Home Automation Systems - DIY

Soldier

Hi Guys

just wondering if anyone can help or give advice about doing home automation yourself. i have been trying to find a manual that will guide me through doing it myself. It could save me a lot of money.

Mellor

what exact aspects of automation,
automation of what??

Depending on that this will be moved to DIY or electronics

MickLimk

X10 is a system (international standard?) that is around for a good while and seems pretty popular in this area. It can be configured pretty to do much anything at this stage. This crowd here (http://www.letsautomate.com/index.cfm?&Nav=X10&URLCaller=HA) seem to be a good supplier for the X10 stuff. No affiliation!

Soldier

i want a manual that will tell me what wires to buy, how to do it myself. to connect the lighting, heating, audio etc together. Thanks for the replies

MickLimk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Easy-Projects-Creating-Smart-Home/dp/0790613069/ref=pd_sim_b?ie=UTF8&qid=1213179668&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Smart-Homes-Dummies-Danny-Briere/dp/0470165677/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b?ie=UTF8&qid=1213179668&sr=1-2

Quazzie

<SNIP>
Nice advertisement first time poster.

Slig

Quazzie2002 wrote: »

Nice advertisement first time poster.

Sceptic:D

Leadership

<SNIP>

Ouch, $15k for set-up with basic audio

slayer91

X10 is the easiest and cheapest way to start into Home Automation , but it is not just about getting lights turned on or off, it is a more 'complete approach. It involves distribution of video and audio around the house.

For the holy grail check out this site:

http://www.bwired.nl/

For good info check out the wiring guide on this site

http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/Download/

Bear in mind, it is easier to install all the cabling at the building stage and helps a great deal if you have an electrical background.

Feel free to ask more questions and lastly I used Homeseer software package for my X10 system, they have a great forum at

http://forums.homeseer.com/


Regards

Liam

De_man

as mellor said what exactly do you want to set up?

automated curtains/blinds (a great job but expensive!!!)
outside lighting, external video phone, automated gates, internal lighting
bathroom tv
turn on kettle etc on way home via gsm , turning on heating

the possibilities are endless, it just comes down to your available budget

the project broke my F++ heart and found it easier to actually to build the house :rolleyes:

i particularly like having a look at our gaff via the net when we're away
and looking at our home TV whilst away aswell

if you're talking about an audio system you're talking about 3-4K

have a look at the following site for some useful info

www.intellihome.be

sunnysoutheast

Ha ha that website's a classic "Automated body weight monitor" "Kitchen Fridge Open" "Letterbox Monitor" published on the internet for all to see! Surely it's a security risk in itself unless they spoof the entries when they're not in.

Anyway, back to the point, surely all of these services will be IP-based soon if not already. So just put in loads of CAT5e/CAT6 running to wherever you think you'll want devices back to a server room with 10pair poly-poly outside. You can even run Power-over-Ethernet for certain low power devices. Run high-quality Coax for TV/Sky and you'll be sorted.

For audio distribution you can already get wired/wireless solutions from Sonos, Logitech, Cambridge Audio, Philips and for the minted Linn. For video I'll let others comment, although I believe you need a minimum of 100Kb/s for 720p HD video. This is more than possible over decent CAT5e.

Sorry I don't know much about X10 controlling lights, curtains, heating etc.

SSE

I looked into doing a diy home automation system, so far all I've done is flood-wire the house with cat5 cable.

I only use one of them to connect the internet to the study!

A solution without a problem, but when I have a reason to use it at least I'll have the cables in place, or draw wires for something different!