Home Automation....

Seanieke

I'm going to open up a can of worms here I'd say, or be told where to go... But I'll chance it...

What do ye reckon the best standard for home Automation is? I've been looking at ZigBee and X10 but £60 light switches and the cost of a hub on top of that keep putting me off.

All I really want is to turn lights on and off when we're away. I've even consider a WeeMo socket switching a contactor in the fuseboard but I'd like to do a bit more than just turn all the lighting circuits on or off when away. I'd rather do few rooms at a time.

I'm just wondering what standard to adopt. There's only so many sidelamps and timers I can take.

dingding

I use the wemo and it works great, you can set them to come on with reference to sunset, i.e.15/30 min before/after sunset, so there is no adjusting the timers. I can also switch them on/off from my phone and I can also trigger them with the wemo sensor.

When I come back to the house at night all the lights come on for 10 minutes. Also with IFTTT I can set up alerts if the sensors are triggered which is a great supplement to the house alarm. https://ifttt.com/recipes


I have 8 wemo switches connected to various table and standard lamps and 3 wemo sensors.

This is also worth a look. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B00PK0JKLA

cerastes

I find this kind of thing interesting myself, not to mention plug timers generally anyway can't be centrally o remotely controlled.
I really think you'd need a system wired in parallel at installation that allows remote or even automatic control with sensors with a PLC type controller and if possible some kind of input to that from a mobile device, all alongside is in parallel to physical switches for manual operation of items. Most people would probably think it would be ott for a house but be interesting as a project.

Seanieke

The ideal would be a controller, Distech being the cheapest option for I\Os that could be used with 24v relays in the fuse board. This would be the easiest option for a retrofit but would require the software to programme the controller, a static IP address to access your site, and most annoyingly, remembering to leave the light switches in the on position before leaving!

The WeeMo is the easier home based option as you replace the light switches and their hub does away with the need for static IP.

This does leave you stuck / dependant on their products. The tinkerer in me prefers the relay based option as the sky is the limit as to what can be wired in. Though the IFTTT control over the WeeMo is a nice feature.....

i need a cuppa

dingding

Using IFTTT you could also link the wemo switches to the nest smoke alarm so that if your smoke alarm goes off it could trigger the lights to light your way. I don't have a nest but I think it will be the next addition.

The Philips hue system might also be worth a look and I think wemo might have individual bulbs.

You can get over the ipaddress by using ddns, I used to use this to access cameras however upc don't regularly change the IP address.

dingding

Lightwaverf search on Amazon have a great range of products. Might be worth considering but I have no experience of using them.

Seanieke

dingding wrote: »

Using IFTTT you could also link the wemo switches to the nest smoke alarm so that if your smoke alarm goes off it could trigger the lights to light your way. I don't have a nest but I think it will be the next addition.

I'd be weary about this one... I'm picturing full beams on in fog. I've never been in a house on fire, and don't plan on it, but do know from installing emergency lighting its not as bright as regular lighting. Maybe just trigger outside lighting.

Bruthal

dingding wrote: »

Lightwaverf search on Amazon have a great range of products. Might be worth considering but I have no experience of using them.

I use it for some lights and sockets. Also put their relays onto the motorized valves for rads and cylinder. So I can either heat just cylinder, or cylinder and rads via the phone. Set up any amount of timers etc. All works very well.

There is no confirmation that the device came on, but I fitted the wattmeter they have. So can tell items did in fact switch on or off via the wattage reading in the phone app.

dingding

The wemo gives confirmation via the app, however I think it can only be set up with one phone. Not sure how to allow a second device to control the switches.

I use a Climote to control my heating. That works very well.

Zimmerframe

dingding wrote: »

The wemo gives confirmation via the app, however I think it can only be set up with one phone. .

No you can use as many as you like.


OP for what you want, i.e turning lamps on/off while you are away, then the Wemo is probably the handiest/easiest option.There is no need for a hub and you get confirmation on your phone, can be used with more than one device and they are relatively inexpensive. If you have "bedside lamps" in the rooms that "plug in", then you would be up and running in 5 minutes. Thanks to IFTTT, lot's of options re. control are possible.

Although pretty reliable, sometime's the Wemo's go "missing" on the network for no particular reason.

Re. some of the other stuff mentioned.

X10 are junk, old obsolete stuff imho.

Lightwaverf is pretty decent, but no confirmation and you need to buy a hub.

Phillips Hue is a very nice system, particularly for "mood" lighting.

Nest is also a very good system, mine has been working flawless for about a year and a half now.

If you are opening a "can of worms", then consider adding a Logitech Harmony remote to the pot. It obviously controls all your Av equipment, but also controls the Nest and the Philips Hue lighting.

The only one, I haven't dabbled with is the Zigbee system.

Lombardo86

Would it be possible for someone to give a detailed breakdown of what they can achieve and a full example / breakdown of what they needed to do it?

I'd be interested in messing around with this stuff but at the moment - unsure of where to start and what i can achieve (relatively easily)

Stoner

Bruthal wrote:

I use it for some lights and sockets. Also put their relays onto the motorized valves for rads and cylinder. So I can either heat just cylinder, or cylinder and rads via the phone. Set up any amount of timers etc. All works very well.

