HA in Australia

[RichardP]

I've been playing around with LMCE 0710 Beta2, and have been thoughroughly impressed. Lots of problems, but very enjoyable and very impressive potential.

One problem - I can't make my lights follow my remote movement 

Pity I discovered LMCE only after I sold my house fully automated with CBus 

Anyway, I want to automate my current house and connect the automation to LMCE - and I'm not afraid of the development work necessary to get there. Are there any other brave souls that want to journey down this road with me?

First step is to select a an automation system that can be retrofitted. CBus is not a good choice - I don't want to pull cladding off the wall to install the control cables, and Wireless CBus is quite a bit more expensive.

PLCBus? Sounds interesting - does anyone have any experience with it?

X10 - it has some bad press regarding reliability, and I want my system to be robust. I want my automated house to just work - I don't want to have to reboot my computer each time my fridge motor induces a pulse down the powerline.

Oh yeah - I also want my automation system to be independent - I want it to be controllable from a computer system like LMCE, but I don't wan't it to be dependant on a computer. Turn off all the computers in the house and lights must still be controllable from the wall switches and/or IR remotes or whatever - which implies decentralised intelligence like CBus (and PLCBus, from what I've heard)


Best Regards,
Richard.

[ddamron]

RichardP,

Insteon is soon coming to 50Hz.. and PLCBUS is already there.

Insteon is already integrated.  Please search the wiki for INSTEON

PLCBUS integration is proceeding as we speak.  Hari and I are attacking this code.

You're welcome to add / suggest.. please examine the posted code and try to get 'familiar' with the structure.

The coding is all in Ruby. (Interpreted OO scripting language) and most of the code is in the developer's forums.. (search for PLCBUS)

HTH,

Dan

[jo006]

I am in the process of renovating my house and was preparing to install Clipsal C-Bus.  I do not think it would work with LMCE as is, however I found a Linux driver on the Clipsal web site. 

I am open to suggestions for an alternative system.

Justin

[tschak909]

dude, it's not the end of the world, a driver can be written.... Dan hammered together the Insteon driver with no previous experience with this stack.

-Thom

[1audio]

Lighting control- there are two types. One for new construction and really crazy money that is fully centralized. The high end Lutron system is that way. The other is much more retrofit oriented. The light switches are essentially light switches that can be local or remote.
I think the first type is an expensive solution to a non-existent problem. Its very expensive to implement and when a component fails you are really screwed. The product lifecycle for this stuff is 10 years or so and then what do you do to get parts. The second will be easy to retrofit indefinitely and will work fine even when the system is down (no timers or automation but the lights work).

[slampt]

Hey RichardP

I am in the same boat.

My plan is to use a security system that I can integrate the lighting with then use LMCE to talk to that.
I am a bit funny about having a PC control * in my house, so using a embedded device to control the "critical" components of the house makes more sense to me. My plan is to stage me HA fit out in the following way.

I am building a house in WA and I am currently drawing up the plans for "smart wiring" (note: I have LMCE running at my current house but only to play with and do my HTPC shiz.)

Anyway after the house is built and all the wiring in place. The first step for me is to install the security stuff (i will be using an elk-m1g.) All my critical stuff will be controlled by this,  security, lighting, etc.
I will then need to integrate this with LMCE (as this is what I will be using to present a shiny control interface to the house ) and then all the other little bits, climate, reticulation, curtains, voip, etc etc
This is a WIP and my plans will need to be expanded on but thats the gist of it. 

So yeah I guess what I am saying is I too am looking for a lighting solution that will work well in AU and not cost my first born. Ohh yeah something that is bi-directional too is a must!!

[ddamron]

FYI... The Elk M1G supports Insteon...

[slampt]

FYI... The Elk M1G supports Insteon...

It sure does now to find some reasonably priced shiz for AU....

[RichardP]

Insteon is soon coming to 50Hz.. and PLCBUS is already there.

(hmm) Yes, I know. I got all excited when I saw one of your posts about it a while ago, then got all dejected when I discovered it was not for us at the moment. But I'll keep checking...

[RichardP]

I am in the process of renovating my house and was preparing to install Clipsal C-Bus.  I do not think it would work with LMCE as is, however I found a Linux driver on the Clipsal web site. 

I am open to suggestions for an alternative system.

Justin

CBus is great. I had my entire house fully automated with CBus - even to the point where the bathroom extractor would come on with the steam from the shower. It's reliable and dependable. But it uses Cat5 cable which must be laid from device to device, so it's only practical when you are building from scratch or if the house is single-level.

Whether it works for you depends on how deep your renovation is going.

As for working with LMCE - just an implementation detail. As they say in the open-source world - have code, will build!

[RichardP]

So yeah I guess what I am saying is I too am looking for a lighting solution that will work well in AU and not cost my first born. Ohh yeah something that is bi-directional too is a must!!

Anything decent will be bi-directional, so no problem there. Cost will always be a factor - we are working on the cutting edge, and will have to pay a premium for it until it falls into the mainstream.

I'm curious as to why you are set on a security system as the "focal point" for want of a better word. What's your thinking there? Is it simply that that's what is most important to you, and so will be implemented first, or is there a technical reason that makes it necessary?

With most devices nowdays offering interconnection though RS232 or ethernet, LMCE can talk to any or all of the system components and reduce the potential for a single point of failure.

Would you be able to send me a weblink for the elk-m1g?

Best Regards,
Richard.

[slampt]

One of the reasons for me starting with Security, is because I think that is the most important thing in my house
Not only does it make me feel "secure" but it also gets me cheaper insurance *grin*

The Elk stuff can be found at http://www.elkproducts.com/ (IIRC Ness are the AU distributors).

Because the elk (for example) supports various other "Home Automation" things. I would much prefer to use that to drive say the lighting also.  This way if my Linux Box dies some functionality remains.  An embedded system has less chance of failure IMO, and a security product configured/installed properly "should" not fail.  So I should still be able to control lighting via LMCE through the elk I just will need to do some work to make the magic happen. etc.

Sorry I don't have time to expand on this (or ramble on) some more, work is actually making me work.

[jo006]

Whether it works for you depends on how deep your renovation is going.

I am building in underneath my house and also replacing the cladding and roof so it should be relatively easy to install the required cabling.  Being an electrician with an IT background will also help with the programming and getting the C-Bus modules at wholesale price.

Justin

[colinjones]

RichardP - for what its worth, I'm interested in HA in AU as well. Can't really do much on the coding side. But looking for a reliable, fast (so not X10!), bidirectional system at a reasonable price. Very interested in what Dan is upto at the moment with Hari on PLCBUS...

[tschak909]

Dan and Hari have managed to get PLCBUS stuff working in short order. The lighting system became functional, today.

-Thom