Automation - what do you have automated?
Discussion
What do you have automated?
I watched this video and wondered what PH have.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtJI1o04tSM
I watched this video and wondered what PH have.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtJI1o04tSM
Hoovering (roomba) - Best money I have ever spent (except when the un-house trained pup gets out. Sad times).
Aircon/heating (Nest)
Shopping List/Radio (Amazon Echo)
Window Shades (Raspberry PI + assorted work in progress)...
Lighting (couple of these http://www.amazon.com/WeMo-Switch-Enabled-Compatib...
Shed load of work items (Python, Expect scripts etc to do previously manual tasks).
Aircon/heating (Nest)
Shopping List/Radio (Amazon Echo)
Window Shades (Raspberry PI + assorted work in progress)...
Lighting (couple of these http://www.amazon.com/WeMo-Switch-Enabled-Compatib...
Shed load of work items (Python, Expect scripts etc to do previously manual tasks).
When I moved into my new house, the outside lights were switched by a rotary central heating-type of controller which didn't account for the changing lengths of the days so I decided I'd prefer manual control over them. Problem is, the lights picked up an electrical connection from the garage and routing a switch back to the house would have been too disruptive/messy.
So I replaced the "central heating" controller with a LightwaveRF relay. This allows us to turn them on manually but also set the timer (in the LightwaveRF app) to turn them off regardless of their state at 10pm each night (in case we forget to switch them off).
Then I went mad and bought 8 more LightwaveRF relays, all to switch outside lighting, and incorporated 2 relays to control Christmas lights.
I have also just put together the parts for a delayed-timer switch to allow my kids to light-up the back gate as they pass from either direction. This is activated manually as they reach the gate but makes sure the lights are turned off 45 seconds after they press the button.
We'll probably buy a load of Sonos kit in the new year. We already have all of our music accessible to our phones from a NAS. In fact our phones are central to our ideas for automation really. They are always nearby so it makes sense for us to only consider app-based remote solutions.
We've look at and determined we don't need remote heating controllers - we tend to set the timers and thermostats and leave them. Our schedules don't change enough to warrant remote access.
I will want to replace the garage doors with roller shutters one day, so I may as well go with remote connected ones however I'm not convinced the LightwaveRF system is secure enough to link that to the garage doors' system.
What I really need is a set of these for those mornings (like this one) when it's so dark and I haven't had enough sleep - a human autopilot:
So I replaced the "central heating" controller with a LightwaveRF relay. This allows us to turn them on manually but also set the timer (in the LightwaveRF app) to turn them off regardless of their state at 10pm each night (in case we forget to switch them off).
Then I went mad and bought 8 more LightwaveRF relays, all to switch outside lighting, and incorporated 2 relays to control Christmas lights.
I have also just put together the parts for a delayed-timer switch to allow my kids to light-up the back gate as they pass from either direction. This is activated manually as they reach the gate but makes sure the lights are turned off 45 seconds after they press the button.
We'll probably buy a load of Sonos kit in the new year. We already have all of our music accessible to our phones from a NAS. In fact our phones are central to our ideas for automation really. They are always nearby so it makes sense for us to only consider app-based remote solutions.
We've look at and determined we don't need remote heating controllers - we tend to set the timers and thermostats and leave them. Our schedules don't change enough to warrant remote access.
I will want to replace the garage doors with roller shutters one day, so I may as well go with remote connected ones however I'm not convinced the LightwaveRF system is secure enough to link that to the garage doors' system.
What I really need is a set of these for those mornings (like this one) when it's so dark and I haven't had enough sleep - a human autopilot:
Automation is really quite easy and becoming more and more popular.
At one extreme I have installed clients houses with full control over lighting, CCTV, music, screens, cinema rooms and gates with the possibility of adding heating and air con. Budget costs for everything within a single app, £40k upwards for equipment and programming in a large house.
If your prepared to put up with multiple apps for multiple systems then most are free and all you need is the hardware as manufacturers often release the apps for free.
Something I am playing with now through to the end of the year is Fibaro, which seems a very cost effective wireless control system that is possible to talk to a lot of third party devices. Also for new builds or renovations and refits there is HDL Control.
I will be doing my house in Fibaro when we remodel later this year with light, security, fire, flood, TV, music, garden and heating control and I estimate this will be easily sub £10k installed for a 4bed house.
