Browse Forums Home Theatre & Automation Re: Home automation 2Jan 09, 2012 4:23 am A list of what i know: 1. Automatic water garden 2. Automatic start and stop heating, or AC units 3. Automatic shut down AC Units when doors/windows open 4. Automatic lighting with movement 5. Autonatic security alarm with movement 6. Automatic security video camera with movement Re: Home automation 3Jan 09, 2012 2:55 pm - curtains - garage door - lock /unlock front door - swimming pool functions / lighting Family member has what you listed plus what I wrote above in there new place. Its a cbus system and was $90k to install. Ill stick with manual operation! http://lindeman28.blogspot.com - Our building blog Home automation 5Jan 09, 2012 4:32 pm Hi Almost anything can be done - at a price. I am putting in C-Bus for lighting and a intelligent alarm system. It is probably costing me about 10k but I can do the cabling and programming myself. Some of the things my system will do- * turn off lights when the alarm is armed * turn on lights when the alarm is disarmed and it is dark ("welcome home") * provide a central override that disables ceiling fans in individual bedrooms (stops young ones from playing with them) * movement sensor in kids bedrooms (sick of finding empty rooms with lights on) * motion activated lights in Pantry & linen cupboard Aside from the automation the other thing I have done is saturation cabling of Cat 6 for data and future AV distribution. Paul Re: Home automation 6Jan 09, 2012 6:58 pm fekish So all these are made automatically through mobile or a remote or sensors? Even front door? I didnt know this existed all controlled by ipads or iphones (or the lcd's on the walls) http://lindeman28.blogspot.com - Our building blog Re: Home automation 8Jan 11, 2012 8:21 am a) Automatically opening and closing awning windows (for summer night time ventilation). b) Monitoring energy usage, so you can learn how much certain loads use c) Monitoring solar hot water temperatures and operation d) Using the wall touchscreens to show family pictures when idle e) Changing TV channels (from the wall touchscreens, phone or tablet) f) Seeing who's at the front door (from the wall touchscreens, phone or tablet) g) Telling you if you left the garage door open h) Recording lighting and external door usage (you never know when you might want the information) i) Automatically closing curtains on winter nights j) Intercom (from the wall touchscreens, phone or tablet) k) Phone system (call an individual room or broadcast a "dinner's ready") l) Send you an SMS message when certain events occur (power out, unauthorised entry, water flooding, etc) m) Record your light operations for a year then whenever you go on holidays, play back the sequence from exactly one year ago n) Automatically turn certain lights on and off at the appropriate time o) Water the garden/lawn based on moisture level p) Log onto the Bureau of Metrology and if tomorrow is going to be a hot day, start the whole house fan to get it as cool as possible q) Allow remote viewing of the house from cameras installed in main living area r) Record inside and outside temperatures, so you can play with certain methods to fine tune the inside temperature s) Record wind speed so you can see if it's worthwhile to install a wind powered electricity generator t) Monitor your PV solar panels to see how much electricity you are generating (and tell you if there is bird poop on one of your panels) u) Monitor your electricity usage so you know how much you've racked up in bills so far v) Monitor your phone usage so you can compare it to Telstra's bill (and track instantaneous costs) w) Limit phone access to Sensis and 1900 numbers (what a rip-off; Directory Assistance from 1234: $1.75 from 1223 or 12456 – free!) x) Allow you to open the front door when your mum gets to your place early (front door video camera plus iPhone to view & open door) y) Automatically close blinds on west side of house on summer afternoons and then open them at sunset z) Record video of unathorised entry along with a log of event times That is, I've run out of letters. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Home automation 9Jan 13, 2012 3:41 pm Very cool information! But I suppose the cost for implementing even just some of them is high. I went to a company's offices yesterday and I liked their automation systems: - touch screen right at the entrance to turn master on or off. - when you turn on the security system, then automatically all window blinds go down. Of course all window blinds during the day were controlled by remote controls... Re: Home automation 12Jan 14, 2012 2:47 pm fekish Well i suppose "very little cost" is relative to each person's income . Each awning window cost $250 to have an automatic winder Touch screens around the house are $600 each IP phone $150 each Web cam $80 each Automatic door lock $200 The hardware for a basic system could come to less than $5000 and you can build it up as you go along. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Home automation 13Jan 16, 2012 12:49 am cool thanks... Anyone uses automatic Sensors for controlling lights indoor? Wanted to check the available options. Also for cams, we should buy a whole system if you know? Or we can buy just a camera that by connecting it on internet wire we would have access to it? Thanks, thanks, and again thanks! Home automation 14Jan 16, 2012 6:13 am fekish cool thanks... Anyone uses automatic Sensors for controlling lights indoor? Wanted to check the available options. I am using C-Bus sensors in some rooms - walk-in pantry and walk-in linen cupboard. The kids bedrooms also have sensors in addition to C-Bus switches. The light will only turn on if the room is occupied and automatically turns off after 10 minutes if the room is not occupied. From my central control I can override (ie disable) the sensor behavior in a given room. I am using two types of C-Bus sensors - in the bedrooms they look a bit like a halogen downlight. In the walk-ins they are ceiling mounted domes in the corner. I also have one weatherproof unit covering the driveway for the outside lights. Paul Re: Home automation 15Jan 16, 2012 8:06 am Anyone know the additional cost to have electric Luxaflex (I think the PowerRise is their system) blinds, and will it connect to any home automation system. Am considering a Z-Wave setup (due to flexibility with wireless, ie can control plug in appliances as well) with lighting control for the home theatre. Re: Home automation 16Jul 09, 2012 7:16 pm Hi Everyone Check out Control4 as an option!!! Looks great seems to be well priced modular as long as the structured cabling is in place!! Ill have pricing this week for the system I am looking at. Shall let you know how it comes up!! Kracka Re: Home automation 17Aug 19, 2012 11:49 pm Apart from the spamming (he's reported, so he'll soon be gone), I'm glad I discovered this thread. I want KNX in my build, but I'm constantly finding myself thinking "Central control of heating/windows/shudders is awesome," but I constantly return to "analogue" thinking for so many things, which is rather ridiculous, since the system is already in my plans.
