Newbie needing recommendation

[cruggiero]

I'm new to home automation but have been gradually wiring my home with cat5 to nearly every room, coax, etc.

I'm now interested in buying a system for:
* Security
* Video Cameras
* Lighting
* Whole house audio
* Other applications (pool, etc)

I've been looking at HAI and ELK and hoping I could get some recommendations on either of these or some other system.

Touchpanels are important to me.

Thanks in advance.

 

[broconne]

I'm new to home automation but have been gradually wiring my home with cat5 to nearly every room, coax, etc.

I'm now interested in buying a system for:
* Security
* Video Cameras
* Lighting
* Whole house audio
* Other applications (pool, etc)

I've been looking at HAI and ELK and hoping I could get some recommendations on either of these or some other system.

Touchpanels are important to me.

Thanks in advance.

If touchpanels are important to you I would have a look at CQC and/or Mainlobby.

Elk is popular here because of a friendly attitude towards DIY people. I am leaning HAI because of better temperature/humidity sensor support.

Lighting - UPB is very popular. ALC/OnQ is gaining steam on this forum and if you can get cat5 to all your lighting locations it is an option.

I recommend reading the pinned threads at the top.. Specially the HA comparison and the software list.

good luck! This forum is a great resource.

 

[Rupp]

Don't forget HomeSeer's new HSTouch touch screen interface. It's as easy as dragging and dropping your devices onto the screens. See this thread for an example.
Home - http://board.homeseer.com/attachment.php?a...mp;d=1236205174
HVAC - http://board.homeseer.com/attachment.php?a...mp;d=1236205182
Irrigation - http://board.homeseer.com/attachment.php?a...mp;d=1236205228
Lights - http://board.homeseer.com/attachment.php?a...mp;d=1236205238
Traffic - http://board.homeseer.com/attachment.php?a...mp;d=1236205247
Weather - http://board.homeseer.com/attachment.php?a...mp;d=1236205255

- Security systems range from ultra affordable like the DSC systems to the more expensive like the ELK. It depends on what you want from your security system.

- The same goes for Video cameras. They can be had for as little as $30 to as much as $1500. Again it depends on exactly what your wanting to accomplish. Look at the 5th picture down in the link I posted for a cam pic via HSTouch.

- Lighting - The most popular protocols are X10, UPB, Z-Wave, and Insteon. Read up on each protocol and ask questions. They all work well for most users.

- Whole house audio can be as simply as a receiver and a speaker selector or as elaborate as a multi-zone receiver. Your best bet is to come up with a budget and go from there. I personally use a speaker selector which is controlled by HomeSeer. I have calledID, weather, reminders, breaking news, email, motion detection, thermostat changes, etc announced over my whole house audio system.

- Jandy is one of the available pool controllers and there are a few HomeSeer users that use a plugin to control their pool.


Good luck in what ever you choose and continue to ask questions. That's the best way to learn. You may also want to check out the HomeSeer message board for other ideas as well. http://board.homeseer.com

 

[Steve]

If you search thru the threads here you will find literally a ton of info on Elk and HAI. They are both great systems and your final choice may be determine by some very specific things you might be looking for. Like HAI has their own DVR and video support better integrated than Elk, etc. All of the other things you mention will just be subsystems and will integrate with either Elk or HAI. Both of them support almost all of the 'major' vendors. Either system you can use their own touchscreens or you can go 3rd party like CQ/Mainlobby/HS, but be prepared to put a pc in the mix. A software complement to the panel is a nice thing to have for the 'fluff' that isn't well supported by the panel directly (like TTS or Caller ID) for quick examples.

Rupp: Would Homeseer consider changing their board policies to allow guests to view attached pictures? I think it is frustrating to non-members to follow a link only to find out they can't view anything without creating an account. If HS won't adjust that policy then I think it is wrong to include those links, or at least warn people they need to sign up first. I know that it's common on a lot of sites, but linking to it is not too user friendly Or create a section on the main HS site to slink people to...

 

[Rupp]

If you search thru the threads here you will find literally a ton of info on Elk and HAI. They are both great systems and your final choice may be determine by some very specific things you might be looking for. Like HAI has their own DVR and video support better integrated than Elk, etc. All of the other things you mention will just be subsystems and will integrate with either Elk or HAI. Both of them support almost all of the 'major' vendors. Either system you can use their own touchscreens or you can go 3rd party like CQ/Mainlobby/HS, but be prepared to put a pc in the mix. A software complement to the panel is a nice thing to have for the 'fluff' that isn't well supported by the panel directly (like TTS or Caller ID) for quick examples.

Rupp: Would Homeseer consider changing their board policies to allow guests to view attached pictures? I think it is frustrating to non-members to follow a link only to find out they can't view anything without creating an account. If HS won't adjust that policy then I think it is wrong to include those links, or at least warn people they need to sign up first. I know that it's common on a lot of sites, but linking to it is not too user friendly Or create a section on the main HS site to slink people to...

Steve,
I had no idea that it required an account to view pictures. Let me see if there's anything I can do about that. Thanks for pointing that out.

I edited the pictures so they wouldn't require logging in. Sorry about that.

 

[macromark]

Rupp: Would Homeseer consider changing their board policies to allow guests to view attached pictures? I think it is frustrating to non-members to follow a link only to find out they can't view anything without creating an account. If HS won't adjust that policy then I think it is wrong to include those links, or at least warn people they need to sign up first. I know that it's common on a lot of sites, but linking to it is not too user friendly Or create a section on the main HS site to slink people to...

OK, we've fixed this (I think). Here's a link with a lot of graphics to test... http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=131697&page=2

 

[cruggiero]

Thanks for the comments. Seems that there are a lot of choices. Any hard lines on which system to choose? I really can't find many differences.

Rupp, is there someone that I can speak to about homeseer? Does it work with most any touchpanel?

 

[macromark]

Rupp, is there someone that I can speak to about homeseer? Does it work with most any touchpanel?

Sure - just give me a call; my extension is x106.

 

[Rupp]

Thanks for the comments. Seems that there are a lot of choices. Any hard lines on which system to choose? I really can't find many differences.

Rupp, is there someone that I can speak to about homeseer? Does it work with most any touchpanel?

Sorry, I didn't see your post. Mark is the guy to talk to. You can get his contact info here:
http://homeseer.com/company/contact_us.htm

 

[Steve]

Rupp: Would Homeseer consider changing their board policies to allow guests to view attached pictures? I think it is frustrating to non-members to follow a link only to find out they can't view anything without creating an account. If HS won't adjust that policy then I think it is wrong to include those links, or at least warn people they need to sign up first. I know that it's common on a lot of sites, but linking to it is not too user friendly Or create a section on the main HS site to slink people to...

OK, we've fixed this (I think). Here's a link with a lot of graphics to test... http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=131697&page=2

Yea, that looks great now. I think that change will benefit many readers and potential customers. Thanks.

 

[macromark]

Yea, that looks great now. I think that change will benefit many readers and potential customers. Thanks.

I agree. We didn't set it that way on purpose; it's just one of the defaults for the mb software. Funny, nobody ever mentioned it before!