Home Automation - Mainstream price point & functionality?
Discussion
On lighting, I have fitted some of the LightwaveRF stuff.
Very much entry level, and I am going to go incrementally, as I am concerned that having 20+ light switches in the house may overload things.
However - cheap, looks very good, dead easy to install and basic functionality/reliability so far is fine. It works very well with Megaman LED bulbs, and also with EcoLED integrated LED spots. The dimmers now come trimmed (and are now trimmable) to deal with low voltage flicker on LEDs.
The app is OK, but more interestingly Lightwave is now integrated with Amazon Alexa voice control. More advanced controls like Indigo Domotics also have LRF control capability.
Great post from someone above who knows their stuff - you can pick different systems and use them on their own apps, and later layer a control interface over them; or you can go for whole system. I have gone the former - more cost effective, and you can pick the subsystems you want. And thus change them at a later date if something better comes along, for a lot less than changing say a Control4 integrated system to something else.
So for us Evohome heating (once the hot water gets sorted - we now have a proper Evohome engineer turning up next week, and he seems to think this is easy and quick to sort), LightwaveRF lighting, Sonos music (also about to be Alexa integrated), Alexa voice control and a dedicated Risco alarm with Z-wave module, and Nest Protect wired fire alarms.
At the moment integration on these is a bit crude - separate apps/Alexa.
Next I will play with IFTTT for some crude integration with the IFTTT app. Once I am more familiar with things and confident that individual systems work OK, I'll buy a Mac Mini, load Indigo Domotics and start playing with proper automation protocols.
Hopefully using IFTTT I can turn lights on and boiler off if fire alarm or burglar alarm goes, or turn music down if doorbell goes etc, use geofencing (so lights on when you get to 200m of the house) etc. IFTTT is a bit limited as it only allows one causal action and one resultant reaction. Something proper like Indigo is harder to programme, but should be able to provide command chains.
We'll see how this goes...
Very much entry level, and I am going to go incrementally, as I am concerned that having 20+ light switches in the house may overload things.
However - cheap, looks very good, dead easy to install and basic functionality/reliability so far is fine. It works very well with Megaman LED bulbs, and also with EcoLED integrated LED spots. The dimmers now come trimmed (and are now trimmable) to deal with low voltage flicker on LEDs.
The app is OK, but more interestingly Lightwave is now integrated with Amazon Alexa voice control. More advanced controls like Indigo Domotics also have LRF control capability.
Great post from someone above who knows their stuff - you can pick different systems and use them on their own apps, and later layer a control interface over them; or you can go for whole system. I have gone the former - more cost effective, and you can pick the subsystems you want. And thus change them at a later date if something better comes along, for a lot less than changing say a Control4 integrated system to something else.
So for us Evohome heating (once the hot water gets sorted - we now have a proper Evohome engineer turning up next week, and he seems to think this is easy and quick to sort), LightwaveRF lighting, Sonos music (also about to be Alexa integrated), Alexa voice control and a dedicated Risco alarm with Z-wave module, and Nest Protect wired fire alarms.
At the moment integration on these is a bit crude - separate apps/Alexa.
Next I will play with IFTTT for some crude integration with the IFTTT app. Once I am more familiar with things and confident that individual systems work OK, I'll buy a Mac Mini, load Indigo Domotics and start playing with proper automation protocols.
Hopefully using IFTTT I can turn lights on and boiler off if fire alarm or burglar alarm goes, or turn music down if doorbell goes etc, use geofencing (so lights on when you get to 200m of the house) etc. IFTTT is a bit limited as it only allows one causal action and one resultant reaction. Something proper like Indigo is harder to programme, but should be able to provide command chains.
We'll see how this goes...
Thanks Flashy!
On the lightwaveRF - say for example I have 4 lighting circuits In a room, and it is wired to have four dimmable switches. Can the 4 gang dimmer switch be replaced with one light wave switch that can then control the 4 circuits and cycle through scenes?
