Home Automation Stuff

[ddrueding]

As an ancillary of the lighting bits, I need control of all these dimmable cans. SmartHome is a great site, and has tons of stuff. A while ago I purchased some Z-Wave bits, but after doing some research, it seems that Insteon seems to be the better tech (both 900Mhz and powerline communication) and has more stuff available for not much more money.

Does anyone have experience with either?

I'm currently looking at the following bits:

8-Button keypads
Single Straight Dimmers
Remote Control
In-Line Dimmer (should make wiring much easier)
Thermostat
Insteon to wireless bridge (for AV gear)
Dual-Band access points (to overcome any dead spots)
Web/Smartphone Interface

Not to mention dry contact sensors for everything from sprinklers to garage door openers to alarm systems...this is some geeky stuff.

Thoughts?

 

[Stereodude]

I plan to use Insteon for my HT lighting. I haven't had any experience with it yet. My buddy has Insteon for his HT lighting and doesn't have any complaints. I plan to use one 6 button keypad outside the room, one 8 button in the room, and a bunch of the dimmers outside the room connected to the low voltage transformers for the lights. I'm going to use the IR interface in my HT rack to control the lights.

 

[ddrueding]

I'll be ordering one or two of each to play with soon.

Any advice on which software package for programming? There are so many, most of them have to suck.

 

[MaxBurn]

Good forum for BAS/MBS:

http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/forumdisplay.php?f=26

Typically these guys are all geared for a much larger scope with commercial sites though.

 

[Stereodude]

Any advice on which software package for programming? There are so many, most of them have to suck.

I plan to start with the free beta of Insteon Explorer. I'm not interested in driving the system from a PC only something to allow me to program it without running around pressing buttons, so I don't see any reason to buy the HouseLinc 2 software.

 

[ddrueding]

I did what I usually do and bought a ISY-i99 Pro. It seems to allow a bunch of stuff that is possible in other ways (control via network/internet/smartphone, backup/restore of entire system, timers/events without PC, etc), but in an easier form.