Author Topic: New apartment - retrofitting  (Read 7009 times)

deepB

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New apartment - retrofitting
« on: May 27, 2013, 09:13:49 pm »
Hello everybody,

I will move into a new apartment in 2 month. I want to have HA, especially lighting and appliance power on/off, media system an phone system.

I know that linuxmce can handle that, but I do not know what to use for the automation.
Since this apartment already exists and I am only retrofitting (and it should not cost too much, poor student here), I thought of using the Tellstick.
How long is the range though? And can you suggest a source for switches and so on?
Is anybody working on the Tellstick Duo (so you can also recieve data)? How much work would that be?

Or would you suggest a completely different approach?

best regards
Daniel

Marie.O

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Re: New apartment - retrofitting
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2013, 09:12:00 am »
Where are you located. If you are in the EU, you can use KNX-RF, Ensteon or Z-Wave, to name a few. In the US it is Z-Wave, Enocean or Insteon. Some people have had success with the Tellstick. but I ave no hands on knowledge, nor know about the stability.

deepB

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Re: New apartment - retrofitting
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2013, 06:39:56 pm »
I am located in the EU.

The thing that makes the tellstick very attractive to me is the price, which is (as far as i found out) far cheaper then the mentioned alternatives.

Is anybody around with experience with the tellstick?

best regards
Daniel

pointman87

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Re: New apartment - retrofitting
« Reply #3 on: May 28, 2013, 10:41:43 pm »
Yes im using the tellstick and about 20 lamps in my house, works very good =) Im in Sweden BTW.

BR Daniel

deepB

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Re: New apartment - retrofitting
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2013, 12:58:14 am »
how long is the distance between the tellstick and the appliance?

EDIT: also can you suggest a shop?
« Last Edit: May 29, 2013, 01:46:40 am by deepB »

pointman87

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Re: New apartment - retrofitting
« Reply #5 on: May 31, 2013, 08:56:33 pm »
The longest distance is about 20 meters.
Well what country are you in?

BR Daniel

deepB

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Re: New apartment - retrofitting
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2013, 02:53:37 am »
Oh, I am sorry for not mentioning that, Austria. So everything inside the EU (with the exception of the UK) should work.

trentend

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Re: New apartment - retrofitting
« Reply #7 on: June 04, 2013, 12:51:54 pm »
The thing that puts me off with these devices is that the general build quality is not great. There are a lot of reports of failures around the 12-18 months time.  I use KNX - it's expensive, but it really lasts.  Three years now, and every device still going strong - and a lot of those were bought second hand.

deepB

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Re: New apartment - retrofitting
« Reply #8 on: June 10, 2013, 07:38:56 pm »
yes, and when I build my own house I will definitely use something like KNX.

Right now though I am just retrofitting. Also since I am a student right now budget is tight.

Any suggestions for a shop?

Best regards
Daniel

Techstyle

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Re: New apartment - retrofitting
« Reply #9 on: June 12, 2013, 08:12:05 pm »

purps

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Re: New apartment - retrofitting
« Reply #10 on: June 17, 2013, 06:06:37 pm »
I've had nothing but pleasant experiences with Ivor Atkins from http://www.uk-automation.co.uk/ (based in the UK as you might have guessed).

Cheers,
Matt.
1004 RC :: looking good :: upgraded 01/04/2013
my setup :: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/User:Purps