Home automation

rlb

rlb

Well-Known Member
Anyone here into this sort of stuff? Looks like insteon is the best way to go, though the switches seem pricey. I mostly want to turn off a switch from my phone instead of getting off my ass to do it.
 
This is all I've done so far...

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And the app that controls it...

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Looking to do that too. What thermostat is it? How well does it work? Can you access it when you're not home?
 
using zwave for lighting - indoor, outdoor
and security - right now i can control the front door lock, and have an indoor motion sensor - will be adding a couple of cameras
Think the switches are lutron - the only thing i don't like is they don't associate a double click of the switch with full-on like their
standard switches.

also have wifi enabled thermostats (venstar) - with indoor/outdoor/humidity sensors. Have a thermostat (honeywell/radio thermostat) & couple of remote sensors (la crosse) at my dad's cabin in upstate NY, which is nice - turn the heat on before getting there at 11pm in late january.

the zwave is cool - i don't use the proximity stuff (phone gets close to house), but have "tv mode" for the LR lights, and a "cleaning" - full-on mode. there is a floor lamp that goes on/off with the sunrise/sunset + some random number.

the door lock has codes that are only valid at certain times - and can get status of locked/unlocked, plus being able to throw the bolt to lock.....it sends txt messages if my brother stops by to raid the beer fridge.

Also have a wifi enabled weather station at the house - indoor/outdoor temps - humidity, barometer, anemometer, rain gauge, wind direction. the bridge is down right now - participate in weatherunderground.com (now owned by weather.com)

the thermostat websites provide some runtime graphs, and comparison data.

what is missing:
the ceiling fans are RF, and there is no bridge to get them in the loop.
There is no universal remote that controls the media system and the zwave (ie, if i turn on the tv after sunset, go set the lights to theater.)

I'm using a canned website from schlage - nexiahome.com - I didn't feel like implementing homeseer, or other software/hardware solution (vera). Some of the scheduled stuff lives in the z-wave/internet bridge, so if the net is down, it still happens.

I have a bunch of X11 stuff laying around if anyone wants it.

- i like when i get a notice that the firmware for the thermostat needs to be upgraded. it also acts like a digital picture frame.
 
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rlb said:
Looking to do that too. What thermostat is it? How well does it work? Can you access it when you're not home?
Click to expand...

It's a honeywell. Just Google honeywell WiFi thermostat.
It works perfectly. Very simple.
IOS and android apps.

The motivation was coming home from a weekend at the beach to a 92 degree house. Not this year!!!!
 
Keep in mind you need to have these thermostats hard wired. No battery power.
It can get tricky running power to the thermostat if it's not already there
 
pearl said:
i wanted to get one of these, but we don't yet have air conditioning :(
Click to expand...

Do you have window units? You can get automation stuff for the outlets the air conditioner plugs into.

I was thinking of getting the wifi enabled thermostat but for me it doesn't seem to make sense.

Setting the programming schedule works around my work schedule without a problem. I can have the thermostat go to 50 (doesn't get that low) during the day and come home to a place that's either at the temp I want it or the heat is on going to that temp. Heat comes in the morning when I wakeup, etc.

Air conditioning is a possibility but slightly so. If my A/C is on it's ON. If I don't keep the temps low during the day it won't cool off at night in any reasonable amount of time. Haven't tried it yet with the programmed thermostat but I only turn my A/C on for a week or so a year.

If I had weird schedules or whatnot I can see it making more sense. Now that google bought Nest I can see that working out well. Leave your job to go home and it'll automatically calculate the commute time, time to heatup the place, etc and do it efficiently.

-Steve
 
fidodie said:
using zwave for lighting - indoor, outdoor
and security -
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info. This seems pretty in-line with what I want to do. I would probably try to configure a console for remote access w/o a middle service. How long have you had this setup? Do you have any opinions or experience w/ the insteon stuff?

jShort said:
Keep in mind you need to have these thermostats hard wired. No battery power.
It can get tricky running power to the thermostat if it's not already there
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up, I have pretty easy access fortunately. The wall below the existing thermostat is above unfinished basement, so this shouldn't be an issue.
 
