Looking for product suggestions to begin

Hey all,

I am not new to Home Automation but have never taken a hard dive into it either. I have played with it since the X-10 days. Currently, I run a Vera 2 but it only severs a few items:

• Garage door (via Mimo Lite)
• Wayne Dalton Z-wave bridge (Wife's car uses Home Link)
• Front door lock (Kwikset Z-wave)
• Front exterior lights (3-Z-Wave switches, A single 2-way Z-wave and a single lamp module)
• Phillips Hue in my living room lamps (3)
• HVAC Thermostats (2-RCS TZ-45 Z-Wave)
• A large Christmas display seasonally (5 outdoor power modules)

I am getting ready to build a Mac based HTPC and since I was going Mac, I was thinking of adding Indigo to it so I could gain more flexibility and reliability in the home automation. My goal is to one day fully build out the house, but budget wise, I limit myself to a few hundred a year. I find the Vera system hangs up often and it keeps loosing track of one light switch. I don't mind it playing with lights but I am hesitant to run my house or any security off of it as I don't find it responsive.

One thing I would really love to do is to standardize the equipment I use throughout the house. What line of switches to you all favor? I really like the Cooper Aspire RF switches and scene controllers. Also, I am switching everything over to LED. While expensive, I do like the Hue bulbs for their flexibility and that they can serve multiple platforms. As I change everything over to LED bulbs, I see less need for the switches and more use for the scene controllers.

Also what thermostats do you all use? I may be switching out my AC system next year and I thinking of going with a DC invertor based system. I live in New Orleans and A/C is 3/4 of my summer electric bill!

Also, I would like to add two wall mounted ipads to my home to control the HTCP and Indigo so that I do not have to directly access the computer (rack mounted in a cabinet, no keyboard or mouse except for setting it up). How well does Indigo support this?

Finally, I don't have any modern day programming capability. I am a civil engineer and excel at logic, but my programming is limited to Fortran and Basic (programmed a lot of MS Access Databases in a past life). I don't mind having to write rule based scripting for triggers and what not but am not hoping to have to program my own plug-ins or anything like that.

My priorities are (more or less this order):

1. home lighting (LED & switches, modules for non-standard bulbs)
2. home audio (iTunes on HTPC and Sonos)
3. main room tv (Samsung TV, Yamaha receiver, AppleTV, DVR system, Blu-Ray Player, Harmony Remote
4. HVAC (existing 2 standard systems and future single low voltage DC system with 3 zones)
5. whole house climate monitoring (temp & humidity by room)
6. whole home ventilation using existing bathroom vents and my HVAC damper
7. perimeter security (garage door, front door, exterior motion sensors and cameras)
8. vehicle home link connectivity
9. interior security (motion, occupied spaces, etc)
10. home security system (all sensors hardwired, just replace the main board)

Would love to hear you all share some experience on these tasks and any product suggestions you can offer, especially for standardization. I see this as a multi-year build, perhaps 5 years more or less. Thanks for your input and suggestions.

Chris

[jay (support)]

Welcome!

I think you'll find Indigo can do everything you need. The lock will need to stay on your Vera, but as long as it runs UI5 the Vera Bridge plugin that's included with Indigo will enable you to control it from Indigo. I believe (but not positive) all the rest can be directly controlled by Indigo. Well, the Hue bulbs via the 3rd party Hue Plugin (which a lot of people use and love). Not sure about the WD garage bridge so you may have to do some testing with it.

Given your buildout timeline, trying to standardize on one vendor might not give you the best results given how fast the market is moving now for new devices. The Cooper devices do seem quite nice.

I'll let others jump in with their direct experiences, but I do pretty much all of what you're doing (minus the homelink).

Hello and welcome.

As for in-wall switches, I prefer the Leviton varietals. Both Cooper and Leviton are in the same ballpark price-wise, and I prefer Leviton Vizia RF+. For HVAC, I use the same thermostats you do (the Trane branded variety.) As for programming, if you can handle Fortran and Basic, you can handle Python and AppleScript (I prefer Python.) There's no need to build your own plugins, although I know that some users do that just so they can add nuance to their systems that meets their unique interests. There is a good base of functionality in Indigo, and the current crop of plugins is very robust.

