Home automation server/system makes?

[Bitpipe]

Alternative view here - we looked into automation at an early stage of the build and given we are both electronic engineers working in s/w & h/w we were au-fait with the technology and more than capable of configuring it.

 

Ultimately we decided against for reasons of cost and complexity. When we took a hard look at it, we couldn't find an automation use case that was so compelling that it justified the investment and commitment to cabling hub & spoke for lighting vs traditional ring.

 

A few factors -

• Our house is quite large (basement, two floors and room in roof) so we would have needed a lot of kit. We have 3 standard fuse panels as it is and had to wire the house left and right to minimise cable density.
• We have electrical external venetian style blinds to east windows on toggle switches - i find we don't really adjust them much during the day. They never go up and down, at most we tweak the angle of the slats.
• We have Velux Integra windows in the hall and utility and have motorised external blinds on these and a few others - all are controlled by the proprietary Velux touch screen panels, again we don't really fiddle with them very much during the day.
• Heating is single zone on ground floor only and is rarely on as the house meets passive standards.
• MVHR is triggered by PIR and light switches in bathrooms, which also triggers the hot return pump
• We have a mix of ceiling LED spots, a few pendants & uplighters in the living/dining area  and a 5a lamp circuit in each room and this satisfies all the lighting 'scenes' that we seem to require (eating dinner, watching tv, etc..).

During the build we felt that we'd removed another source of complexity as our electrician had other builds where he was held up by the KNX firm delivering panels etc.

 

One feature that I am envious of though is the ability to centrally turn off all lights from one place - now that we have teenagers, they do roam around at night and I often comedown in the morning to see every light left on...

 

[jack]

1 hour ago, Thorfun said:

as far as I know you don't pay for C4 software upgrades but you do have to pay for the installer to do the work! so, no free lunch at all.

also, I think the annual maintenance fee is a dealer option as I'm sure the ones I've spoken to have said that you don't need an annual maintenance plan but can just pay as and when updates/changes are required.

 

Sure, I was just pointing out what my parents in law have set up. I know that a per-visit contract is an option, because they looked into it. They did the maths and figured out that the annual maintenance fee would always have been cheaper than paying per action.

 

My main point was that you can't make changes yourself (I believe), so either you pay a maintenance fee or a per-change fee - either way, there's no way around giving money to an installer if you want the system kept up to date.

[Thorfun]

1 hour ago, jack said:

 

Sure, I was just pointing out what my parents in law have set up. I know that a per-visit contract is an option, because they looked into it. They did the maths and figured out that the annual maintenance fee would always have been cheaper than paying per action.

 

My main point was that you can't make changes yourself (I believe), so either you pay a maintenance fee or a per-change fee - either way, there's no way around giving money to an installer if you want the system kept up to date.

yep. agreed!

I'm a self employed IT consultant with my own company and I sent an email to Control-4 explaining that I was looking to expand in to home automation alongside my existing networking/server business and wanted to become a C4 installer. This was just so I could do my own system with no real plans to ever do other installs. I never heard back from them! I might try again at some point. you never know, it could be a new way of life for me. I could do a buildhub member discount. ?

[Dan F]

@Thorfun I found this video series the other day which is a fantastic introduction to Loxone.

 

https://www.loxone.com/enen/kb-cat/foundation-series/

https://www.loxone.com/enen/kb-cat/focus-series/

 

Do you know if C4 can be self-programmed, or installer does everything and then walks away with the password?  I'd ruled out C4 assuming this was the case, but I might be wrong...

[Thorfun]

23 minutes ago, Dan Feist said:

@Thorfun I found this video series the other day which is a fantastic introduction to Loxone.

 

https://www.loxone.com/enen/kb-cat/foundation-series/

https://www.loxone.com/enen/kb-cat/focus-series/

 

Do you know if C4 can be self-programmed, or installer does everything and then walks away with the password?  I'd ruled out C4 assuming this was the case, but I might be wrong...

thanks for the videos I will watch with glee!

 

no self programming in C4, but they do offer an if/when type user interface to allow basic automation without the need for a dealer. but it is very much a closed system. I think, for me, it'll come down to comparing costs, ease of use, expandability, functionality, aesthetics and reliability. some form of matrix will need to be created to compare. 

[Dan F]

2 minutes ago, Thorfun said:

thanks for the videos I will watch with glee!

 

no self programming in C4, but they do offer an if/when type user interface to allow basic automation without the need for a dealer. but it is very much a closed system. I think, for me, it'll come down to comparing costs, ease of use, expandability, functionality, aesthetics and reliability. some form of matrix will need to be created to compare. 

 

Make sure you share you conclusions!  One thing I hadn't realised you could do with Loxone, but discovered over the weekend, was that you can actually design and simulate things using the design tool "Config" without even buying anything.. those videos explain how.