Hello everyone, after looking at and Videos Forum YouTube, I decided to start a smart home project in my house.
I would like help in choosing the parts so that I can control by:
One. Lighting of the house.
Two. TV, STEREO system, projector, projection screen and all video and audio devices.
Three. Electric heater for shower.
Four. Air conditioner.
Five. Protection system (burglary, water, fire, gas leak (in which case close the gas tap only)).
Six. Watering of the garden.
And if there’s something I forgot and you think advisable to make the My Home smart home then I will be happy if you give me more ideas.
Of course the preference is that the components will be cheap as possible.
The standard devices must be European.
Thank you very much for the help
Eilon
As is typical for newcomers, you have a grand vision. But it is a lengthy and costly road to achieve your ultimate goal.
Vera and Z-Wave devices can accomplish most things on your list. I don’t think that there is a Z-Wave gas shutoff valve. The audio/video equipment will require third party plugins if they are network connected and probably infrared blasters, but it’s still very doable.
Cheap is a relative term. But home automation is not cheap. While using Vera and Z-Wave devices can get you started for only a few hundred Euro, a project such as you are envisioning will cost thousands of Euro and a great deal of your time.
I would suggest that you start with a Vera 3 or Vera Lite and a couple of Z-Wave switches to start with lighting. The Fibaro devices seem excellent, though I have yet to use them in the U.S.
Once you get started, you’ll better understand how things work, what the capabilities and limitations are and how best to move forward towards your ultimate goal.
eilons100
Its def. worth doing your research when it comes to automation controls. The time you spend researching products and their capabilities will pay off in the end. This forum is one of the most comprehensive resources you will find, and usually a well directed search will yield you the answers to all your questions.
I am only in the beginning stages of building my system, but there are a few things I have discovered:
Motion/occupancy scene activation: Use your security system. The average Z-Wave sensor (door or motion) is no less than $40 CAD. A wired alarm door switch is +/- $3 and a wired motion sensor $17. If you need to sell it to your wife, it’s like this: You basically get a free alarm system considering the cost difference between the sensors if you go this route. I have 32 zones fed to VERA from a DSC 1864 including door bells, driveway sensor, smoke, CO, water, motion, and door. I was fortunate enough to be able to make these all wired zones, except for the driveway sensor, thus reducing the costs dramatically.
There is ton’s of support here on this forum as well as on DIY Alarm forum to help you with this process. There is an AMAZING DSC plug in for the VERA, letting you use all of the sensors to trigger scenes. VERA can also Arm and disarm remotely, and there is iOS/Anroid support for the functions as well.
Your alarm system will also allow you to actuate valves (ie gas) upon tripping with ‘off the shelf’ actuators and relays. As Z-Waver mentioned, there is currently no Z-Wave natural gas actuator, but tons of electric actuated valves that will do what you need. Once again, do your research.
That’s all I’ve got.
Good Luck!
Some good advice.
I would only add that you are lucky to have at your hands Hek’s toolkit for the Arduino. The only advice I would give is to look into Arduino early in your project. There are some nice sensors you can build for a very low cost. You can also ‘automate’ some of the stuff you have and avoid the expense of buying (expensive) zwave devices.
www.mysensors.org and search this forum for Arduino Sensors
And… when you do need zwave, look at all of Z-Waver’s posts. His comments helped me a lot when trying to figure out what devices to use.
I am also a novice trying to weave my way through HA. The beauty of the do it yourself approach is that you don’t have to sit down with a company or vendor to identify all of your needs at one time. It has been great to be able to let the system build as I learn or want to spend more money. For example, my first goal was connecting to my alarm system. Then a camera. Now I am all the way up to managing my overhead garage door. Working with a few scenes helped me make the leap to pleg. I’m not certain that I have any scenes anymore and the sense of satisfaction that I receive from learning pleg has been worth the time and effort. So as bulldoglowell said to look into arduino early, I would suggest working with pleg as soon as you get on your feet. My next step is to learn about arduino, I understand one guy has even hooked it up to his mailbox. I couldn’t tell if you already have your vera. I have a veralite and it has been very dependable. I think you will be very pleased one day when you can pick up your phone to check your alarm status, set the status if you forgot, get a quick look at the backyard camera, turn on some lights and turn down the heat. I think another good guide for you would be to browse the list of apps and plugins available. They have helped me to know that I will want to buy certain brands of appliances (tv, stereo, alarm systems) in order to get help from the forum.
Totally Agree!!! great point
I did a mailbox sensor that detects light when the box is opened. I am only waiting for a radio module with an antenna I can externally mount before it gets installed. Our metal box is a perfect faraday cage and it wouldn’t work for me with the standard surface mount antenna. I tested it with a shoe box and it is cool. I have Vera send a text notification when the box was opened. It may be the first thing in this whole HA hobby for which my wife really saw the value, but she did comment “at the end of the day the mail will come anyways so why bother.” my only retort… “because I can.”
If you are new and planning a system, some have suggested sticking with one brand of lighting controls and scene/zone controllers and using their programming remote as your primary controller and then include Vera as the secondary. The reason being is for a more bullet-proof relationship between devices by employing more associations between dimmers and scene controllers, that way the system functions with or without Vera running and everything plays nice.
I, however, did it the common way of piecing my system together and having Vera as primary and it works well, I just thought I would mention that since I think you should try to limit the selection of device manufacturers in your system (if only to make remembering what to do with each easier).
Thank you all for the answers,
After I invested a lot of time in research in this forum, and antoher online web.
I decided to ask for a recommendation for lighting controllers. And controllers that control the home theater system via vera. Right now I will start these components and slowly I upgrade the house.
Thank you very much for the help
Eilon