Bruthal wrote:

There is no confirmation that the device came on, but I fitted the wattmeter they have. So can tell items did in fact switch on or off via the wattage reading in the phone app.

I've this too, got rid of x10 .

Very simple set up. Using TRVs, sockets, a three way relay for my three outside lights , sockets and turning on the heating with a wire free stat controller.

All good stuff.

shugy

Stoner wrote: »

I've this too, got rid of x10 .

Very simple set up. Using TRVs, sockets, a three way relay for my three outside lights , sockets and turning on the heating with a wire free stat controller.

All good stuff.

Do these have to be installed when wiring a house or can be installed into existing houses that are fully wired.

Stoner

shugy wrote:

Do these have to be installed when wiring a house or can be installed into existing houses that are fully wired.

All retro fitted shugy.

Very easy. I was up and running in minutes. It's a wireless system. Other stuff is more expensive and has a better wireless mesh but the lightwave box is only 55 pounds now. You plug it in to power and internet connections, download the app. Put the code under the box into the app and bingo. No port forwarding or any of that. The energy meter was my first item .

Only thing about the tvrs is that they use on off control.

Turns on, heats up to desired temp +/- 2° then turns fully off , cools down +/-2° , turns fully on etc.
They are a bit loud too.

But it works.

cerastes

Stoner wrote: »

All retro fitted shugy.

Very easy. I was up and running in minutes. It's a wireless system. Other stuff is more expensive and has a better wireless mesh but the lightwave box is only 55 pounds now. You plug it in to power and internet connections, download the app. Put the code under the box into the app and bingo. No port forwarding or any of that. The energy meter was my first item .

Only thing about the tvrs is that they use on off control.

Turns on, heats up to desired temp +/- 2° then turns fully off , cools down +/-2° , turns fully on etc.
They are a bit loud too.

But it works.

you're controlling trvs? whats this with, I lost track I thought you were using weemo? is it lightwaverf?
Im not well up on the port forwarding, is this where you need to be able to do something about "bridging" your modem? curious despite you not requiring this.

Also, what kind/make/brand of trvs are you using? what stat is controlling their switching? do you have one in each room with a trv?
And the off control? suggests they are always on?

Bruthal

cerastes wrote: »

you're controlling trvs? whats this with, I lost track I thought you were using weemo? is it lightwaverf?
Im not well up on the port forwarding, is this where you need to be able to do something about "bridging" your modem? curious despite you not requiring this.

Also, what kind/make/brand of trvs are you using? what stat is controlling their switching? do you have one in each room with a trv?
And the off control? suggests they are always on?

Port forwarding is not required for the system.

obrien88

Legrand home automation system is the business

Stoner

It's all lightwaverf it's on the megaman site,its all the one make. I was using X10 before

I just bought three TVRs it's on off control. A little loud but only ninty pounds for three.

bpmurray

I use remote-control sockets managed by a Tellstick plugged into a Raspberry Pi. The Tellstick isn't cheap, but it can control a load of different devices and they're pretty cheap - about a fiver each.

SemperFidelis

Have a look at domoticz or domotiga, you can install them on a raspberry pi (about £30) or a NAS and control a number of different home automation products like lightwave, z-wave, x-10, energenie etc. This way your not locked into a single manufacturer and have the versatility to mix and match.

Stoner

SemperFidelis wrote:

Have a look at domoticz or domotiga, you can install them on a raspberry pi (about £30) or a NAS and control a number of different home automation products like lightwave, z-wave, x-10, energenie etc. This way your not locked into a single manufacturer and have the versatility to mix and match.

Except you have to buy a converter for some of these for example z wave and I think it needs a lightwave converter too and I'm not sure If two of these converters can fit on the one pi.

Have you done this yet Semper, or are you still in the talking about it phase.

SemperFidelis

Stoner wrote: »

Except you have to buy a converter for some of these for example z wave and I think it needs a lightwave converter too and I'm not sure If two of these converters can fit on the one pi.

Have you done this yet Semper, or are you still in the talking about it phase.

That's correct most of the home automation kit works off 433.92 MHz but z-wave uses 868.42 MHz so will require it's own transceiver.

For z-wave you can get a usb pen drive type transceiver for about £50.

For lightwave you can either use the lightwave link controlled by the pi or a generic transceiver like the rfxtrx433e, which will allow control of a selection of other devices like owl, energenie, homeeasy, Oregon scientific weather sensors etc.


Worth taking a look anyway.


The ideal solution would be vendor agnostic so you can pick and choose to suit your budget.

PeteK*

Do things like this not mean they're always on, because they're plugged in?
So they're always consuming electricity?

Seanieke

PeteK* wrote: »

Do things like this not mean they're always on, because they're plugged in?
So they're always consuming electricity?

No, the whole idea is you're switching them on and off using "insert chosen system here" So if the relay has the socket off it's the same as turning off the switch on the socket.