If so that sounds ideal as it is as close as you can get to traditional wiring - what, if any, are the limitations?
Klive
On the lightwaveRF - say for example I have 4 lighting circuits In a room, and it is wired to have four dimmable switches. Can the 4 gang dimmer switch be replaced with one light wave switch that can then control the 4 circuits and cycle through scenes?
If so that sounds ideal as it is as close as you can get to traditional wiring - what, if any, are the limitations?
Klive
Yes it can, provided that the maximum wattage under control does not exceed the single LRF device's maximum, which I think is 250W. Easy if you use LED. You will need to pull all those circuits into a single sized backbox for the 1 gang LRF switch. And each light fitting on the circuit needs to use the same type/power bulb.
I have done this, but also in bigger rooms used the 4 gang LRF switches. Each gang is a separate "device" for the purposes of the control system, and controls a separate circuit although you can set zones/scenes to turn on numerous devices at preset dimmer levels etc. And you can run different types of light this way e.g. kitchen circuits are either EcoLED ZEP1 spots, or megaman bulbs (wall sconces), or under cabinet LED lighting. The latter are not dimmable, so you need to be a bit careful. In the app you can register a device as a plug socket rather than a dimmer, thus disabling the dimming facility, but you should avoid trying to dim from the physical switch. LRF really should do some straight switches that look like the dimmers, for very low watt circuits/non-dimmable lighting like CFL.
If you have more than one switch in each room, they need to be more than 30cm apart, otherwise they can interfere with each other. So, if you have a bank of four single dimmers at the moment, you really want to put that wiring together into one double backbox and fit a single, 4 gang, LRF unit with 4 gangs, rather than fit 4 x 1 gang LRF units next to each other.
I have done this, but also in bigger rooms used the 4 gang LRF switches. Each gang is a separate "device" for the purposes of the control system, and controls a separate circuit although you can set zones/scenes to turn on numerous devices at preset dimmer levels etc. And you can run different types of light this way e.g. kitchen circuits are either EcoLED ZEP1 spots, or megaman bulbs (wall sconces), or under cabinet LED lighting. The latter are not dimmable, so you need to be a bit careful. In the app you can register a device as a plug socket rather than a dimmer, thus disabling the dimming facility, but you should avoid trying to dim from the physical switch. LRF really should do some straight switches that look like the dimmers, for very low watt circuits/non-dimmable lighting like CFL.
If you have more than one switch in each room, they need to be more than 30cm apart, otherwise they can interfere with each other. So, if you have a bank of four single dimmers at the moment, you really want to put that wiring together into one double backbox and fit a single, 4 gang, LRF unit with 4 gangs, rather than fit 4 x 1 gang LRF units next to each other.
Edited by Harry Flashman on Thursday 24th November 11:08
OP - well brought back, and couldn't agree more.
When we renovated the house, we could have (it was a back to walls job, so complete strip-down) fitted a high end system.
I baulked at this for a) cost and b) lack of future flexibility. I prefer to fiddle around with stuff myself, and do not want to call an engineer out every time something needs changing. I also wanted to have low cost component systems, that could be swapped out as stuff gets better.
In a way, I would not wish to pay for setup either, in this space - as a DIYer, you want to understand the setup, so you can modify/learn/build yourself. We looked at Control 4 etc, but at £20k+, I didn't see the value - I am thinking about resale of my home too. Our renovation cost about £250k, and that money would not add to the price of the house compared to a well integrated hobby system (which itself would probably not add value). We are London, in the £1.2-5m price range rather than prime. Home automation is rare in this space, and not really a driver for buyers, I think.
Another thing for me is being able to use the stuff physically, in every room. You're not winning if you need to get into your phone, enter an app, cycle through a few screens and press a button to turn a light on, when you could just push a switch. The systems you talk about are fine with this - but I have heard of some installations where basic functionality is forgotten for app based control that is less convenient.
