Feedback wanted

[kvelland]

I'm currently building my house and have a goal of controlling "every" aspect of my house from a LinuxMCE setup.

1. Temperature control
2. Z-wave for all the lights, the electricians are putting in the components as I write
3. Music in multiple rooms, with built inn speakers
4. Possible to stream different tv signal to different rooms
5. Security systems with surveillance cameras
6. pluss much more, what cool things can be done

My budget is good and I rather do this the right way. I'm putting Cat6 cables inn all the rooms, I have a central room to put my Core, this room will also have the cable/satelite input, all the Cat6 cables ends up here. I also make it possible to wire from the speakers to both this room and to central location around the house, places to put my MD's maybe?

I understand that this is going to take some time. I tried out a little bit this weekend, and yes.. things take time.

Would greatly appreciate all input on how to best solve the different things.

[Marie.O]

Where are you located? Is this a new build or a renovation?

[kvelland]

Where are you located? Is this a new build or a renovation?

I live in norway. It is a new build.

[Marie.O]

I have said this over and over again, but will repeat it nonetheless: In a new build, I would not go Z-Wave but KNX. If you want to know why, search the forum and the wiki.

[totallymaxed]

I'm currently building my house and have a goal of controlling "every" aspect of my house from a LinuxMCE setup.

1. Temperature control
2. Z-wave for all the lights, the electricians are putting in the components as I write
3. Music in multiple rooms, with built inn speakers
4. Possible to stream different tv signal to different rooms
5. Security systems with surveillance cameras
6. pluss much more, what cool things can be done

My budget is good and I rather do this the right way. I'm putting Cat6 cables inn all the rooms, I have a central room to put my Core, this room will also have the cable/satelite input, all the Cat6 cables ends up here. I also make it possible to wire from the speakers to both this room and to central location around the house, places to put my MD's maybe?

I understand that this is going to take some time. I tried out a little bit this weekend, and yes.. things take time.

Would greatly appreciate all input on how to best solve the different things.

Hi there,

Since your in a 'new build' situation and you've already made a number of decisions like such as ZWave (KNX would have possibly been a better choice...but we have many customers who are very happy with ZWave)... therefore I would highlight the following;

- Make sure that you run more CAT6 cable than you need to each room and to each location specifically where you might have a media playback device or need to control a device of some kind. If in doubt run the extra cables now...later will cost you much more!
- Think about what equipment will be located in-room and what will be located centrally (this will affect the point about cabling above)
- Think through where you audio amplification will be located; in-room or centralised. Also think through what you want to be able to do with audio ie synchronised playback in open plan areas maybe
- In any location where you will have equipment think about ventilation (I know this sounds obvious...but it trips up many people) - even in the central rack or equipment hub
- Take your time learning about LinuxMCE and dont rush in expecting to put to your system together in a rush (I know your already aware of this...but its worth restating)

All the best


Andrew  

[kvelland]

I have to admit that I'm getting a little bit worried about my choice of z-wave. It's a quite big house, and alot of concrete that will make the signal transfer more difficult.

I'm really not sure what to do here.

You are sayning that you have customers that are happy with z-wave, is it also many of them experiencing problems?

[Marie.O]

I ain't totallymaxed, but...

I had Z-Wave in my house for testing purposes (as well as some Enocean devices). It did not work as seamless, as I wanted it to.

IMHO Z-Wave is great if you have a place that works without Z-Wave routing. If you need routing, and you have a new build, Z-Wave is, imho, the wrong choice.

And this is from someone, who put KNX not into a new build, but into an existing building (all that was needed was some new paint in the rooms )

[totallymaxed]

I have to admit that I'm getting a little bit worried about my choice of z-wave. It's a quite big house, and alot of concrete that will make the signal transfer more difficult.

I'm really not sure what to do here.

You are sayning that you have customers that are happy with z-wave, is it also many of them experiencing problems?

Hi kvelland,

We have not had any customers who have been unhappy with ZWave at all. We have customer installations that range in size from 4x circuits to 50+ circuits of ZWave lighting (and other ZWave devices). We also have customers with a lot of concrete construction or in one particular case a lot of underfloor heating in their houses - both of these are not ideal for a wireless based technology. But in both cases it was possible to get a very reliable installation.

