responses!
Just to check; I did have quite a few questions in there, and some are getting overlooked. Is it okay to start multiple shorter threads? On most forums where I've participated, that's considered rather rude.
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Reading through what everyone has said, it's clear that there are a lot of different views and approaches to automation. I can see that I need to back WAY up and start over.
We don't HAVE to have anything automated. (It will be nice, and helpful, but not necessary. Yet. I can continue to do as I currently do, and just ignore the things I can't do when I'm home alone.) We plan to have manual, unpowered alternatives for all the automation. I assume
the house will start with no automation at all, just whatever wiring and sensors we put in place during building.
Madcodger said:
Basic functions like breathing, heart rate, etc., (your security, HVAC, basic lighting control) are best handled by the very basic but very reliable "brain stem". You may get knocked out, but those things normally continue to function and keep you alive.
These sorts of things are only even ON my "goal" list because I assumed they were more well established, and would be pretty easy. (Finding workarounds for Windows? NOT "easy.") Lights and thermostat can be adjusted by hand; if I can't get up to adjust them, they can safely stay at any particular setting. I'd
like to be able to verify that I really did shut and lock X door, but that's also a convenience, not a safety measure.
If it can safely be ignored when I'm not well, it's not as important.
I see automation as something we can use to make life more..."normal"...for someone who has a lot of physical limitations. Ease the things that hurt. Do the things I can't. Safeties in place in case something happens and I can't turn something on or off the way I should.
Also, something to fiddle with on days when I am in too much pain to do anything but lay still.
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I thought that starting with lights, thermostat, door contacts, established stuff, would help me learn about automation, and help me set up a structure for using everything else. If they're on a _separate_ system and I have to learn two totally different setups to get these working? I may never bother. I'd be disappointed, but not crushed. The other things are the priorities.
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My
automation priorities are things that:
* I *can't* physically do (or might not be able to do), that also
* might endanger me or the property.
I can't go shut off the oven, if I've passed out, woken up with a massive syncope-headache, and can't move. [I don't cook when I'm home alone. Safety shutoffs would help.]
I can't go shut off the water when it gets below freezing, if I am having a tachycardia episode and can't get up. [Remotely-controlled water valves in the well house would do the trick.]
If I am having a bad pain day, I can't go outside to check who's at the gate without making it obvious that I am home, possibly alone, and that I am impaired. [I often don't go outside on bad pain days. Our current home isn't fully fenced. The gate setup I want would solve all of this. ~ ~ It would also enable me to drive right in when I get home--which is the reason we're not currently fully fenced. When I do go out, by the time I get home, I can't get out, open a gate, drive through, close a gate, and finish driving to the house. I can barely make it from the car to the house.]
When it's too hot out for me to tolerate, I can't take a walk around the farm to reassure myself that all is well. (Videocameras would help with that.)
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I futz with stationary things--software, settings, writing, designing devices to make life easier, etc--when I hurt too much to do anything else. I think automation software and configuration will fit right into my "bad days" activities. This is a long-term project, something to lay the groundwork now and develop as I am able. (I also like things to be "just right," and will tweak minor details endlessly and with great delight.)
On good days, if I have time, I go out and *build* the devices that I came up with on the bad days. As I have "spare" good days, I'll work on more automation hardware (mounting videocameras, etc).
Madcodger said:
You use RP to set up the Elk and then turn it off - possibly for many months.
So what I'm saying is: I'm not going to put any system into place and leave it alone for months. I'm going to play with it ALL THE TIME. All of it. Everything. I have a lot of bad days, and this will be a great project to keep my mind off the pain.
And I need to be able to do that from my primary computer, the linux laptop.
And then, when it is in place, I need to be able to check on it with my Android smartphone when I happen to be away from home.