For example, who actually finds the Sky App more convenient for controlling your playback than the physical remote? IMHO, you need both.
When we renovated the house, we could have (it was a back to walls job, so complete strip-down) fitted a high end system.
I baulked at this for a) cost and b) lack of future flexibility. I prefer to fiddle around with stuff myself, and do not want to call an engineer out every time something needs changing. I also wanted to have low cost component systems, that could be swapped out as stuff gets better.
In a way, I would not wish to pay for setup either, in this space - as a DIYer, you want to understand the setup, so you can modify/learn/build yourself. We looked at Control 4 etc, but at £20k+, I didn't see the value - I am thinking about resale of my home too. Our renovation cost about £250k, and that money would not add to the price of the house compared to a well integrated hobby system (which itself would probably not add value). We are London, in the £1.2-5m price range rather than prime. Home automation is rare in this space, and not really a driver for buyers, I think.
Another thing for me is being able to use the stuff physically, in every room. You're not winning if you need to get into your phone, enter an app, cycle through a few screens and press a button to turn a light on, when you could just push a switch. The systems you talk about are fine with this - but I have heard of some installations where basic functionality is forgotten for app based control that is less convenient.
For example, who actually finds the Sky App more convenient for controlling your playback than the physical remote? IMHO, you need both.
Edited by Harry Flashman on Thursday 24th November 11:17
Edited by Harry Flashman on Thursday 24th November 11:19
I think as an installer, the slightly bodged DIY approach may have some liability.
If you install a Control4 system and something goes wrong, I suspect you can turn up, get into the system, and fix it.
If you cobble together stuff like I have, and then deliver value to the client by programming Indigo Domotics / Domoticz or even IFTTT to make it all work, I suspect that it is going to go wrong a lot more often as individual systems succumb to their individual bugs. For a DIYer, as long as everything works physically, you'd be happy to try and fix it yourself when you have a moment. As a professional installer, your client would expect you to fix it, immediately, and I suspect it would become the bane of your life.
Imagine having to turn up to a client's house ever time one of their Lightwave switches decided to unbind itself from the system for some reason? Nightmare. Because that is what a paying, novice client would expect.
If you install a Control4 system and something goes wrong, I suspect you can turn up, get into the system, and fix it.
If you cobble together stuff like I have, and then deliver value to the client by programming Indigo Domotics / Domoticz or even IFTTT to make it all work, I suspect that it is going to go wrong a lot more often as individual systems succumb to their individual bugs. For a DIYer, as long as everything works physically, you'd be happy to try and fix it yourself when you have a moment. As a professional installer, your client would expect you to fix it, immediately, and I suspect it would become the bane of your life.
Imagine having to turn up to a client's house ever time one of their Lightwave switches decided to unbind itself from the system for some reason? Nightmare. Because that is what a paying, novice client would expect.
Another point on the "cobbled together" approach - there is a lot of disparate hardware involved. Many of these systems (LighwaveRF, Philips Hue etc) currently require a "bridge" device that pluigs into your router. Most domestic clients will need a netweok switch to cope with this if you build them home automation from lots of systems.
From memory I have Lightwave link, Hue Bridge, a bridge for the electric underfloor heating in the bathrooms, connection for CCTV NVR, connection for the alarm system. And that is before even getting into any of the Internet of Things stuff that is all coming out. So a reliable network is yet another part of running all this stuff. Probably an installer's nightmare!
From memory I have Lightwave link, Hue Bridge, a bridge for the electric underfloor heating in the bathrooms, connection for CCTV NVR, connection for the alarm system. And that is before even getting into any of the Internet of Things stuff that is all coming out. So a reliable network is yet another part of running all this stuff. Probably an installer's nightmare!
Harry
I thought you were adding Evohome to that "mix" ?
this demonstrates perfectly the "mess"
Lightwave and Hue
Lightwave and Evohome
Evohome and a separate underfloor system ?
Not having a go
just demonstrates thew wrong mentality that the industry has!