I haven't used insteon equipment - if it is z-wave certified, then it should work - don't think the locks are required to repeat the signals, since they are battery operated, everything else does. So don't get too far between each device.

There is a zwave module, rather than an ip module, for the honeywell thermostats.

Most thermostats don't use the fan wire anymore, that can be repurposed as the common.
 
Time to revive this thread. I'm looking to replace my thermostat with a unit that can also control the humidifier. Catch is, I want it to adjust the indoor humidity level based on the outdoor temp (so I'm not dealing with window condensation). I'll probably be adding a dehumidifier to the basement, so that capability would be nice too. This it much tougher to find than I expected. So really my requirements are:

1 - Dynamic humidifier control
2 - smart capable (zwave or insteon)
3 - Not cost 3 billion dollars
4 - Needs to stay functional in a power outage (generator is wired to furnace)

Nest and Venstar fit 2 & 3, so those are a fallback.
The honeywell models may meet #1. Their website is total dog shit, I've spent way too much time digging around looking for answers. It's not clear if any of their humidifier capable units are smarthome friendly, or if they grant remote access through some sort of proprietary service.

If anyone has other suggestions I'm open.
 
This would normally by my thread, since my job is factory automation.
But I have radiant floor heat and a wood burning stove. and no a/c. So automating my home heating system is entirely pointless. With the radiant floors it's not really even worth using a programmable thermostat.

I did however open my garage door with my iphone. Now I have a keypad and remotes so I haven't been motivated enough to do any of that.

I will soon be using an entire PLC system to drive my boiler, as the boiler controls are getting SUPER complicated and impractical to do with standard boiler controls.
 
i have the venstar t5900 but haven't used any of the humidity controls yet.

most likely, it will become aware and backfeed the CO out of the boiler into the duct system to kill us - no need to destroy any of the other useful machines with a flood.

i'm also looking at using this with my radiant floor system,
1. probe for minimum floor temp
2. thermostat for room temp with second stage when the floor can't keep up.

i'm not using the radius stuff yet

---

zwave elv dimmers are taking away from the upcoming months' alch budget. not sure why they feel everything needs to fit in the switchbox, rather than remotely mounted.

just ordered motorized blinds for the kitchen window - it is behind the sink, and set back - w1fe can't reach up - can't wait for apple homekit to come on-line. Siri, open the pod bay doors......
 
I picked up the ecobee3 and installed it today. I ran new wiring to the stat (replaced 18/4 with 18/7) since I would need a common wire and another wire for humidifier control. This also leaves me one more wire for the dehumidifier should I wind up going with that. The ecobee has remote temp sensors so I can place one in the basement and still have the thermostat controlling the de-h (assuming they also read humidity).

Right off the bat temp reading was all over. I'm not sure why, maybe it just needs to adjust to the house vs the box it was in. I set it to 67 and let it run. Shortly after, the display temp dropped to 64 on the unit (no way this was accurate). After 10 mins or so I changed the setting to 65 just to get it to kick off which it finally did. As I was waiting I downloaded the app which promptly told me a different temperature than the 64 shown on the thermostat. I decided it was time for lunch and switched the unit off.

While I was out grabbing lunch I checked via app and it said 69 in the house. WTF? When I got home the stat also said 69. I'm going to let it settle for a few hours (and also check for a firmware upgrade) and see where I'm at. Will also start looking into wiring in the humidifier control, which looks like it's going to be pretty straight forward but I want to make sure I understand it properly first.

TLDR:
Not sending a pic to the wife (at work) because I know what the focal point will be. Second coat of spackle in an hour or so. Will probably paint tomorrow.




Picked this up today, not sure how I've been working on the house for 1+ years without it
IMG_20141206_143531.jpg
 
rlb said:
I set it to 67 and let it run. Shortly after, the display temp dropped to 64 on the unit (no way this was accurate)
Click to expand...

I just had the same thing happen, then my magical brain decided to kick in and remember something. I read a review stating air movement through the wiring hole can cause temperature swings. Going to plug er up and see how that works. Thanks brain for taking 2+ hours to figure something out!
 
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