About to Break Ground...

We're about to start on the new place, and I've been spending a lot of time thinking about home automation from the "ground up." I'm going to use this thread to share my discoveries as I try different devices and strategies.

One thing that I decided today is that I'm done with Insteon. It has served me mostly well, but the reliability of my garage door controllers in particular has been lacking, mostly due to the distance to cover between the PLM and the I/O Lincs. I'm not interested in seeing if I'll get better coverage in the new construction. So I've put up my backup PLMs, I/O Lincs, and switches for sale. The ones that are still in use here at the current place will be decommissioned as I have time.

• Light switches: For the new home, I've pretty much settled on Z-Wave switches. I had thought about going Lutron Caséta, but I just don't like the look of their switches. Plus I have my eyes on some smart recessed lights that I want to go with, and need a switch that won't kill power. That's why Inovelli Red is my current front runner. However, they are out of stock for the time being, so my plan of ordering one to try out is put on hold. I do have some Homeseer Z-Wave switches here and they are reliable, but I need that "phantom power" feature.
  
• Outdoor security lights: I'm going with a number of Homeseer HS-FLS100+ units. I have two of these here and they are rock solid.
  
• Garage doors: I've been using Insteon I/O Linc modules, but as I stated above, I'm not happy with their reliability. Since we'll be getting new garage door controllers for the new construction, I've looked at myQ and other solutions. myQ relies on the "cloud" from what I can see, and that is a deal killer for me. There are Z-Wave controllers, but I'm leaning toward an ESP-32 and HomeSpan with some custom programming to create a Wi-Fi based solution for triggering the garage door and determining the open/close state.
  
• Ceiling fans: Pretty much every ceiling fan we picked has a built in remote, and a few are "Bond ready" so I picked up a Bond Bridge I've been playing with it a bit with the fans here at the current place, and I really like it. I think I'm going to stick with Bond and not even put a power switch in the wall for the fans.
  
• Smart blinds/curtains: I'm still researching this, but I do not want battery powered solutions. What hardwired blind/curtain solutions are there, and what wire should I tell my electrician to run at the windows?
  
• Landscape irrigation: Like the garage doors, I plan on rolling my own solution with ESP-32.
  
• Doors: I have an ESP-32 with some custom code that will connect to contact switches in the door jambs for select doors, and expose those via MQTT to Indigo. The testbed is working great at the moment.
  
• Windows: I plan on having glass break sensors in each room where there are windows, and have some GoControl Z-Wave units on order.
  
• Motion sensors: I want go fully wired here too – no batteries.
  
• Smoke sensors: The current thinking is to roll my own. Get some cheap sensors, wire them together, then use a relay to feed the state into Indigo.

Well, that's the start of my notes. The next 9 months or so ought to be interesting. I'll post here as I take this journey.

[matt (support)]

Great – do keep us updated on the progress and how everything turns out!

We're about to start on the new home, and I've been spending a lot of time thinking about home automation from the "ground up." I'm going to use this thread to share my discoveries as I try different devices and strategies.

One thing that I decided today is that I'm done with Insteon. It has served me mostly well, but the reliability of my garage door controllers in particular has been lacking, mostly due to the distance to cover between the PLM and the I/O Lincs. I'm not interested in seeing if I'll get better coverage in the new construction. So I've put up my backup PLMs, I/O Lincs, and switches for sale. The ones that are still in use here at the current place will be decommissioned as I have time.

For the new home, I've pretty much settled on Z-Wave switches. I had thought about going Lutron Caséta, but I just don't like the look of their switches. Plus I have my eyes on some smart recessed lights that I want to go with, and need a switch that won't kill power. That's why Inovelli Red is my current front runner. However, they are out of stock for the time being, so my plan of ordering one to try out is put on hold. I do have some Homeseer Z-Wave switches here and they are reliable, but I need that "phantom power" feature.

For outdoor security lights, I'll go with the Homeseer HS-FLS100+ I have two of these here and they are rock solid.

Garage Doors: I've been using Iston I/O Lincs, but as I stated above, I'm not happy with their reliability. Since we'll be getting new garage door controllers for the new construction, I've looked at myQ and other solutions. myQ relies on the "cloud" from what I can see, and is a deal killer. There are Z-Wave controllers, but I'm leaning toward an ESP32 and HomeSpan with some custom programming to create a Wi-Fi based solution for triggering the garage door and determining the open/close state.

Ceiling fans are an interesting topic. Pretty much every ceiling fan we picked has a built in remote, and a few are "Bond ready" so I picked up a Bond hub. I've been playing with it a bit with the fans here at the current place, and I really like it. I think I'm going to stick with Bond and not even put a power switch in the wall for the fans.

Smart blinds/curtains - Still researching this, but I do not want battery powered solutions. What hardwired blind/curtain solutions are there, and what wire should I tell my electrician to run at the windows?

Landscape irrigation - like the garage doors, I plan on rolling my own solution with ESP32.

Doors - I have an ESP32 with some custom code that will connect to contact switches in the door jambs for select doors, and expose those via MQTT to Indigo. The testbed is working great at the moment.

Windows - Glass break sensors in each room where there are windows. I have some GoControl Z-Wave ones on order.

Motion sensors - would like to go fully wired here too. No batteries.

Smoke sensors - current thinking is to roll my own. Get some cheap sensors, wire them together, then use a relay to feed the state into Indigo.

Well, that's the start of my notes. The next 9 months or so ought to be interesting. I'll post here as I take this journey.

