Which system for me? Lighting for today, with the potential for further HA.

[Deephaven]

I have searched and read like crazy on CT, but perhaps am taking too much in. A sticky that outlined what could be done with home automation sort of like the equipment spreadsheet would have been helpful to me. I am trying to pick a technology that will support my requirements both today and tomorrow, but without knowing everything else that I can automate it is hard to plan. We just moved into a house built in 1974. Pulling hardwires for the lighting control won't be possible although I can pull wires for many other HA requirements and in fact have just pulled audio wires for a whole house stereo.

My question is really how do I pick a technology? I had everything in my shopping cart at SH for a full Insteon system a few months ago, but found this site and now have a soured opinion of using the Insteon equipment. I am attracted to the reliability of the UPB installations, but of course also follow a price point.

Here is what I currently want to automate and also some ideas for the future. Please feel free to also add more ideas to what you think. I am mostly interested in why for my needs what technology might be better.

--Needs to control:
1) Lights
2) Scenes
3) Multi-switch Lights
4)Ceiling fans
5) Need to have IR or handheld programmable remote for control that will control TV etc. (IR repeater in everyroom from Home Audio system already)
6) Computer control (would prefer if the computer could poll the devices to know off/on or status)
7) Macro programming a plus (if I have the term right) IE based on a few events another happens: If the garage door opens followed by the entry door to the house, turn on the entry lights.

--Future
1) Thermostat, 3 zone system currently all with old analog dials
2) Blinds
3) Sprinkler System
4) Home Security (currently have a Honeywell hardwired system)

--The house currently has a HTD.com home audio system controllable via computer. A couple add-on’s would make this more complete. My single cable box is also in the basement routed to every room in the house.
1) HDMI baluns or multi-room system
2) A remote touchscreen for my computer. Currently the PC is in the basement with the Home Theater, but the monitor/keyboard is in the kitchen. I’d like to add a touchscreen in the master bedroom and could pull the necessary wiring.
3) Video switching – future need as I am okay with everything being on the same channel atm

Thank you for your input!!

Sean

 

[Deephaven]

One side note, in my previous house I too bought the notorious firecracker which I expanded into a multi-room solution but never strayed from X-10. I still have those components, but their lack of reliability has it such that I don't care if I use them.

 

[nightwalker]

Looking at your list, before you go too far you need to choose what type of controller you'll be using, hardware or software.

Hardware can be a touch more reliable but can limit you. Software is more flexible and is usually easily upgradeable when new technologies emerge. As very satisfied HomeSeer user I'd suggest looking at that. I'm also very happy with UPB.

 

[Herdfan]

Not Insteon. Still too many issues.

 

[123]

Welcome to Cocoontech, Sean!

"... how do I pick a technology?" is an open-ended question. You'd be hard-pressed to find one, all-encompassing solution for all HA requirements. You may choose zWave because there are many products that speak this protocol ... only to discover that the thermostat you really like is not zWave-capable. So by choosing one communications protocol you've narrowed your choices. Generally speaking, HA involves the integration of multiple solutions to provide a unified, seamless experience.

FWIW, I use Premise to tie together an ELK M1, for security and I/O, X10 and UPB for lighting, and some local audio (to be expanded to whole-home in the future). You'll find many other Cocooners who have HA systems that combine several products and technologies. You'll also find folks who choose to do everything with products exclusively from ELK or HAI. Plenty of choices; no 'one-size-fits-all' answer.

 

[intozwave]

Welcome to the journey - you will find alot of great information on this forum. Everybody has a perference as far as automation goes - my place built in 1960 no way to re-wire the house without ripping all the plaster off the walls - I use Z-Wave for my lighting control and anything else I can - it has been very reliable for me - have 50 + devices currently - for software I use HomeSeer and have found it to be very robust - lots of ability to program if you want. Have numerous events setup and control my environment with motion and light-level. Spent alot of looking at software before deciding on HomeSeer - one of the nice features is that you can tie the different technologies out there together through the software. I have spent the last 6 weeks playing with HSTouch when I have the opportunity setting up the house on the new EeeTop about 90% there but do we ever finish these things - there is always something new coming out or a better way to build the mouse-trap.

 

[CalypsoCowboy]

I'd probably say UPB. I dabbled with Insteon and ZWave before settling with UPB.

Insteon seems to be too hit or miss, some hate it, some love it, I think most will agree they have some of the better looking switches when you do the custom engraving. But there have been QC issues. I had started down the ZWave path and that was where I was headed, but I never could get over the toggle switches on most of the ZWave switches and I started with the Leviton stuff and then after the lawsuit with Lutron, they changed how the switch was laid out with the status led across the top. Ugly IMO.

So far I'm liking the UPB. I have two switches installed, I'm going to be ordering two more and a controller later. I just got UPStart running a couple nights ago, it looks pretty powerful.

My 2cents.

 

[tenholde]

I'd probably say UPB. I dabbled with Insteon and ZWave before settling with UPB.