Anyway, things I want to be controlled by/integrated into the system: Under-floor heating (i.e. valves for the hydronic heating and in-floor thermostats) Alarm (zoned) External roller shutters for the high set windows to the south External roller shutters for the sliding doors to the north If I buy a piece of land in a bushfire prone area: External sprinklers on the facade Opening/closing of the high-set windows on/off/dimming of fibre optic lighting (i.e. the "light emitters") Rain sensors so windows can be closed automagically depending on rain, wind strength and direction as well as temperatures, which leads into: Weather station (i.e. wind, temperature, humidity) Heat-recovery system 2 IP cams on the (flat) roof The option to have sliding "covers" for the evacuated tubes for when I'm not there for long periods (so the evacuated tubes doesn't keep boiling water). This should be fairly simple: A plywood or metal sheet running on slides, an actuator and an electric motor pulling on a piece of wire should do it. Of course, it could be done without "smart wiring", but if done properly, I can "open" for the tubes a day before I get there. Which leads me to: The option to VPN'e into the house, so I can view and check the house while I'm not there. This is important, as I will be dividing my time between Australia and Denmark. And of course, there are these points from Casa2: a) Automatically opening and closing awning windows (for summer night time ventilation). b) Monitoring energy usage, so you can learn how much certain loads use c) Monitoring solar hot water temperatures and operation f) Seeing who's at the front door (from the wall touchscreens, phone or tablet) h) Recording lighting and external door usage (you never know when you might want the information) l) Send you an SMS message when certain events occur (power out, unauthorised entry, water flooding, etc) m) Record your light operations for a year then whenever you go on holidays, play back the sequence from exactly one year ago n) Automatically turn certain lights on and off at the appropriate time o) Water the garden/lawn based on moisture level [and the level of water in the rainwater tanks] q) Allow remote viewing of the house from cameras installed in main living area [could be - I'm not sure I personally want a camera in the living area] r) Record inside and outside temperatures, so you can play with certain methods to fine tune the inside temperature t) Monitor your PV solar panels to see how much electricity you are generating (and tell you if there is bird poop on one of your panels) u) Monitor your electricity usage so you know how much you've racked up in bills so far v) Monitor your phone usage so you can compare it to Telstra's bill (and track instantaneous costs) w) Limit phone access to Sensis and 1900 numbers (what a rip-off; Directory Assistance from 1234: $1.75 from 1223 or 12456 – free!) x) Allow you to open the front door when your mum gets to your place early (front door video camera plus iPhone to view & open door)[Not sure I'll get a lot of unexpected visitors down there, lol. Considering it, though] z) Record video of unathorised entry along with a log of event times Edit: Bushprone =>Bush fire prone Re: Home automation 18Aug 20, 2012 9:23 pm Nope, I haven't watched your spam-links you posted in three or four places. Fibaro is not using the KNX standard, although it can be integrated by the help of adaptor boxes/translators, as far as I can tell, so I've not even considered it. Here in Europe (I'll buy stuff here and bring it down there all in one swoop), KNX is the way to go and is widely available. It's relatively easy to extend and swap items on the network for newer items and mix and match. It's so popular that even the monopoly-like colossus, LK, which has a similar product to C-Bus (it's also a Schneider company as the Oz Clipsal) has had its hand forced and now offer KNX. I don't like proprietary systems for my home (or much else), so I'll go with KNX and choose alarms, displays, switches, actuators etc. from a selection of companies (Gira, Jung, Siemens, Samsung etc.). Re: Home automation 20Aug 22, 2012 5:02 am Ah, the spammer's posts are all gone, which makes my second post look weird, lol Anyway, I'd think it would be doable, Fekish. You'd need a valve that can be controlled remotely, an actuator and something to measure the moisture. I'd think a nursery might even know exactly what to look for (assuming they use a similar system - it can't hurt to ask). Whether it be legal to use everywhere, I have no idea (of course), but a manual shut-off valve as well as the automatic should be implemented anyway. Perhaps Fu knows about these things? 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