Sounds good, just a couple of questions:

- could you please explain your solution for garden irrigation? I am also building new house and I plan to go with OpenSprinkler.

- could you please share also the solution with ESP32 for door sensor?

- could you please tell me more about the window glass solution?

Thank you

Sure thing...

- Irrigation: where we are now, I'm using the Insteon irrigation controller to control three different zones of in-ground sprinklers. At the new site, I'm going to use an ESP-32 along with this breakout board and this relay board to achieve the same result. These all mount on DIN rail, so it's nice and organized.

- For the door sensor, I'll use the ESP-32 along with the breakout board above. On each door I want to monitor, I'll use this door sensor and connect it to one of the pins on the breakout board. With some custom programming on the ESP-32, I'll detect the state of each sensor and send that state to an MQTT broker running on Indigo. I already have this working in a test environment.

- These are the glass break sensors I ordered. They listen for the sound of a thud and breaking glass then emit an alarm. They are also Z-wave capable, so they integrate with Indigo. They are wireless, but I do plan on running low voltage power to them wherever I mount them.

Part of my automation strategy is to monitor water usage. To that end, I picked up these two Z-wave devices:

1. Zooz Titan for automated water shut-off.
2. Fortrezz Flow Meter

I'll work with the plumber to determine where they go in the new build.

Sounds like you've got a great plan. We're a bit jealous as our build is on hold -- our most recent bids were in the $350 sq/ft range. Anyway, I'd offer a couple other things to consider:

• You didn't mention cameras, but I'd suggest adding wiring to locations where you think you might want them someday.
• Try to go with the deepest plastic switch boxes you can find. The boxes in our current home make adding Z-Wave devices a challenge.
• You mentioned smoke sensors/relays and -- if these are supplemental to your smoke/CO2 detectors -- I'd add a relay to the smoke detectors, too. We've been using the ZCombo devices (which are fine) but the Z-Wave bit isn't worth it, IMO. The battery level reporting isn't that accurate and a simple relay will tie into Indigo. We're going to go back to hard-wired detectors when these expire. We plan to add flame sensors, too.
• It's our hope to be able to create a low voltage backbone for 5v, 12v, and landscape lighting. We have yet to find a good solution that's not a dealer-only item.
• We also want to move our landscape transformers indoors (there are units UL rated for indoors available). We currently have 3 zones and we hate having all that hardware hanging off the house.

Good luck with your build; looking forward to hearing what you learn. And order your appliance package first!

Thanks for the suggestions!

1. Cameras... yes, I forgot to add that to the list. My go-to camera solution is SecuritySpy which I've been using at the current place for years. I'll go with some POE cameras with PTZ in strategic outside locations.
2. Very good point on the plastic boxes. I've noticed that smart switches are getting thinner, but I've battled with shallow boxes in the past, so I want to avoid that.
3. Yeah, hard-wired is how I"m going with a relay tie-in.
4. I've looked into this as well. I found Voltek for a possible solution, but that's specific to outlets.
5. Yes, the mantra is "fewest boxes outside." That means more up front planning during the slab phase so that we have ingress/egress where we think we need.

Smart blinds/curtains: I'm still researching this, but I do not want battery powered solutions. What hardwired blind/curtain solutions are there, and what wire should I tell my electrician to run at the windows?

I've got four Bali/Somfy blinds in my home. The work over z-wave and Indigo handles them fine. They are a bit fidgety to get included but once set up they work very well. Mine are powered by a battery pack but I believe there is a power adapter option as well.

Motion sensors: I want go fully wired here too – no batteries.

I use several Aeotec Multi-sensors around the home to report not just motion, but also temperature, humidity and light levels. While they can run on battery the also come with a power adapter.

Thanks for the tips, Jeff. I'll look into these.

[*] Smart blinds/curtains: I'm still researching this, but I do not want battery powered solutions. What hardwired blind/curtain solutions are there, and what wire should I tell my electrician to run at the windows?

Lutron, Hunter-Douglas, and Somfy are the ones I know about. Lutron are far and away the quietest, but probably also the costliest. You get what you pay for.

Generally it's a 14/2 or 16/2 stranded (think speaker wire) for the pre-wire. Needs to be flexible to route it at the shades. Where it comes out of the window frame really depends on the brand. Don't forget to plan for a location for the power supply for the shades. Lutron has specific power supplies they use. My house has two of them in the utility closet.

Also, pre-wire for shades is usually done by the low voltage contractor, not the electrician. Unless your electrician has a separate team (at lower prices) for LV, you really don't want them doing the LV wiring. That includes hard wired security, coax for antenna or satellite, ethernet, etc, etc,

Thanks Joe. Shades are part of the solution. I'm also looking at automating curtains as well.

I'll be running an LV wire myself, including anything to the windows. I would prefer to have shade/curtain motors that don't require a power brick. Looking at LV whole house distribution systems as well.

Thanks for your input.

Thanks Joe. Shades are part of the solution. I'm also looking at automating curtains as well.

I'll be running an LV wire myself, including anything to the windows. I would prefer to have shade/curtain motors that don't require a power brick. Looking at LV whole house distribution systems as well.

Thanks for your input.

I did that once. Had a bunch of friends at the house and we pulled 8000' of cable that day. I think I shocked the builder.

I'd be amazed if you *weren't* slinging all the LV yourself. That's my plan, too.

What are your plans for landline?

Dave,

You mean POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)? Same as RG6... not gonna happen :