Hi All,
I just started the finishing of my "demo" home automation home, and thought I would share a couple of the things we did with you guys. Of course theres the all the usuals: lighting, whole house audio, video distribution, voice recog, etc.. I won't list everything as it seems a lot of people have already given some great uses, but I'll just give you some of my favorites from this project.
Audio and Video
We went a little heavy on the audio/video. 5,000 sq foot home with a total of 49 speakers. 7 are wall mounted for the 7.1 theater. 5 are for the 5.1 mini theater room, 6 (3 pairs) are in the most common areas dedicated to system notifications. The rest are distributed throughout the house and split into 16 independent zones. Not a single room including bathrooms are with out a pair of speakers. Depending on the mode the house is in, the audio can be controlled by flush mount controls in each zone, or the ability to play a desired source and have it follow you through the house, turning speakers on and off as the homes motions detect occupancy. Each flush mount audio controller also has a built in mic that is used for voice recognition and intercom features.
Wake UP Mode
7:00am- alarm wakes user1 up. Lighting path dimmed to master bath and master bath lights on and soft playing audio on. If motion is detected in the Master Bath between 7:00 and 7:20, the shower is started and set to a predetermined temp level. This can be canceled anytime via voice command from bathroom mic. Either 10 mins into shower, or immediately following shower termination, coffee is started in kitchen. Audio is turned on or off depending on room occupancy as to not disturb others sleeping. Audio is also switched to desired talk radio 20 mins after first "waking action" is detected. Once into "wake up phase 2", Alarm is turned off night mode to off mode, vehicle is started 5 mins prior to departure time. Upon departure security is set back to "stay"mode and normal operation.
Auto
I noticed a previous post regarding the locking of car doors via the key fob. This was actually the first application we used the key fob for vehicle automation. One of my favorite uses. We did one feature beyond the lock, unlock, and start feature. We utilized the rain sensor we installed for the irrigation system, and set the system to send the window roll up from the key fobs for all the vehicles that had remote roll up. These are the kind of uses I really like. Simple, but something that can really save your day when you realize that it started pouring rain an hour prior, but the home has taken care of you.
HVAC
COMPLETE HVAC CONTROL. Luckily, we started this project in the building phase. Because of this we were able to install motorized dampers into the HVAC system. The home has a single furnace on each floor, each floor has 3 zones. A total of 9 zones and 9 thermos. This has been absolutely amazing to watch. The software has been loaded to monitor living conditions and trends. It's been amazing watching how precise it has kept the different temperature in each zone and "learning" the best way to utilize the system.
*Very Basic Example" -- During the winter it has learned that it is much more effective to generally use the lower level furnace and let the heat rise to the higher floors. The entire house has stayed within 9/10 of 1 degree in all zones 97% of the time. The local gas and electric company actually knocked on the door and asked "curious" questions as to the low utility usage of this home opposed to the others in the neighborhood. I can't tell you how ecstatics my inner geek was this point.
My Personal Fav
Oddly this is probably the simplest automation usage in the house, but it definitely has a great "wow" factor when people see it. We created a "cleaning mode" that is used during maid cleaning. It shuts down fans to keep dust from circulating, turns off all electronics, allows the maids security code to access the security system, etc. But my favorite part is the chandelier in front entry. The front entry is completely open all the way to the vaulted ceiling on the top floor. Upon clean mode, the chandelier is lowered 2 floors via a special wench hidden in the attic, all the way until it sits on the front entry floor. This really makes cleaning and changing bulbs a breeze. Also when I demo this feature I have "So fresh and So Clean" by outkast play over the whole house audio. Great for demo but probably not everytime you want to clean the house.
Well I hope this was useful to any newbies. The one piece of advice I would give when trying to decide what you want to make your house automate is... Really focus on the things that will make your life easier. Some things are super fun, and cool to show off, but the real value comes when you find ideas that better your state of living, or cut financial cost by being resourceful. Be careful this is hobby that will become an obsession quick.