Z-Wave Home Automation

[arun1uk]

Does anyone have an installation? I'm looking to install it in our new house and just after some advice and real life experience. I could go on other forums but...I like it here!

Looking to integrate with dimmable LED lighting, burglar alarm, door sensors, heating and boiler controllers, with a few controllable plugs.

Thinking about the Fibaro HC Lite as I don't expect to do any programming or complex schedules. Hoping it will also integrate with my NAS and IP Cameras so I can control from anywhere.

Would be interested in your thoughts, alternatives and potential pitfalls.

Cheers

[chockymonster]

Yes, I do.

DSC Alarm
Fibaro light dimmers
Fibaro RGBW led controllers
Fibaro Relays
Wall plugs etc etc!

I control it using a mac mini and indigo, I looked at the fibaro hc setup but decided on indigo because it's more tweakable, I can interface my Sonos system, AV Amps and other things with it that the Fibaro setup doesn't let me do, plus I run Plex on the Mac for video etc.
I went for a separate alarm that can interface to an HA system instead of using the HA system to do the alarm. Wired PIRs are much more reliable for triggering HA scenes, the wireless ones will fire after a 5 second or so delay as they have to do other checks, then they sleep for period of time.

For the security stuff I used CFSS, Dennis was brilliant at talking through the options.

[arun1uk]

chockymonster said:

Yes, I do.

DSC Alarm
Fibaro light dimmers
Fibaro RGBW led controllers
Fibaro Relays
Wall plugs etc etc!

I control it using a mac mini and indigo, I looked at the fibaro hc setup but decided on indigo because it's more tweakable, I can interface my Sonos system, AV Amps and other things with it that the Fibaro setup doesn't let me do, plus I run Plex on the Mac for video etc.
I went for a separate alarm that can interface to an HA system instead of using the HA system to do the alarm. Wired PIRs are much more reliable for triggering HA scenes, the wireless ones will fire after a 5 second or so delay as they have to do other checks, then they sleep for period of time.

For the security stuff I used CFSS, Dennis was brilliant at talking through the options.

Sounds great, thanks for the reply.

For a newbie trying to get a new setup, what do you wish you'd have known before you started?
Thanks for the heads up about indigo - off to do some digging. I also thought about using a Raspberry Pi as the controller too.

The house has a separate alarm system, so would like to integrate somehow.

Cheers for the advice

[VEX]

I am booked into Fibaro training early March and I really like the look of thier current app and system. They say they can now control Sonos and view IP CCTV systems now as well.

The new Danfoss Z-wave trv's look really good to, exactly what I want for heating control here and no doubt anyone else serious about energy saving rather than looking cool with a Nest (pro training also booked end of feb)

Hth

V.

[eliot]

I use z-wave for lighting, sometimes has a go-slow where it takes a few seconds to respond - which can be annoying if you are walking into a room.
As mentioned above, fit a separate alarm panel that you can integrate and control from automation rather than it being dependant on the automation. You can feed the PIR sensors (zones) back into the HA to create events for motion controlled lighting etc.

Don't waste your time with battery powered motion detectors, as they only trigger once in a certain time period (2 mins iirc) to conserve battery power - which is no good for lighting.

[marctwo]

From more of an AV perspective this looks really good and will do simple z-wave automation:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1227115988/ne...

[arun1uk]

Thanks gents, appreciate the replies. I'll be looking into the alarm integrations, with the aim that I'm notified of an alter when I'm away from home and not having to pay the £25 monthly management fee from the likes of ADT etc.

Think I agree about the battery powered motion detectors so will be giving them a miss.

I also like the look of Ninja Sphere https://ninjablocks.com/#home/ but realise it's not a proven solution yet. Anyone heard much about it?

Cheers

[smighall]

Is anybody using OpenHAB? I've been researching various systems ready for when we move into our new house, and am swaying towards OpenHAB to control everything.

[MuffDaddy]

Has anyone looked at Smart Things for this?

[chockymonster]

arun1uk said:

Sounds great, thanks for the reply.

For a newbie trying to get a new setup, what do you wish you'd have known before you started?
Thanks for the heads up about indigo - off to do some digging. I also thought about using a Raspberry Pi as the controller too.

The house has a separate alarm system, so would like to integrate somehow.

Cheers for the advice

Z-Wave PIRs are flipping useless
I have a PIR under my sons cabin bed, when he triggers the PIR it starts a timer that's reset every time something triggers the PIR. WHen the timer is fired it turns on an RGB Led controller. Well it would if the PIR didn't every so often go to sleep and not wake up!

Check your light wiring, most UK wiring is 2 wire and most Z-Wave light controllers need a neutral so you need to put them in the ceiling near the rose or find a 2 wire one. The fibaro dimmers are all 2-wire. I use those with Click Deco momentary switches.

My next addition to the system will be a lightwave RF controller (indigo supports multiple protocols) I love the idea of just having controllable sockets instead of having to have adapter plugs to control things. Do you know which make alarm system it is?

[chockymonster]

VEX said:

I am booked into Fibaro training early March and I really like the look of thier current app and system. They say they can now control Sonos and view IP CCTV systems now as well.

The new Danfoss Z-wave trv's look really good to, exactly what I want for heating control here and no doubt anyone else serious about energy saving rather than looking cool with a Nest (pro training also booked end of feb)

Hth

V.

VEX, are they new new? Their last stuff was pretty awful and got sent back.

[VEX]

Who, Fibaro or Danfoss?

The Danfoss stuff is new.

V.

[VEX]

Who, Fibaro or Danfoss?

The Danfoss stuff is new.

V.

[chockymonster]

VEX said:

Who, Fibaro or Danfoss?

The Danfoss stuff is new.

V.

Danfoss, I've used the living connect stuff and it was awful.

[marctwo]

chockymonster said:

Danfoss, I've used the living connect stuff and it was awful.

Why was it so bad? Did you find a better alternative?

[chockymonster]

Communication issues, signals not firing, dropping off the network.
I gave up with the heating aspect and just went for a Tado in the end

[marctwo]

chockymonster said:

Communication issues, signals not firing, dropping off the network.
I gave up with the heating aspect and just went for a Tado in the end

Thanks for the info. I was interested in the Danfoss kit. Did you look at the Honewell system? I know it's not z-wave though.

[moles]

The honeywell system is very good have fitted a few and can't fault it so far.

[marctwo]

moles said:

The honeywell system is very good have fitted a few and can't fault it so far.

Thanks. They mention an API but there are no details yet. It's a shame it's not z-wave.

[moles]

Im a gas engineer and a gadget freak so I got it from that side not the automation side of things but Honeywell being Honeywell i would imagine there will not even be a software update for it let alone any other features being added.