I am partial to Z-Wave, and try to limit my use (as much as possible) to hard-wired devices when possible. This makes for a more stable install in my opinion. That said, I do have some battery-powered devices (Z-Wave smoke alarms, leak sensors, illumination sensors, door and window sensors, and a couple environmental sensors.) These work well, but they are not bullet proof (drawbacks inherent in battery-operated devices.)

For whole-home climate monitoring, I am partial to 1-Wire systems. They are easily polled by Indigo (I am the developer of one such plugin geared towards the Embedded Data Systems OW-Server-ENET platform, but there are many other types.) These types of sensors run on a wired network unto themselves and I have been very happy with this approach.

Finally, there is a very good user base and quality support provided through these forums. The help I received here was invaluable when I was first getting started with Indigo.

Cheers,
Dave

Welcome!

I think you'll find Indigo can do everything you need. The lock will need to stay on your Vera, but as long as it runs UI5 the Vera Bridge plugin that's included with Indigo will enable you to control it from Indigo. I believe (but not positive) all the rest can be directly controlled by Indigo. Well, the Hue bulbs via the 3rd party Hue Plugin (which a lot of people use and love). Not sure about the WD garage bridge so you may have to do some testing with it.

Given your buildout timeline, trying to standardize on one vendor might not give you the best results given how fast the market is moving now for new devices. The Cooper devices do seem quite nice.

I'll let others jump in with their direct experiences, but I do pretty much all of what you're doing (minus the homelink).

Thanks Jay! Glad to here there is a Vera Plug-in, that will help me with the transition. I don't mind keeping it as a bridge for a few incidentals. I am just finding it to become less responsive as the network gets bigger. The Wayne Dalton bridge works via Vera so I guess it will have to remain in the system until we find a more native way to support Home Link.

I am partial to Z-Wave, and try to limit my use (as much as possible) to hard-wired devices when possible.

You nailed my philosophy! I paid extra to have my home hard wired for the alarm, all sensors. To make the system HA comparable, I just have to upgrade the board. I use a local company so it will be a straight forward upgrade that I can directly pay for...no non-sense contracts and monthly service upgrades!

As for in-wall switches, I prefer the Leviton varietals.

Are you referring to the Vizia RF+ line? I do not have these myself but I understand with Vera, you can actually update the LED on these switches. For example, if I use a Vizia scene controller, then change the scene on a Vera device, I can include a line in the Vera code to update the switch LED's. One of my disappointment with the other brands, including Cooper, is this cannot be done. Any idea if this is supported in Indigo? I have not personally set one of these up but I understand the switch includes 4 scenes plus 4 RF devices, one for each LED.

For whole-home climate monitoring, I am partial to 1-Wire systems

I am not familiar with these so will look this up. I appreciate your feedback. My original plan when I was limited in scope to a Vera-Z-wave system was to use the Aetech multi monitors. While pricey, I liked that I could get both temp and humidity. I also like the fact that these could be hardwired via USB to a power source, eliminating the batteries. All the other features are luxurious I may or may not use. Motion monitoring in rooms my alarm does not monitor would be a plus. I could see using the light sensor to automate lighting and dimming based on motion at night. I have no use for vibration and UV though. But even with all these extras, I just never found a well liked temp and humidity sensor unless it was hardwired and Vera does not support hardwired sensors. You gave me an angle worth checking out. Thanks!

Are you referring to the Vizia RF+ line?

Yes, my in wall switches are exclusively Vizia RF+ (for the non Z-Wave switches, I'm partial to the Lutron Maestro line.) They have been rock solid and drama free. I haven't used any of of their scene controllers (I haven't used any scene controllers.) But the straight-up switches don't seem to have independent control of the LEDs. In the documentation, you can adjust the way the LED behaves, but they don't mention Z-Wave control.

But even with all these extras, I just never found a well liked temp and humidity sensor unless it was hardwired and Vera does not support hardwired sensors. You gave me an angle worth checking out.

