Home Automation

Hey All,

I recently bought a house and we are in the midst of renovating. I am thinking of updating to some home automation products (e.g. - integrating garage door opening, thermostat, home security, door locks, etc...)

Has anyone personally installed these wi-fi products? If so, are there specific brands to avoid? (due to connectivity issues, device failures, etc..?)

Are there alternatives by hardwiring everything together instead?

This is all new to me, and I'm trying to educate myself in all of this.

Thanks

Control 4 is a good brand but its not cheap. Used to be very expensive to set something like that up for a house. I used to install them while i was in school.

But these days there are so many simpler products that you can find at best buy and install yourself without the hassle of a full automation system which. You can buy remote locks for your dorr, wireless dimmers for lighting and even wireless sound systems and thermostat which all work through apps on your phone. Costs much much less ( a full automation system can cost you upwards of 50-100k. And yet you will get 70-80% of the benefits.

Thats what i did and i used to work for a Control 4 dealer lol

Just remember these will be easy to hack for anyone that can get on your WiFi.

Just don't make your sex toys aren't on WiFi

-Insteon- brand is very good but not cheap. Connects and controls every single thing in your place.

I've monkeyed around with this stuff.

I went with z-wave products (light switches, thermostat, door lock etc) and have had no issues. It's got some pretty routine functionality given the relatively high cost ($40-60 a light switch or dimmer, $200 for a thermostat or door lock, $60 for an appliance module - it adds up fast).

Ours is comparatively mundane....when we get home it unlocks the front door and turns on the foyer light (if it's after dark), when we leave it turns off all the lights and shuts down clusters of electronics automatically. The system turns on the outdoor lights when it gets dark and turns them off again when the sun comes up. Some lights in the house are on timers (living room lights come on in the morning, and shut themselves down at a set time at night), turns on all the interior lights and flashes the exterior lights on and off if the alarm system is tripped, and of course there's a vacation setting where lights, televisions etc turn themselves on to simulate someone being home.

Check out http://www.aartech.ca as a local seller of alarm, cctv and home automation stuff.

Thanks for the advice peeps! I will look into them.