Insteon seems to be too hit or miss, some hate it, some love it, I think most will agree they have some of the better looking switches when you do the custom engraving. But there have been QC issues. I had started down the ZWave path and that was where I was headed, but I never could get over the toggle switches on most of the ZWave switches and I started with the Leviton stuff and then after the lawsuit with Lutron, they changed how the switch was laid out with the status led across the top. Ugly IMO.

So far I'm liking the UPB. I have two switches installed, I'm going to be ordering two more and a controller later. I just got UPStart running a couple nights ago, it looks pretty powerful.

My 2cents.

Like others here, I use HomeSeer as a controller and love it. Allows the integration of all of the technologies discussed here. For lighting, I use UPB and am very pleased.

tenholde

 

[electron]

Welcome to CT! I am working on making information much easier to find, so hopefully that issue will be resolved soon

Since your house was built in 1974, I would first research a few things such as:

• Do you have neutral wiring running to all your locations? If not, it will narrow your choices down quickly.
• Are your gang boxes large enough to hold these HA switches?
• Are your gang boxes metal or plastic?
• ...

 

[speacock]

I found Insteon devices were acceptable, however I didn't care for the appearance of the keypads. If you do go Insteon I feel the ISY-99 controller is mandatory. Doing the peer-peer config is unpleasant.

UPStart for UPB makes setup and changes very easy. However the manufacturers use different LED colors (SA blue/green, HAI & PCS blue/red) which may be an issue if you are a consistency person. I settled on PCS after trying SA because I preferred the feel of their switches and the IR capable keypads. You may want to download UPStart and build a sample config to see if it will work for you.

 

[Deephaven]

Welcome to CT! I am working on making information much easier to find, so hopefully that issue will be resolved soon

Since your house was built in 1974, I would first research a few things such as:

• Do you have neutral wiring running to all your locations? If not, it will narrow your choices down quickly.
• Are your gang boxes large enough to hold these HA switches?
• Are your gang boxes metal or plastic?
• ...

Great forum, didn't mean to say that it needed different information just trying to share what someone new might go through as I know personally once I am used to something I miss out on what is easier to see for a noob.

As for the house, all metal boxes, white/blk/gnd at almost all locations (except the multi-way switches) [I assume by neutral you mean the non-hot wire or white one?] and I guess I am not sure if they are large enough as I haven't seen one of the switches yet. I would assume so as they are normal depth looking boxes, but cannot confirm.

 

[Deephaven]

Regarding the hardware/software. I am personally more of a computer guy. The PC controls the whole stereo and all my music and I'd like it to be the brains of the house....as long as I can have local remotes in the rooms with TV's that will also control the lighting in the house.

 

[Deephaven]

Welcome to Cocoontech, Sean!

"... how do I pick a technology?" is an open-ended question. You'd be hard-pressed to find one, all-encompassing solution for all HA requirements. You may choose zWave because there are many products that speak this protocol ... only to discover that the thermostat you really like is not zWave-capable. So by choosing one communications protocol you've narrowed your choices. Generally speaking, HA involves the integration of multiple solutions to provide a unified, seamless experience.

FWIW, I use Premise to tie together an ELK M1, for security and I/O, X10 and UPB for lighting, and some local audio (to be expanded to whole-home in the future). You'll find many other Cocooners who have HA systems that combine several products and technologies. You'll also find folks who choose to do everything with products exclusively from ELK or HAI. Plenty of choices; no 'one-size-fits-all' answer.

Gotcha, I didn't realize that it was fairly straightforward to incorporate multiple different technologies. So far I have been focused on the hardware portion, but it sounds to me like I should now start with the software.

 

[DavidL]

I wouldn't "start" with the hardware or the software...it needs to be designed as a system.

Take a look at the HA comparison spreadsheet as a great starter. There you can see which software supports which hardware.

Since you have a neutral wire, that isn't a limiting factor. Since you have metal boxes, that might put some limits to RF type devices (RadioRA / ZWave).

If Insteon, the ISY99 has gotten great customer response, so figure that in.

If security and some hardware based automation integration, the popular choices are ELK M1 and HAI.

If PC software, the popular choices are MainLobby, Homeseer and CQC.

If PC based TV PVR is wanted, look at SageTV and BeyondTV. Sage has more integration with MainLobby, and then CQC than Homeseer. If BeyondTV, only MainLobby has integration.
Sage offers their HD200 hardware extenders that are nice for media, but today don't have HA control capability via the TV IR remote. MainLobby and then CQC offer control over the HD200 for media.

Generally, the PC software is the most flexible with hardware (and other software) integration. One of the larger questions is "will a PC be in place for automation tasks? And if so, what is it's criticallity role?". There are strong pros and cons.

 

[upstatemike]

Be careful about the wiring... a white wire in the box does not mean you have a neutral. There needs to be white wires that are NOT connected to the switch.