Home Automation Domotica Forum Europe, Bwired Forum

Dear Forummembers,

We've just bought a house and I would like to start with 'digitizing' some parts of the house.
I've tried to be a good student and read a lot of messages here already.
I realize this is a long post with many questions, but any help on some point is very welcome. I'm sort of stuck now on how to make the next decisions/steps.
Thank you in advance!

What I've decided / want to do:
1. Z-wave (QEES new productline) for lighting, heating and energy measurement
2. Vera as my starting controller. Perhaps later graduate to Homeseer when I've grown up.
3. 3-4 IP camera's
4. some type of IP or Z-wave based doorbell inc. camera at the front of the frontgarden.
5. XBMC for mediaplayer on a PC
6. Sonos for audio. Not necessarily to be integrated (yet) into data and/or domotica set-up
7. some type of touchscreen controller fixed in the kitchenwall + hallway
8. some type of portable touchscreen controller (mainly for Sonos + XBMC)
9. network: I'll try wiring with cat6 to all locations. Alternative is Devolo homeplug powerline (http://alatest.com/reviews/network-inte ... 07138,111/). Practical testing (Dutch consumer reports) showed a min. of 25Mbits/sec, which would seem to enough for HD video.
10. Wifi network
11. try to set-up all the physical hardware in one location, 'node zero' (learned about it at http://www.automatedhome.co.uk)

My questions:
1. what hardware components/software am I overlooking which I need to look into?

2. Where do I connect the IP camera's into? A Nas, the PC with XBMC, or ....?

3. any tips or experience on specific products?
3.1 doorbell/camera
3.2 touchscreencontrollers?

4. It is advisable to stay away (for now) from trying to integrate the domotica stuff with the media stuff (XBMC, Sonos, TV,.)?

5. where could I find practical information on how to set-up/connect the home media stuff (DVD player, XBMC, TV, Stereo, ....)?

6. where could I find an installer (experienced amateurs or professionals in The Netherlands, region Utrecht-Amsterdam) to help me out with installation? Paid of course.

Thanks again for any insight or suggestions!

Regards,
Olof

Hi Olaf,
Welcome to domoticaforum.
In domotica there are no limitation's look at bwired or some of my YouTube video's
Currently I have about 250 domotica connected devices in my house. Zwave, plugwise, x10, ir, rfxcom,visonic, ip..and some others..
I think Vera is limited for your needs with multimedia integration.
Qees products looks good but I have to see it first.
You can contact me for more info.

Hi Tane,

Thanks for the reply and the offer of help!

I will contact you off-forum.

Olof

It's been about 1 1/2 years now since I asked the original question as a complete beginner to Home Automation.

I've managed to progress a bit further since then, so I thought I could share some information on my choices. Perhaps they can be of interest to those of you who are still in the orientation phase.

What I've decided / want to do:
1. Z-wave (QEES new productline) for lighting, heating and energy measurement

QEES never made it to my house. They've been showing pretty pictures of products for years, but so far very little real products. To me, it's vaporware.
Lighting: I went with Merten z-wave switches because I think they are (by far) the best looking switches.
See for example http://domoticaforum.eu/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=6735. Note, however, working with Merten Z-wave devices & Homeseer/Vera controllers creates an extra complexity versus other Z-wave devices. See for example, domoticaforum.eu/viewtopic.php?f=50& ... ten#p39455
energy management. Not very much progress. I bought a basic set of 9 Plugwise plugs to measure energy usage of some devices (washing machine, tv, server). I haven't done much further yet.
heating. No progress yet. I want to use Danfoss z-wave radiators, but they have only limited use since I'm on a central thermostat located in the living room. I need to fix that first. To be continued..

2. Vera as my starting controller. Perhaps later graduate to Homeseer when I've grown up.

On a whim, I decided to skip Vera and start with Homeseer Pro. It's not the most user-friendly piece of software (to put it lightly) and some things have cost me way, way to much time to figure out how stuff works. But it is a very powerful tool for home automation so I grit my teeth, watch my temper and slowly plod further.

