switching all power sockets and lights
Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 11:22 pm
Well i just bought a new house and it comes with some "green" options.
The house has a few solar panels on the roof, i am not sure how many but coming Friday or Saturday i get the key so i can check.
renedijkstra.nl/bg-22106-7-4979/bog/vol ... erend.html
Also using a solar water heater thats build on the roof and i am using heat from the earth to warm up the house and water.
So far i got this fairly cheap since it came with the house, now i do like gadgets allot and have allot of them collected in the years but to keep in a bit in the green energy saving style i thought would it not be great to be able to switch everything in the house.
All the power sockets , lights , that i am able to turn everything off except the equipment like a fridge or something that needs to stay on of course.
My question is to you guys, what do you think is the best solution or is a better solution of what am i not thinking of.
First idea was to use SSR , easy to use and i want to use Homeseer with an Arduino to control everything.
The advantage of these "relays" is
-its easy to connect on the arduino since most of them are usable from 3-30 Volts.
-Will not fail fast if used normally
-smaller size then a mechanical relay
-SSR itself uses low power to switch
-No sound when switching
But the disadvantages are
-always "leaking" power and the higher Amps it can handle , more it lets trough when it should be closed so giving problems with LED lights and still leaking power so resulting in a higher billing the end of the year.
-needs a heatsink when using some load on them
-if being used with a heavy load lets say a 1000w light it can peak/draw up to 60Amp i have been told, even just for a few mili seconds, not sure what the result is in this in the end.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Using Mechanical relays, i am not sure what the correct name is
things i have found an can think of are
Advantages
-doesn't have leaking power
-doesn't need a heat sink
disadvantages
-bigger
-using more power then SSR
-Wears off faster contacts burning in
-using higher voltage
-Sound when switching.
-when using the arduino to trigger the relay you have use with most bigger relays 12 or 24 Volt so i use the arduino to trigger a small relay that uses 5Volt to trigger the big relay 12/24 Volt that is being build in the power socket or next to it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Then comes the other part when installing one of these options, i need to put cables to all of the sockets and light switches in the house and need to find a solution to hide the relays as best as possible.
Hiding the cables will be some work, thinking of a bigger in dutch called Plint to put the cables behind but then there are still the relays with there sockets or ssr with heat sink.
I am aware how much work it is, since in the house of my parents and in the garden is placed about 2200M wire roughly but these are things that if all works ok makes it more satisfying and my experience is with wireless equipment that it is much more stable.
In France at my parents house its much more easy to get things like this sorted since all sockets have there own separate power line to the fusebox...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plugwise
I have read into this system and it looks very promising but after founding some other websites with reviews i see many bad messages about the system.
Especially about the software restrictions they suddenly are putting in the updates.
Also that they send your information to there servers is a thing that actually they do not have to know if you ask me (gaat ze gewoon niks aan !)
but i have read that if you block the outgoing port and program you can stop it with most firewalls.
A big advantage and fun to have also informative is that it logs the power usage of that plug.
I am running homeseer and i read about the new plugin not using the software anymore that comes with plugwise but now being read straight by the plugin.
What are the advantages about this system except the power usage loggin.
So the advantage i can see here is:
-works out of the box
-using a mesh network that should be covering the whole house without problems
-measuring the usage of that plug
Disadvantages i can think of are:
-its a big plug in the socket ( has anyone opened it yet and build in there power socket ?)
-price is rather high compared to a relay and some wire (not counting the installation time of the wires)
So guys, what is wise to do , any more advantages or ideas about the above solutions ?
I'd like to hear your opinion about it.
Maybe its a bit overkill for some people but its something i like to have , since i am away from home for some weeks for my work its satisfying to know that i am using less power then is necessary.
And because its just fun if all this works and to make it in the house.
Thanks
Vince
The house has a few solar panels on the roof, i am not sure how many but coming Friday or Saturday i get the key so i can check.
renedijkstra.nl/bg-22106-7-4979/bog/vol ... erend.html
Also using a solar water heater thats build on the roof and i am using heat from the earth to warm up the house and water.
So far i got this fairly cheap since it came with the house, now i do like gadgets allot and have allot of them collected in the years but to keep in a bit in the green energy saving style i thought would it not be great to be able to switch everything in the house.
All the power sockets , lights , that i am able to turn everything off except the equipment like a fridge or something that needs to stay on of course.
My question is to you guys, what do you think is the best solution or is a better solution of what am i not thinking of.
First idea was to use SSR , easy to use and i want to use Homeseer with an Arduino to control everything.
The advantage of these "relays" is
-its easy to connect on the arduino since most of them are usable from 3-30 Volts.
-Will not fail fast if used normally
-smaller size then a mechanical relay
-SSR itself uses low power to switch
-No sound when switching
But the disadvantages are
-always "leaking" power and the higher Amps it can handle , more it lets trough when it should be closed so giving problems with LED lights and still leaking power so resulting in a higher billing the end of the year.
-needs a heatsink when using some load on them
-if being used with a heavy load lets say a 1000w light it can peak/draw up to 60Amp i have been told, even just for a few mili seconds, not sure what the result is in this in the end.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Using Mechanical relays, i am not sure what the correct name is
things i have found an can think of are
Advantages
-doesn't have leaking power
-doesn't need a heat sink
disadvantages
-bigger
-using more power then SSR
-Wears off faster contacts burning in
-using higher voltage
-Sound when switching.
-when using the arduino to trigger the relay you have use with most bigger relays 12 or 24 Volt so i use the arduino to trigger a small relay that uses 5Volt to trigger the big relay 12/24 Volt that is being build in the power socket or next to it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Then comes the other part when installing one of these options, i need to put cables to all of the sockets and light switches in the house and need to find a solution to hide the relays as best as possible.
Hiding the cables will be some work, thinking of a bigger in dutch called Plint to put the cables behind but then there are still the relays with there sockets or ssr with heat sink.
I am aware how much work it is, since in the house of my parents and in the garden is placed about 2200M wire roughly but these are things that if all works ok makes it more satisfying and my experience is with wireless equipment that it is much more stable.
In France at my parents house its much more easy to get things like this sorted since all sockets have there own separate power line to the fusebox...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plugwise
I have read into this system and it looks very promising but after founding some other websites with reviews i see many bad messages about the system.
Especially about the software restrictions they suddenly are putting in the updates.
Also that they send your information to there servers is a thing that actually they do not have to know if you ask me (gaat ze gewoon niks aan !)
but i have read that if you block the outgoing port and program you can stop it with most firewalls.
A big advantage and fun to have also informative is that it logs the power usage of that plug.
I am running homeseer and i read about the new plugin not using the software anymore that comes with plugwise but now being read straight by the plugin.
What are the advantages about this system except the power usage loggin.
So the advantage i can see here is:
-works out of the box
-using a mesh network that should be covering the whole house without problems
-measuring the usage of that plug
Disadvantages i can think of are:
-its a big plug in the socket ( has anyone opened it yet and build in there power socket ?)
-price is rather high compared to a relay and some wire (not counting the installation time of the wires)
So guys, what is wise to do , any more advantages or ideas about the above solutions ?
I'd like to hear your opinion about it.
Maybe its a bit overkill for some people but its something i like to have , since i am away from home for some weeks for my work its satisfying to know that i am using less power then is necessary.
And because its just fun if all this works and to make it in the house.
Thanks
Vince