So I want to jump into some home automation. I want to be able to control everything from my phone. I have a nest thermostat that I love. I won?t start out with all my ideas, but I want to make sure what I get is somewhat future proof. I am looking at the Mi Casa Verde VeraLite Home Controller. Some thoughts on what I want to do are listed below and I just want to know if this is all possible with this system.
I have a DSC alarm in my house and would like it to interact with the system. I am currently reading multiple ways for this to be accomplished.
I also plan on setting up my garage door to be remotely opened and closed through the system and putting and window/door sensor to provide open/closed status of the door.
Can the VeraLite system be setup to text my cell phone when certain events happen? Like opening the front door, the alarm being tripped, or something like that?
With integration to the alarm can I program certain devices to be turned on/off when a motion sensor has been activated and if I can turn something on/off this way can it be programmed to stay on a certain amount of time?
Can devices be programmed to turn on during certain times? Example: I have towel warmers in my bathrooms. Can I have them automatically turn on at 5am so my towel is warm when I take my shower at 6am and then automatically turn off at 8am?
I have florescent bulbs instead of incandescent throughout my entire house and from what I am reading a dimmer switch would do me no good. Is this correct?
I would also like to add cameras and a DVR in the future and along the same lines as the motion sensor I would like an sms whenever it senses motion but only if the alarm is activated. Even better is if it could send an mms with a snapshot.
Pretty much all of what you describe can be accomplished, indeed HAS been accomplished, with Vera (Lite or otherwise).
What’s more, probably most of it with a judicious mixture of Scenes activated by Schedules and Triggers, plugins (MiOS apps) like Notification, Veralert, etc., and phone apps like HomeWave or Automator. There’s an outside chance (depending on the hardware you choose, eg. for cameras) that a tiny amount of Luup code might be required in a scene or two - but that’s not the end of the world.
Giving a firm answer to perhaps your simplest question: dimmers - you can’t generally dim fluorescent lights, but you CAN use dimmers to switch them OFF/ON at full brightness. Depending on the wiring into your switch wall boxes where you’ll put a dimmer (whether they have a neutral wire or not) then you may need a bypass wired across the bulb.
My advice is to build up the system incrementally rather than go for a “big bang” implementation. If you have the alternative, go for switches and devices which report status directly rather than having to be polled - much more responsive. Some people eschew battery-powered devices, but they work OK for me (humidity / temperature / door sensors / scene controllers …)
Each one of your questions probably has several threads scattered throughout the forum with partial answers. So this is the only downside - you’ll have to dig around for best practice and supportive advice. The more specific you can be, the better answer you will probably get. There are some awfully smart and experienced folk around on the forum.
How about installations without direct status devices? Is the best solution to add a secondary controller nearby?
Perhaps I expressed things poorly. This is not about a device being slow to act to a command, it is about the updated device status being delayed until it is polled by the controller. AFAIK, this is not something that additional controllers will fix, it’s just a function of the rate at which the device is polled. With Vera, it cycles through all the devices sequentially, at a certain rate (default 30 seconds), so it actually is slower to update with the more devices that you add to the network.
I recommend Z-Wave devices that do NOT need to poll … like (but not limited) to the Leviton family of Z-Wave devices.
Some of the cheaper ones do not send status back to the controller when they are changed manually at the device.
For those cheaper devices … Vera has to periodically ask the device what it’s status is. That’s what is referred to as polling the device.
Thanks. I ordered the vera lite, a window sensor, and a zwave outlet. I will pick up a relay at radio shack so I can set up my garage door. This along with integrating the system with my DSC alarm are the first things I want to do, but I am still reading about integrating with the alarm and there seems to be several methods to completing this so i am still researching it.
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