If a manufacturer brought out a router with a non standard ethernet plug how many would be bought ?
I thought you were adding Evohome to that "mix" ?
this demonstrates perfectly the "mess"
Lightwave and Hue
Lightwave and Evohome
Evohome and a separate underfloor system ?
Not having a go
just demonstrates thew wrong mentality that the industry has! If a manufacturer brought out a router with a non standard ethernet plug how many would be bought ?
dmsims said:
Harry
I thought you were adding Evohome to that "mix" ?
this demonstrates perfectly the "mess"
Lightwave and Hue
Lightwave and Evohome
Evohome and a separate underfloor system ?
Not having a go just demonstrates thew wrong mentality that the industry has!
If a manufacturer brought out a router with a non standard ethernet plug how many would be bought ?
It's not quite that bad.I thought you were adding Evohome to that "mix" ?
this demonstrates perfectly the "mess"
Lightwave and Hue
Lightwave and Evohome
Evohome and a separate underfloor system ?
Not having a go
just demonstrates thew wrong mentality that the industry has! If a manufacturer brought out a router with a non standard ethernet plug how many would be bought ?
Evohome doesn't need a bridge - the thermostat itself takes care of stuff. And it does my radiator heating, hot water and wet underfloor heating. The electric underfloor heating for occasional use in the bathrooms is a Prowarm system as at the time of buying Evohome would not control it, but I still would like app control. If Honeywell release an Evohome electric UFH thermostat, I'll replace the Prowarm ones with these and be done.
I'm only using Hue lighting for some fun coloured LED stuff, because the LightwaveRF version was rubbish and abortive (didn't work with the standard RGB LED strips prevalent in this country). Again, if they get it right, I'll replace.
Good, I'm glad! I've been trying to formulate a useful contribution to your original question. I have been learning about this stuff from a base of zero over the last few months so I thought the only valuable thing might be the viewpoint of someone looking at it all with fresh eyes.
Clearly there is some amazing stuff here and if I could be guaranteed to harness all of the things I want to do, at a sensible price, AND be guaranteed it would be robust, and ostensibly trouble free.. I would dive in without hesitation. However it does seem that as the only way for an amateur to be assured of getting that you really need to get a specialist to design, spec and install it. That inevitably gets expensive and takes it well out of the entry level / mass market price range. It also ends up looking a bit over engineered and I worry will date rapidly.
There are lots of entry level bits around, by which I mean the likes of Lightwave, Nest, Hue. These are fine if you want one thermostat, or one room to have some funky lighting, but if you start using this stuff to control multiple zones throughout out a house they are not remotely cheap relative to the whole house solutions - which inevitably takes you firmly into middle and upper price bracket.
I don't doubt that there will be (could already be) some budget kit that does the job of whole house automation at a great price... but I would be scared sh*tless that it wouldn't work and i'd be lumbered with a nightmare.
Lighting control - pricing is a mystery to me. If lightwave can make wireless products for those prices why can't it be done by other people wired and wireless for that price. The linkup with Megaman is genius because having assurance that your control works with your lights is a big tick and prevents you going down a rabbit hole.
Heating Control seems fairly priced actually. The system we are putting in with our wet UFH is hard wired, with temp sensors in each zone, and hard wired actuator triggers, linked back to one control interface or app, which also does the MVHR for err boost I guess.. and the hot water. Its about £650 ex VAT, works on a bus and by all accounts does what its supposed to.
Alarm, seem to be a separate topic, but pricing looks pretty fair.
Audio is expensive but to beat Sonos at their own game someone will have to invest a fortune (I do like Denon Heos tho)
Video distribution - i've kind of assumed that in a few yrs time you will only need an internet connection to each telly so have kind of passed this over. The HD Matrix set up looks over engineered and expensive.
Other stuff like blinds, garage, etc seem to be cheap add ons if you have the right system.
