Home Automation

Time to inaugurate this section I think....

Now I know some of you guys know a bit about fixing up homes, but is anybody familiar with home automatin systems? I have been looking at Crestron solutions, but I really don't know much about this stuff.

Anybody familiar with Crestron home automation solutions?

No is the simple answer...

My "Home Automation system" is restricted to PLC logic code - ladder rungs - and as such is probably similiar to the coding that all of these "solutions-in-a-box" use.

Question: If you buy one of these "solutions-in-a-box", how easy is it for you, as an "end user", to change the coding to your requirements...?

For me, as I wrote the code for my particular environment, it's a piece of piss. e.g. Time-on / time-off for equipment #Alpha.

But for a "bought-in" solution...?
Can you access the coding...?
Can you access the Permissives...?

while I don't know much about any brand or another, I have worked in a few "smart" homes. New construction is better than wireless systems which have some issues the hardwired things do not, like changing batteries.

Also depends on what you're looking to have it do. Maybe you want code acess like gelert, maybe you just want it to work. I had a customer that could turn on his lawn sprinklers with his iphone. Silly.

.

BEI Automation
Chief
Draper
Litetouch
Niles
Motivated Design
Russound
Samsung
Screen Innovations
Sound Advance Systems
Vantage Lighting Controls
Xantech

I found these names on this site.

http://www.kromerradio.com/custom.asp

da silva wrote:

Sound Advance Systems

what would be cool, is sensors in the house to pick up some sort of chip that could be stuck unobtrusively to things like sunnies, wallets, handbags, dead mobile phones etc, that could be logged into the central computer and requested when an item is lost within the house, and the room it's in would beep to narrow down the search...

Revs wrote:

da silva wrote:

Sound Advance Systems

what would be cool, is sensors in the house to pick up some sort of chip that could be stuck unobtrusively to things like sunnies, wallets, handbags, dead mobile phones etc, that could be logged into the central computer and requested when an item is lost within the house, and the room it's in would beep to narrow down the search...

Bluetooth?

I've only worked on a couple of home with any level of "Smart" controls, and even then not onsite when the final programming was being set up.

What level are you looking for? Lighting pre-sets that are automated for seasonal changes? Climate control for several zones? Do you want to be able to turn on your Jacuzzi from your Learjet so it's warm when you get home?

Any of these can take extensive work to install. Good to plan these things to coincide with a major re-model.

eso

Actually the reason for asking was that the house already has a Crestron installation in it, but the previous owner really had no clue as to how to make any changes to it. He would fly a guy down from England to help him when it was necessary. I would like to go in to the system myself and make a few changes.

I have managed now to find a person in the area that can help a bit with it, but since I like to do things myself I have asked Crestron to provide me with some of their software. We shall see how reactive they are.

install one of these!!

Directed Energy Weapon Downs Mosquitos
on Friday February 12, @03:36PM

"Nathan Myhrvol demonstrated at TED a laser, built from parts scrounged from eBay, capable of shooting down not one but 50 to 100 mosquitos a second. The system is 'so precise that it can specify the species, and even the gender, of the mosquito being targeted.' Currently, for the sake of efficiency, it leaves the males alone because only females are bloodsuckers. Best of all the system could cost as little as $50. Maybe that's too expensive for use in preventing malaria in Africa but I'd buy one in a second!"

I could use that against flies in the summer!

Didn't want to start A NEW THREAD- BUT HERE IS SOMETHING KIND OF RELATED TO THE HOME AUTOMATION TOPIC.



YIKES!!!

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Wow!!!

Good ol Johann Strauss. We used to listen to that quite a bit when William was a wee one. It never failed to put him to sleep.