Home automation questions

FrankGrimes

I’ve checked out the demos on letsautomate.co.uk and I’ve gotten the basic jist of what X10 can do and I’m pretty impressed. Three things I would like to use X10 to do would be:

A) Control central heating remotely by phone

Dial 2 phone numbers when our house alarm (which currently does not have a dialler) goes off

C) Setup external remote control of lights in two rooms (for security)

Our gas boiler is in the utility room and its power is fed through a timer. We have no thermostat at present in another room, but would like to add a wireless thermostat and external remote control by phone for this.

From what I can make out this device will somehow (?) figure out when our house alarm is going off, and ring up to 4 numbers to notify us, while also providing the ability to remotely control the heating and lights via phone. Would this work with the phone setup I describe above?

We currently have chrome dimmer switches for lights in almost every room, and I’d like to be able to control two of those over the phone for security when late home from work etc.

One caveat to note is that the phones will be using VoIP through an ATA adapter which will mean they can be used just like normal phones, but just wanna call this out in case the device above can't be used with it.

I haven’t been this excited about what a benefit technology can be since I discovered Windows Media Center (which, by the way if you need advice on I’m your man) so any help is much appreciated

patrido

Hi Frank

Somehow?!! This unit is actually an alarm control panel, so it would replace your existing alarm. You can buy sensors for doors/windows/pir, which work wirelessly, or you can use normal alarm sensors (though it looks like only on one zone)

Can you plug a normal phone into your voip system and get a dial tone and use DTMF?? If so, this unit will work ok. It might be worth a call to the manufacturer or letsautomate to check if it is compatible with VOIP.

you will also need an x10 module to control your central heating in order to be able to switch it on/off remotely.

there is a lifestyle function, which will activate lights when you're away (it has a photocell to detect when it's dark)

FrankGrimes

Ah, patrido - I was hoping you'd answer

So that explains it then -that thing is an alarm with dialler and external phone access point into your X10 system all in one.

My mate just installed the alarm for us a couple of months back, and cos he hasnt done diallers and we never planned on getting a landline, we dont have a dialler. We have one control panel in the hall and one in the bedroom and dont want to lose this setup so we'll be sticking with it.

I saw this device in B&Q that listens for when your alarm goes off and phones you when it does. I was hoping this x10 device did the same. Any experience with something like that cos it might be the way for us to get an alarm dialler retrospectively while keeping the existing alarm.

Are there any other components that just allow you to control your x10 by phone? I saw mentioned elsewhere that the one I linked to above is fairly dumb - it just turns something on, it can't let you programme when it should turn off. Is there any more intelligent one out there?

Cool, so there is a heating module to do what I want, so I'll look into that.

I haven't ordered the VoIP stuff yet, so I'll make sure to ask the questions you list below before I do.

I'll start looking up this stuff on avforums - know any other good forums for x10, and are there alternative systems I should investigate that might suit retrospective fitting?

Thanks a bunch.

JoeB-

check out
http://www.alternative-technology.de/Alarm_System/alarm_system.html

This device does everything you desire (I think)... it is also an alarm dialler and sms controller. If you are handy as a computer programmer you can program it yourself otherwise you'd use the standard software...

You could keep your existing alarm, I reckon it can inform the dialler when it's activated... some contacts will go high or whatever, so the current alarm system would appear as a single sensor to the dialler, when it signals, the dialler assumes an alarm and rings you or whatever...

Physical connections would be required between the dialler and devices you want to control power wise...

I think this only works with mobile phones...

Hope this helps
Cheers
Joe

towbar

Quasar do a kit with 4 relays that can be controlled by dtmf, would solve A and C

http://www.electronic-kits-and-projects.com/3140.htm

Have used one and very reliable but it uses a landline ie. your answerphone service wont work.

If you dont want to tie up a landline you can use a mobile phone at the receiving end, you can modify the above board to do this or I actually have a bunch of boards that decode dtmf to control up to 3 relays and connect to a mobile phone headset. Post if you want circuits or more info.

I've seen a system that is a single board with gsm modem integrated into it and has 4 inputs and 2 outputs - can dial or sms up to 4 numbers on a triggered alarm or allows you to do remote control via dtmf or sms. Would retail at about €300 though when you include everything.

Regarding X10 many have expressed concerns about its reliability, I've no personal experience but the reviews I've seen would recommend where possible using systems with a harded wired or wireless control bus rather than running control signals over the mains wires. I intend to use CBUS in a new build although X10 is very cost effective.


JoeBallantine - any idea on approximate costs of that board?

patrido

i'm not familiar with any x10 heating modules, though i know they exist. they should be pretty simple. they'll just override your timeclock to turn the boiler on.

i even saw a phone module in a local electrical wholesalers last week.

like Joe said, there may be outputs on your alarm panel that you can use to signal another device such as a dialer or a lighting controller.

JoeB-

towbar
the system mentioned in my previous post costs about €170 - €200 (2004 prices), requires an external mobile phone (or land line).

It is very good if you can program in Basic, BASCOM-AVR basic in particular, then you can make it do nearly anything... the source code is supplied and can be modified or replaced...

Cheers
Joe