I do agree with your original proposition. This arena is screaming out for a sensibly priced, catch all system. If you could do lighting well, and do heating well.. then I think you would be off to the races. Loxone are on the right lines I think, but they badly need to embrace the likes of Sonos because no one will ever spend £5k on a Loxone music server when they can have a lot of Sonos for the same money. Loxone with sonos integration at lightwave money...?
Anyway, conscious that I am an amateur in a thread full of people who know their stuff I will leave it there..!
Cheers, Klive
Clearly there is some amazing stuff here and if I could be guaranteed to harness all of the things I want to do, at a sensible price, AND be guaranteed it would be robust, and ostensibly trouble free.. I would dive in without hesitation. However it does seem that as the only way for an amateur to be assured of getting that you really need to get a specialist to design, spec and install it. That inevitably gets expensive and takes it well out of the entry level / mass market price range. It also ends up looking a bit over engineered and I worry will date rapidly.
There are lots of entry level bits around, by which I mean the likes of Lightwave, Nest, Hue. These are fine if you want one thermostat, or one room to have some funky lighting, but if you start using this stuff to control multiple zones throughout out a house they are not remotely cheap relative to the whole house solutions - which inevitably takes you firmly into middle and upper price bracket.
I don't doubt that there will be (could already be) some budget kit that does the job of whole house automation at a great price... but I would be scared sh*tless that it wouldn't work and i'd be lumbered with a nightmare.
Lighting control - pricing is a mystery to me. If lightwave can make wireless products for those prices why can't it be done by other people wired and wireless for that price. The linkup with Megaman is genius because having assurance that your control works with your lights is a big tick and prevents you going down a rabbit hole.
Heating Control seems fairly priced actually. The system we are putting in with our wet UFH is hard wired, with temp sensors in each zone, and hard wired actuator triggers, linked back to one control interface or app, which also does the MVHR for err boost I guess.. and the hot water. Its about £650 ex VAT, works on a bus and by all accounts does what its supposed to.
Alarm, seem to be a separate topic, but pricing looks pretty fair.
Audio is expensive but to beat Sonos at their own game someone will have to invest a fortune (I do like Denon Heos tho)
Video distribution - i've kind of assumed that in a few yrs time you will only need an internet connection to each telly so have kind of passed this over. The HD Matrix set up looks over engineered and expensive.
Other stuff like blinds, garage, etc seem to be cheap add ons if you have the right system.
I do agree with your original proposition. This arena is screaming out for a sensibly priced, catch all system. If you could do lighting well, and do heating well.. then I think you would be off to the races. Loxone are on the right lines I think, but they badly need to embrace the likes of Sonos because no one will ever spend £5k on a Loxone music server when they can have a lot of Sonos for the same money. Loxone with sonos integration at lightwave money...?
Anyway, conscious that I am an amateur in a thread full of people who know their stuff I will leave it there..!
Cheers, Klive
Totally agree with you Klive.
But there are a number of different control layer systems that can provide a really good control system listening to the traffic 'chatter' on the network and respond to it.
I am installing one at the moment and it is looking very good and positive although still a little costly as just a control layer. At the suppliers system, they have it listening to the music choices on the Denon Heos system and if there is something the programmer doesn't like the control layer sends a 'skip forward' instruction back to the Heos system.
Frivolous yes, but equally a great example of the power of the system if you know what you are doing.
V.
But there are a number of different control layer systems that can provide a really good control system listening to the traffic 'chatter' on the network and respond to it.
I am installing one at the moment and it is looking very good and positive although still a little costly as just a control layer. At the suppliers system, they have it listening to the music choices on the Denon Heos system and if there is something the programmer doesn't like the control layer sends a 'skip forward' instruction back to the Heos system.
Frivolous yes, but equally a great example of the power of the system if you know what you are doing.
V.
Well... I tried a Nest today, bought it, installed it, and have just re-packaged ready to take back tomorrow and exchange for a Dayton MiGenie Wish 2.