The one I use is incredibly cheap for temperature. The server is about $100US and the Maxim DS18B20 sensors are almost free. Adding humidity and other sensors are more involved, but the system is incredibly stable. There are weather proof versions that folks use to measure outdoor temps and also things like hot tubs. There's a bit of a learning curve, but once you get over the hump, deploying a 1-Wire network is very straightforward.

Dave

Do you know a good site for one wire solutions? Id be interested in building or buying a one wire multi-sensor for temp/humidity/light/motion. If I could do a single unit, I could conievable built out to 24 units. I could mix and match the sensors in each units specific to each location as I dont need temp and humidty everywhere I want motion as an example. Just seems like the sensors are individually cheap so might as well build them all the same. I can find the sensors but where would I get housing for these? I guess two RJ-45 jacks for pass through. I suppose the motion would require POE of some kind.

You could try an arduino wifi solution. No wires needed, cost ~$15(esp8622) + sensors ($1-5). Have it working now for some days and seems to be stable. Temp+ humidity+ pressure on one arduino /esp


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you know a good site for one wire solutions? Id be interested in building or buying a one wire multi-sensor for temp/humidity/light/motion. If I could do a single unit, I could conievable built out to 24 units. I could mix and match the sensors in each units specific to each location as I dont need temp and humidty everywhere I want motion as an example. Just seems like the sensors are individually cheap so might as well build them all the same. I can find the sensors but where would I get housing for these? I guess two RJ-45 jacks for pass through. I suppose the motion would require POE of some kind.

Beyond the EDS One Wire Server, I have rolled my own. I buy individual sensors (mine are all DS18B20 temperature sensors), solder them to Ethernet cable, and connect them to the network. The OWSERVER-ENET2 has three individual channels which works out great for my application (1: basement and outdoor, 2: main floor, 3: second floor and attics. There are multi sensors available directly from EDS, but they're on the expensive side. EDS' main clientele is industry (not DIY) and their pricing structure reflects that. For example, you get a break on the prices if you buy in bulk.

If you want to roll your own multisensors, I would check out the OWFS, Arduino and Raspberry Pi forums. But bear in mind that a sensor schematic that is compatible with an Arduino may not be compatible with the OW-SERVER. Nothing against Karl's suggestion above, but my own personal preference is to use wires whenever possible. If memory serves, I don't think I've seen a one wire motion sensor, but one could be built comparatively easily given the right components. But that might fall in the "Easy to say" department.

Dave
(who is not affiliated with EDS in any way. )

Thanks,

I will look into OWFS. If I am going to build my own, it will be wired. No point in building a wireless multi-unit, I can already buy those. Not to mention with wireless, I am occupying Wi-Fi (or z-wave) bandwidth, so I would prefer wired. Otherwise, I will just stick with the many off the shelf z-wave units already available.

Please let me know how you get on. I am always interested in learning more about 1-wire.

Back on the switches, since Indigo is Insteon native, can I use these switches to setup scenes and have Indigo control the Philips Hue bulbs based on the scenes? Also, can I reprogram the main buttons so that they control scenes as opposed to controlling the load? Since I would be using the smart LED bulbs, I would not want the bulbs to be turned off or on at the switch, but rather at the controller (Indigo).

For example, at the switch, pressing 'Off' would dim the bulbs down to 0%. But when I tell Indigo that we are 'Away', the switch's load would be actually turned off. Once I am 'Home', the switches would all be turned back on, but only dimmed on as needed. Is this doable? The scene controller of interest is linked below.

http://www.indigodomo.com/devices/57/

Thanks

[jay (support)]

You can just cap off the load wire on the KeypadLinc so that it's not actually controlling anything directly. You can then trigger on the KeypadLinc going on/off to do whatever you need.

Thanks, maybe you mis-understood...or I mis explained.

I do want the load controller itself to control the lights, but not the switch itself. So I would have the On and Off buttons as well as buttons A through D would all command scenes via Indigo. The switches load contact would also be controlled via Indigo, but not the local switch. Does that make more sense?