V.
At one extreme I have installed clients houses with full control over lighting, CCTV, music, screens, cinema rooms and gates with the possibility of adding heating and air con. Budget costs for everything within a single app, £40k upwards for equipment and programming in a large house.
If your prepared to put up with multiple apps for multiple systems then most are free and all you need is the hardware as manufacturers often release the apps for free.
Something I am playing with now through to the end of the year is Fibaro, which seems a very cost effective wireless control system that is possible to talk to a lot of third party devices. Also for new builds or renovations and refits there is HDL Control.
I will be doing my house in Fibaro when we remodel later this year with light, security, fire, flood, TV, music, garden and heating control and I estimate this will be easily sub £10k installed for a 4bed house.
V.
Indigo would be my choice as there is excellent support via their forum and apps seem to come out within days of new products hitting the market. Its iMac only though.
For a non techie then SmartThings is still the way to go IMHO and you can build a very nice system for very little cost. Its cloud based though hence why I would suggest Indigo for pros / geeks. Esp if you can code python etc.
For a non techie then SmartThings is still the way to go IMHO and you can build a very nice system for very little cost. Its cloud based though hence why I would suggest Indigo for pros / geeks. Esp if you can code python etc.
One of the constraints of my LightwaveRF system is the fact that it utilises one-way comms only. The switching devices do not feedback to the hub when they have received a signal, so the hub doesn't know whether to attempt another request or to report back the failure.
In practice this is not a problem in my own system but conceptionally it could be limiting.
Do you know whether the SmartThings or Fibaro systems feedback?
In practice this is not a problem in my own system but conceptionally it could be limiting.
Do you know whether the SmartThings or Fibaro systems feedback?
I've just put Lightwave RF in my lounge - main light switch, switchable plugs for secondary lighting, mood controller, and wifi box.
Thinking about it, I'm not sure why I got the wifi interface - you can do some fancy timing stuff, but generally it takes too long to get your phone, unlock it, launch the app, select the room, then select the lights, when you can just press one button on the lightwave remote.
The mood controller is on the wall next to the normal light switch, so you can switch all the secondary lighting when you enter or leave the room - but I've not quite got it working yet, seems to be a bit hit and miss whether it will turn the right lights on.
Finally I had a light turn on completely by itself last night - so I definitely wouldn't trust it with a garage door opener!
Thinking about it, I'm not sure why I got the wifi interface - you can do some fancy timing stuff, but generally it takes too long to get your phone, unlock it, launch the app, select the room, then select the lights, when you can just press one button on the lightwave remote.
The mood controller is on the wall next to the normal light switch, so you can switch all the secondary lighting when you enter or leave the room - but I've not quite got it working yet, seems to be a bit hit and miss whether it will turn the right lights on.
Finally I had a light turn on completely by itself last night - so I definitely wouldn't trust it with a garage door opener!
mr_fibuli said:
I've just put Lightwave RF in my lounge - main light switch, switchable plugs for secondary lighting, mood controller, and wifi box.
Thinking about it, I'm not sure why I got the wifi interface - you can do some fancy timing stuff, but generally it takes too long to get your phone, unlock it, launch the app, select the room, then select the lights, when you can just press one button on the lightwave remote.
The mood controller is on the wall next to the normal light switch, so you can switch all the secondary lighting when you enter or leave the room - but I've not quite got it working yet, seems to be a bit hit and miss whether it will turn the right lights on.
Finally I had a light turn on completely by itself last night - so I definitely wouldn't trust it with a garage door opener!
Yes, mine isn't 100% reliable either. Mostly the problem is when the phone app tells you it's not connected "locally" to the wifi hub and commands will be sent remotely. I'm guessing this means it will send trigger signals across the mobile phone network. I think I might try to turn this feature off because we don't need "distance" remote control.Thinking about it, I'm not sure why I got the wifi interface - you can do some fancy timing stuff, but generally it takes too long to get your phone, unlock it, launch the app, select the room, then select the lights, when you can just press one button on the lightwave remote.
The mood controller is on the wall next to the normal light switch, so you can switch all the secondary lighting when you enter or leave the room - but I've not quite got it working yet, seems to be a bit hit and miss whether it will turn the right lights on.