Got it largely set up but the Nest just didn't do some of the basics I was looking for, it's not something designed for my particular lifestyle.
Show stoppers for me were that I couldn't turn off the hot water or heating. I only want the CH and HW to come on each day at 3.00 and then go off at 8pm. 5 days a week. Other than that I want to be able to quickly override the system and turn on one or the other on an adhoc basis. The house could be virtually empty 1 weekend, and then full on the next.
The Nest seems to be ok if you have a fairly standard weekly pattern , but it's not what I was looking for, too inflexible. For me my starting position is everything off to be turned on when I want it, the Nest seems to be the other way round, everything on, but without the ability to quickly turn off.
So I'm out, I'll try the MiGenie solution which should be a direct swap out for the existing Drayton box on the wall.
My overall impression of the Nest - bit like an Apple product, looks good, nicely designed and packaged, great if you can use it the way they want, pretty inflexible and useless if not.
Got it largely set up but the Nest just didn't do some of the basics I was looking for, it's not something designed for my particular lifestyle.
Show stoppers for me were that I couldn't turn off the hot water or heating. I only want the CH and HW to come on each day at 3.00 and then go off at 8pm. 5 days a week. Other than that I want to be able to quickly override the system and turn on one or the other on an adhoc basis. The house could be virtually empty 1 weekend, and then full on the next.
The Nest seems to be ok if you have a fairly standard weekly pattern , but it's not what I was looking for, too inflexible. For me my starting position is everything off to be turned on when I want it, the Nest seems to be the other way round, everything on, but without the ability to quickly turn off.
So I'm out, I'll try the MiGenie solution which should be a direct swap out for the existing Drayton box on the wall.
My overall impression of the Nest - bit like an Apple product, looks good, nicely designed and packaged, great if you can use it the way they want, pretty inflexible and useless if not.
I have been following these Home Automation threads with interest as I have spent the last 9 months comprehensively refurbishing our new home. It is 5,000 sq ft on two floors, standard downstairs accommodation of Dining Room, Lounge, Playroom, Morning Room, Kitchen & Utility Room and upstairs there are 6 beds and 3 baths. It is not multi wing, there is no swimming pool etc, but it is a big family home. As I was replastering everywhere I did consider a number of bespoke wiring systems and had a demo from Comelit as well as considering others.
One think I dislike about the hard wired systems is that the rate of progress means invariably they will become obsolete pretty rapidly. I wanted to future proof the home and use something with I could build and scale up to my requirements as there are new products coming to market all the time that are open source or IP devices that I would like to integrate as and when.
I wanted to control, lighing, heating inc UFH, garage door, audio distribution and some other minor systems remotely.
I therefore had double Cat6 points cabled to every room and multiple points behind where TV's are going. I have nearly 80 Cat6 points with a coupe of POE switches in a comms cabinet in the Garage.
I also have audio cables in the ceilings of many rooms also leading back to the garage.
After considering all the heating options, I went for Evohome to control all the rads and UFH, its works brilliantly but integration in to 3rd party control is still not available. Also their app cannot do landscape which is a bugger! There is a beta for smartthings which is no longer available and no one know when or if it will be released. I ordered a smartthings hub to have a whirl and found it a bit basic and clunky.
So I decided Z-Wave was the future for the DIY home automation enthusiast and bought the HC2 and LOT of their new Dimmer 2 modules. These are a doddle to fit on any wiring system and work perfectly with E36Guy's ECOLED products which I have used all over the house. They dim down to 5% and all the way up smoothly with no flicker which I am well chuffed about.
I have also bought their door contacts and PIR modules but I am yet to deploy these in the house.
The audio is being dealt with by Sonos Connect Amp's, expensive when you consider the amp, cabling and speaker cost but I did consider Systemline and the programming and lack of DIY installation put me off.
The cameras are Hikvision, solid stuff, good interface and IP cameras so easy integration to Fibaro HC2.