3. 3-4 IP camera's

I have bought 2 camera's so far, both for indoor use. A simple Foscam 8918 which we use as baby cam. The other is a much better IP camera, ACT-4201 which we have set-up in the kitchen. Both camera's we can watch on the Ipad but also on our Android smartphones when we are out of the house. Not (yet) hooked up into Homeseer but it can be done.
I still want to get 2 outdoor IP camera's, but it will have to wait for now.
Two good info. sources: http://www.networkcamerareviews.com (forum) and http://ipcamnetwork.wordpress.com

4. some type of IP or Z-wave based doorbell inc. camera at the front of the frontgarden.

I would love to have the Mobotix T24, but a bit above my budget. So still waiting/looking for an alternative

5. XBMC for mediaplayer on a PC

Still on my Todo List. XBMC still seems to be the best Media Player for films.

6. Sonos for audio. Not necessarily to be integrated (yet) into data and/or domotica set-up

We did get the Sonos and absolutely love it. We have it set-up for the living room, kitchen, bedroom and the bathroom. Our main interface are the Sonos own controller and the Ipad app. Just recently hooked it into Homeseer using the available plug-in. Gives me the chance to have homeseer 'speak' some messages throughout all the Sonos units/speakers.

7. some type of touchscreen controller fixed in the kitchenwall + hallway
8. some type of portable touchscreen controller (mainly for Sonos + XBMC)

We have an Ipad and Android smartphones. We interact with Homeseer through the standard (boring & basic) HSTouch interface. On the the ToDo list is to make a better HSTouch interface. The Sonos apps for Ipad and Android Smartphones are topnotch
In addition, for the living room TV we use a Logitech Harmony 900 which has RF send build-in. This allowed us to move all the media boxes behind a cabinet and out of sight.

9. network: I'll try wiring with cat6 to all locations. Alternative is Devolo homeplug powerline (http://alatest.com/reviews/network-inte ... 07138,111/). Practical testing (Dutch consumer reports) showed a min. of 25Mbits/sec, which would seem to enough for HD video.

As we were remodeling the house, it gave me the chance to wire the house as much as possible. I wired cat6 cables to every place I could think off. Not Cat5e, but Cat6 and the the shielded version. The cost difference is minimal and it should 'futureproof' my house for the next 10-20 years (I hope).
For wiring ideas, see for example domoticaforum.eu/viewtopic.php?f=7& ... amp;t=6939

10. Wifi network

I bought the Fritzbox Wlan 7390 for several reasons. It's also has 8 port router, DECT phonesystem, voicemail, etc.. There's an Homeseer plugin for most FritzBox allowing for interesting integration possibilities.

11. try to set-up all the physical hardware in one location, 'node zero' (learned about it at http://www.automatedhome.co.uk)

In most Dutch homes, we have a build-in cabinet in the hallway near the front door ('Meterkast'). This is the place where I put most of my electronic stuff:
- Cable company (Ziggo in my case) TV set-up box
- Cable company Internet/VOIP modem
- My Yamaha A/V receiver
- Blue Ray player. And yes, it's a bit of hassle to pop in a new DVD/Blue Ray here rather than next to the TV. But we don't use it that often and it keeps the living room clutter free
- Fritzbox WLan 7390 wifi router
- Visonic Powermax alarm panel
- RFXCom (which makes it possible to connect Visonic alarmsensors to Homeseer)
- Netgear Gigabit 32 port switch
- Sonos Connect (Z90)
- IPPower 9212 (which makes it possible to connect my front gate to Homeseer via an existing Plug-in). [EDITED this information. I.e. correction]
- IR blaster which receives the RF signals from the Harmony 900 and thus controls all the TV media-related hardware
[edit] and the Home Automation PC (Asrock Ion) running Homeseer Pro, Plugwise software, Teamviewer and BlueIris.
--------------------------------

I hope this info was of some benefit.

Cheers,
Olof

Him Olof,

Thanks for your update. I think it will surely help newcomers to get their goals in a right perspective.
Very informative too.

Bram,

Thanks for the encouragement. Never quite know whether anybody is interested

Cheers
Olof