I'm building a home addition (myself) and I have all of the interior studs exposed at the moment. I have the urge to automate my home and put my skills as a professional software developer to use writing an Android app that will let me control my lighting, etc., from an Android tablet. Here's how my brain sorted out how to wire up my light switches: 1. I could run Cat-5 to every outlet and light switch and then I could rig up something to control them via my home network (via a relay at the point of the receptacle). 2. But then I figured why not just put all of the relays down by the circuit breaker box and control the power that way. It's much less wiring. 3. But then I realized that even though it would be neat to have my tablet control power to a lightswitch, once I cut the power remotely the lightswitch wouldn't work any more for when I wanted to turn the lights off the old fashioned way. 4. So then I figured for this to work I would need a "soft switch" which wouldn't physically cut the power--rather it would tell the relay downstairs to cut the power the same way my Android app would. 5... so that brings me here. Although I like to learn and figure things out on my own, I don't want to reinvent the wheel. Is my idea of a "soft switch" currently on the market? If so, who sells it? I like the idea of a dedicated pc down in my basement near my circuit breaker (this could have a PCI or perhaps an ISA card with the relays and software control), but is that how it's usually done? I'm just looking for someone to point me in the correct general direction on this stuff. Thanks for your time!
Noob question on home automation (long winded)
- Thread starter diy1
- Start date
potts.mike
Active Member
Just go with one of the existing technologies (zwave, upb, radioRA2, etc.) and be done with it.
Since your building an addition hopefully you have learned about the building codes and the inspection process, These other switches are all UL listed and better still, they are easy for you or the next occupants to remove if they are not wanted, and they should pass the building inspection.
I'm open to the existing technologies, but it's a little overwhelming figuring out which one to go with. Based on my situation: 1. wanting something "open source" that i can program against 2. wanting an Android tablet and a local server of some sort to be the "brains" of my smarthome, what is a good one for me to start researching?
tmbrown97
Senior Member
There's a lot of reading ahead!! UPB, Z-Wave and Insteon are the ones to look into - or maybe even some of the hardwired ones if you want that do use Cat5 to the switch - it doesn't get better than that.
Writing software is fun and all, but it's been done... I can control my lights, HVAC, security, sprinklers, garage doors, etc - all from my iPhone. Of course if I felt like reinventing the wheel, the communication protocols are well documented and easy enough to use.
I'd suggest putting your software skills to better use and join in - CodeCoreTechnologies will give out a license to anyone who contributes something major; the Premise (free, open source) users would probably kill for someone that can write a native Android app that works seamlessly with their platform;
Controlling relays is fine - and not long ago I saw a post on another site where someone wired all his light switches with Cat5 to his basement and he ran all his lighting loads to the basement as well - the wall switches were traditional switches but they instead were activating 12V relays to turn lights on/off in a bank of relays in the basement... creative, but ugly system and no future owner would ever buy the house, and any inspector would :throwup:
The other advantage of the existing protocols is that for lights, they support dimming... just the simple act of soft-start on your lightbulbs will make them last forever... literally incandescents seem to never burn out anymore - I haven't changed a lightbulb in 5 years. And if you're all CFL today and think dimming isn't needed, remember that LED is overtaking CFL as a better technology all around *and* generally supports dimming - so it's nice to have.
Of course it's a little more expensive - but the whole idea of not burning your house down, being able to wire your house like normal, etc - all nice factors.
If you like the centralized loads, there's also a system out there called Touchplate that uses DMX controllers and home-run wiring - I don't hear a lot about it, but it's a way to do similar in a much safer way.
Which technology to choose is totally up to you - there's another thread kinda comparing the systems in a large installation - may have some info: UPB, Z-Wave and Insteon - Pushing the limits and also check my signature for a primer on UBP which is my protocol of choice. You could search UPB ZWAVE INSTEON and see the hundreds of times it's come up and why people choose each one.
Writing software is fun and all, but it's been done... I can control my lights, HVAC, security, sprinklers, garage doors, etc - all from my iPhone. Of course if I felt like reinventing the wheel, the communication protocols are well documented and easy enough to use.
I'd suggest putting your software skills to better use and join in - CodeCoreTechnologies will give out a license to anyone who contributes something major; the Premise (free, open source) users would probably kill for someone that can write a native Android app that works seamlessly with their platform;
Controlling relays is fine - and not long ago I saw a post on another site where someone wired all his light switches with Cat5 to his basement and he ran all his lighting loads to the basement as well - the wall switches were traditional switches but they instead were activating 12V relays to turn lights on/off in a bank of relays in the basement... creative, but ugly system and no future owner would ever buy the house, and any inspector would :throwup:
The other advantage of the existing protocols is that for lights, they support dimming... just the simple act of soft-start on your lightbulbs will make them last forever... literally incandescents seem to never burn out anymore - I haven't changed a lightbulb in 5 years. And if you're all CFL today and think dimming isn't needed, remember that LED is overtaking CFL as a better technology all around *and* generally supports dimming - so it's nice to have.
Of course it's a little more expensive - but the whole idea of not burning your house down, being able to wire your house like normal, etc - all nice factors.
If you like the centralized loads, there's also a system out there called Touchplate that uses DMX controllers and home-run wiring - I don't hear a lot about it, but it's a way to do similar in a much safer way.
Which technology to choose is totally up to you - there's another thread kinda comparing the systems in a large installation - may have some info: UPB, Z-Wave and Insteon - Pushing the limits and also check my signature for a primer on UBP which is my protocol of choice. You could search UPB ZWAVE INSTEON and see the hundreds of times it's come up and why people choose each one.
Thanks, Cocoonut! I plan on doing much more reading, but I'm just looking for someone to grab me by the shoulders and turn me in the right direction (based on the info I've provided so far). I'm more of a database programmer but I recently built an Android app for the company I work for and it was pretty straightforward. I assume my coding for my own smarthome would be more of a generic way of letting a web page control the home system (and monitor statuses, view logs, etc.) and I would then view that on Android (or Apple, or a laptop, or whatever).
I'm definitely more interested in something hard-wired for the addition. But once I finally get rolling on this I will probably want my "old" house upgraded to smart stuff, too. So whatever I go with I'd really like it to be flexible.
Are there any platforms out there that I can add my own Arduino devices to?
I'm definitely more interested in something hard-wired for the addition. But once I finally get rolling on this I will probably want my "old" house upgraded to smart stuff, too. So whatever I go with I'd really like it to be flexible.
Are there any platforms out there that I can add my own Arduino devices to?
Can you please point me to some of the "hardwired ones"? Thanks!
