Starting new project question

[bucko]

I'm in the planning stages of building my HA townhouse here in China. I automated my house in Seattle with X-10 products several years ago, but it was only small scale.
My idea here is to incorporate lighting, security with cctv, whole house audio/video with voice. iPhone. and touchscreen control. I want to do this with as much hardwire as possible, using wireless only where necessary.

I've spend a lot of hours muddling through a lot of info here and elsewhere on the web. There are a few concerns I hope someone can help me with. First is about lighting controllers. What products are best in terms of reliability and value $$ wise? Living in China, I really need solid controllers that work. Also is there non plc controllers that work through a hardwired network? My x-10 (PLC) stuff worked great, but moduals did go bad and need replacing from time to time. Here in China I can't just run out and pick up some more. This is why I need a system that has a high MTF. Who makes this stuff and can it interface well with HAL 2000?

I am sure I'll have a lot more question later, but for now the lighting controllers are my first concern. I'm open for any and all suggestions.

 

[Neurorad]

I'd find a local distributor, and try to use what they carry.

 

[bucko]

I'd find a local distributor, and try to use what they carry.

There is no such thing as a "local distributer" in China. I plan to obtain everything from the US. My question about lighting was to get some inout what is the best way to go. It seems that UPB is good. But has anyone had trouble intergrating it with other HA devices? I don't want to get stuck down buying things that don;t play well together or limits my ability to use certain software or network interfaces.

 

[Neurorad]

If you're set on using the HAL2000, then consider what they recommend. Don't they have a forum somewhere, IIRC?

 

[felixrosbergen]

Maybe I'm being captain obvious here...but isn't the voltage and hz different in China from the USA? Also if i recall (it's been a few years since i was last there) their standard switchboxes and such are different from the USA (i think they follow Euro/British size).

Just want to make sure you're not going to run into surprises later, but if you've automated before you've probably thought about this stuff already.