Finally I had a light turn on completely by itself last night - so I definitely wouldn't trust it with a garage door opener!
However, I don't fully understand *why* the phone app is telling me it is not connected "locally". This happens even when my phone has wifi signal. I'm fairly certain the phone and the LightwaveRF hub don't talk *directly* to each other - they communicate via the wifi router, don't they? So if I have a wifi signal I should be able to communicate with my devices.
It's not a major issue - I have put it in almost as a fun project so I expect teething issues but it does spoil what could be a decent system otherwise.
I think the other constraint with LightwaveRF is that the account password is nothing more than a 4-digit PIN. If they utilised a proper id and complex password I might have more faith in it. It works for my limited "lighting" applications but that's as far as I'd trust it.
Thinking about it, I'm not sure I'd trust a remote trigger for my garage door anyway. An electric open/close mech would be nice but I'd want one that latched shut and required manual triggering.
This looks interesting - a method of linking Z-wave with 433 devices like LightwaveRF:
http://www.vesternet.com/resources/using-z-wave-an...
I think Lightwave RF may well become a defunct standard at some point, I would probably hold off on any further devices.
Zwave+ is going to be the way forward for many although its still buggy in some situations so many pro companies are still using much older technology because its more robust. i.e X10.
Zwave+ is going to be the way forward for many although its still buggy in some situations so many pro companies are still using much older technology because its more robust. i.e X10.
red_slr said:
I think Lightwave RF may well become a defunct standard at some point, I would probably hold off on any further devices.
It certainly has the look and feel of an immature product that might just fail but their 13A switchable sockets are really good value and seem to be very popular. It'd be easy to list the pros and cons because the pros are all to do with pricing. Most competitors offer easy-to-implement solutions so LightwaveRF isn't unique in that regard.Radio penetration is pretty decent - I've read a few comments comparing this favourably with others but I think the negatives will make the serious enthusiast look elsewhere.
If I were implementing into a new build, I'd look at alternative solutions but some of them are ridiculously expensive.
red_slr said:
Zwave+ is going to be the way forward for many although its still buggy in some situations so many pro companies are still using much older technology because its more robust. i.e X10.
If Zwave offers brushed metal sockets like LightwaveRF does, that don't scream "middle aged man's project" then it'll be curtains for LightwaveRF.As I'm only indulging my middle-aged requirement for a project, I'll scoop up all the 2nd hand LightwaveRF kit cheap on Ebay.
The beauty of zwave is that it is an open standard, so most thing will talk to each other.
The 10amp switch module is more of a European solution than a UK one, but t the are UK z-wave plug tops that work will with the Fibaro system.
Also, for lighting control the Fibaro system does use dimmers built into plates, it uses a back box dimmer that is then wired to the switch plate. Almost any plate can the be used. Either momentary ones (which I am going to use) or toggle ones and you set the module up to look for momentary presses or change of state presses.
Finally to concur with others Fibaro and Zwave are both capable of two way messaging to get acknowledgements or status but it does depend on the module itself.
Hth
V.
The 10amp switch module is more of a European solution than a UK one, but t the are UK z-wave plug tops that work will with the Fibaro system.
Also, for lighting control the Fibaro system does use dimmers built into plates, it uses a back box dimmer that is then wired to the switch plate. Almost any plate can the be used. Either momentary ones (which I am going to use) or toggle ones and you set the module up to look for momentary presses or change of state presses.
Finally to concur with others Fibaro and Zwave are both capable of two way messaging to get acknowledgements or status but it does depend on the module itself.
Hth
V.
I think I got my Lightwave system working properly last night - I was getting confused as I didn't realize that moods 1-3 on the wall switch have to be the same as those on the wifi box - the mood settings for each light aren't stored in the switch, but rather each switch or socket remembers what it should be doing when it gets a mood 1, 2, or 3 command.
I've just been looking at a Python module you can get to send commands to the LightwaveRF wifi adapter. I wonder if I can pull off using my Harmony to send lighting commands to my media PC, and then on to the wifi box. Pretty pointless, but will keep me quiet for a while
I've just been looking at a Python module you can get to send commands to the LightwaveRF wifi adapter. I wonder if I can pull off using my Harmony to send lighting commands to my media PC, and then on to the wifi box. Pretty pointless, but will keep me quiet for a while
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