However if you are in the fortunate situation of having a new build property in construction then in many ways you may find KNX is a better choice. However it is more complicated overall to install and also to configure and setup/program than ZWave. For example the basic configuration/inclusion of a 40 node ZWave installation (ie no fancy lighting scenarios) can be achieved in about 60-75 mins - at the end of that time all lighting circuits will be functioning basically both from wall switches and from Orbiters. KNX will be slower and more complex in this respect to configure initially but ultimately may well provide a more flexible solution if you intend to expand and extend your systems functions over time.

All the best


Andrew

[hari]

I have to admit that I'm getting a little bit worried about my choice of z-wave. It's a quite big house, and alot of concrete that will make the signal transfer more difficult.

I'm really not sure what to do here.

You are sayning that you have customers that are happy with z-wave, is it also many of them experiencing problems?

I did write our Z-Wave driver and did quite a few installations. The mesh routing can be tricky in some scenarios. I use high quality components (Merten) and even with a good mesh (about 40 devices on 100sqm), commands get lost sometimes..

If you can go KNX. KNX is 100% reliable.

[bongowongo]

I don't know in which fase you are in building, if you can still pull wire easy for KNX, but if you cannot anymore,
there are also options to use the PowerLine, for KNX, or competitors PLCBus. You only need to make your sockets
deeper

[kvelland]

Thank you for all the answers. I talked to the electrians today and they where negative about changing plans so late. But I will put extra pipings so that it´s will be possible to change to something else later.

I will put some floor heating, they try to sell me their wireless system for controling this. Does anybody have any experience in theese solutions, is it possible to controll with z-wave deveices. The company that deliver the system is called uponor. I talked to their technical person but he had no idea what I was talking about.

http://www.catalog.uponor.com/index.php?id=27&no_cache=1&L=en&tx_uponorproduct_pi1[child]=112

[totallymaxed]

Thank you for all the answers. I talked to the electrians today and they where negative about changing plans so late. But I will put extra pipings so that it´s will be possible to change to something else later.

I will put some floor heating, they try to sell me their wireless system for controling this. Does anybody have any experience in theese solutions, is it possible to controll with z-wave deveices. The company that deliver the system is called uponor. I talked to their technical person but he had no idea what I was talking about.

http://www.catalog.uponor.com/index.php?id=27&no_cache=1&L=en&tx_uponorproduct_pi1[child]=112

The Uponor systems don't appear to have any external control interface - at least its not discussed on their site. The systems seem to be wired or wireless but this is just for inter-connecting the room stats, control processor and sensors together and not for interfacing to any kind of external control or system ie LinuxMCE. So it appears that the Uponor system is stand-alone and not controllable by external systems.

Hope the above helps...at least a little!

Andrew

[kvelland]

The Uponor systems don't appear to have any external control interface - at least its not discussed on their site. The systems seem to be wired or wireless but this is just for inter-connecting the room stats, control processor and sensors together and not for interfacing to any kind of external control or system ie LinuxMCE. So it appears that the Uponor system is stand-alone and not controllable by external systems.

Hope the above helps...at least a little!

Andrew

Ok, thank you. I sent you an email about buying one of your system. Can I order to Norway, do you have som pricelist?

[totallymaxed]

Ok, thank you. I sent you an email about buying one of your system. Can I order to Norway, do you have som pricelist?

Hi kvelland,

Yes we do ship to Norway - see our forum thread here which has a lot of information about system pricing and shipping; http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=8880.msg60443#msg60443

I don't think I received an email from you but if you emailed our info<at>dianemo<dot>co<dot>uk address then someone from the sales side will get back to you asap. Please pm here on the forum if you do not a response this afternoon & I will assist or chase it up for you.

All the best


Andrew

[hari]

I don't know in which fase you are in building, if you can still pull wire easy for KNX, but if you cannot anymore,
there are also options to use the PowerLine, for KNX, or competitors PLCBus. You only need to make your sockets
deeper

powerline sucks (sloooow)

br Hari