Intercoms will be 2N Helios Verso, also IP with an ability to take a permanent camera feed. They push the app to the homescreen when there is a visitor too on android devices so work like a regular intercom screen on a Galaxy Tab.
Alarm will be Texecom Premier Elite with relays to the HC2 to indicate activation or status.
Locks, not considering any fancy locks just yet, too security conscious.
Garage door is a Hormann door with a gateway for app integration. I will see about integrating this to HC2 but it is no big deal using from the app.
Wifi is Via 3x Ubiquiti AP's with a cloud controller, still not firing on all cylinders, it seems tricky to set up...
So, to control all this I have bought 3 galaxy tab's in the recent Currys Black Friday sale and ordered 3 super slim wall mounts from Vidabox to mount them in, they will be charged by POE splitter boxes.
This will allow me to scale up or change approach as the technology develops but still give me a wide range of control at present for quite a small outlay.
One final thing, all the Fibaro devices can be controlled by Alexa through a bridge that I have programmed in a raspberry pi, I am no IT geek, far from it but followed a Youtube tutorial and now have voice control throughout the house couresy of some well placed Echo Dots!
My 2p, hope this is of use to someone who was in my position a few months back!
One think I dislike about the hard wired systems is that the rate of progress means invariably they will become obsolete pretty rapidly. I wanted to future proof the home and use something with I could build and scale up to my requirements as there are new products coming to market all the time that are open source or IP devices that I would like to integrate as and when.
I wanted to control, lighing, heating inc UFH, garage door, audio distribution and some other minor systems remotely.
I therefore had double Cat6 points cabled to every room and multiple points behind where TV's are going. I have nearly 80 Cat6 points with a coupe of POE switches in a comms cabinet in the Garage.
I also have audio cables in the ceilings of many rooms also leading back to the garage.
After considering all the heating options, I went for Evohome to control all the rads and UFH, its works brilliantly but integration in to 3rd party control is still not available. Also their app cannot do landscape which is a bugger! There is a beta for smartthings which is no longer available and no one know when or if it will be released. I ordered a smartthings hub to have a whirl and found it a bit basic and clunky.
So I decided Z-Wave was the future for the DIY home automation enthusiast and bought the HC2 and LOT of their new Dimmer 2 modules. These are a doddle to fit on any wiring system and work perfectly with E36Guy's ECOLED products which I have used all over the house. They dim down to 5% and all the way up smoothly with no flicker which I am well chuffed about.
I have also bought their door contacts and PIR modules but I am yet to deploy these in the house.
The audio is being dealt with by Sonos Connect Amp's, expensive when you consider the amp, cabling and speaker cost but I did consider Systemline and the programming and lack of DIY installation put me off.
The cameras are Hikvision, solid stuff, good interface and IP cameras so easy integration to Fibaro HC2.
Intercoms will be 2N Helios Verso, also IP with an ability to take a permanent camera feed. They push the app to the homescreen when there is a visitor too on android devices so work like a regular intercom screen on a Galaxy Tab.
Alarm will be Texecom Premier Elite with relays to the HC2 to indicate activation or status.
Locks, not considering any fancy locks just yet, too security conscious.
Garage door is a Hormann door with a gateway for app integration. I will see about integrating this to HC2 but it is no big deal using from the app.
Wifi is Via 3x Ubiquiti AP's with a cloud controller, still not firing on all cylinders, it seems tricky to set up...
So, to control all this I have bought 3 galaxy tab's in the recent Currys Black Friday sale and ordered 3 super slim wall mounts from Vidabox to mount them in, they will be charged by POE splitter boxes.
This will allow me to scale up or change approach as the technology develops but still give me a wide range of control at present for quite a small outlay.
One final thing, all the Fibaro devices can be controlled by Alexa through a bridge that I have programmed in a raspberry pi, I am no IT geek, far from it but followed a Youtube tutorial and now have voice control throughout the house couresy of some well placed Echo Dots!
My 2p, hope this is of use to someone who was in my position a few months back!
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