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I'm starting to read up on Home Automation. I am just creating this thread so I have a place to record my thoughts.
I plan on integrating some home automation concepts into my new house. That means I have a bit of time between now and construction to get everything right.
First, I've only been researching this for a couple of days. But so far I've selected Z-Wave based technology, as it uses 900mhz which is superior in my case of solid concrete walls. Z-Wave seems to also have the most market traction, so it works out well for me on all fronts.
Other systems include ZigBee, X10, Insteon -- and many more. ZigBee uses 2.4ghz which is less ideal in my environment due to all the concrete. X10 is old school. Insteon seems to have current products but little adoption when compared to Z-Wave.
Anyway, I feel good at this stage focusing my efforts on Z-Wave.
I've ordered Amazon Echo and a set of two Phillips Hue lights to arrive on a friends container coming in end of November. This is just a quick foray into all this, and will allow me to play around for a bit in this rental house while still designing the bigger system for the new house.
The Echo just enables always-on voice commands. I plan to integrate it with openHAB. Through openHAB, I can control Kodi (formerly XBMC), which is my media center for all TV content in my house.
I plan to write some routines that let me quickly see which new favorite shows have new episodes, or some nightly "relax" routines to just play the newest Daily Show, for example.
The Phillips Hue lights are just quick shortcuts to allow lighting control by remote, while still keeping the physical switch operational. This way I can be in bed and just say "Alexa, turn out all the lights" and it will be done. Or when watching a movie I can set the scene automatically and reduce the brightness to 25% for example.
Here is the general concept I am shooting for with the new house:
- Proximity location, so system knows when I am home (phone is on wifi, or GPS)
- When I am arriving home after being away and it is after dark, turn on all exterior lights down my road and entrance gate
- Valves for the primary/secondary water pumps, pool filters, propane, etc so they can be remotely controlled
- Smart electric meter to monitor in real-time the kwh usage
- Scheduled one-time verbal commands "At 6pm today, turn the sprinklers on"
- Security with smart-locks, keyless entry into house
- Security system, master bedroom will have a wall panel and panic button, turns all lights inside and out to maximum and sounds alarms, calls police, sends text messages, sends whatsapp messages, etc all with single button
- In-wall control center in a couple locations in the house, to quickly control everything in the house on a larger touch display
All of this can be accomplished based on what I've already read. And all without monthly maintenance costs or service fees.
Here is a great thread on openHAB that talks about building your own dashboard (for use in a wall-mount control center) using dashing.io (another open source framework)
Forgot to mention some other security related objectives
- Real-time sensors throughout property, can set lights and send notifications to me anywhere
- Security cam integration, show me real-time or historical video
- Front gate intercom/doorbell system, answer doorbell anywhere in the world with two-way communication and video