Advise for n00b doing loft conversion

[Rian1988]

Hi, we are buying a bungalow soon and it has a loft, and we are doing a loft conversion, it will be a sizable bedroom with an open plan lounge thing no walls and an en-suite. I was wondering if someone could give a rough price for the following features.

• Control "mood" lighting - that will be the only lighting
• Be able to control and play music from a NAS
• Open and close velux blinds
• Be contoroled by a touch screen moveable tablet

I would also like to be able to have programmable functions, like set an alarm, the alarm goes of the lights come on softly and the blinds open or walk up the stairs break a laser and the lights come on. Also I would like the mood lighting in the ensuite to be controlled by both the tablet and a light switch with different buttons for different colours. It would all go in as the conversion is done so wiring is not a problem.

Am i living in a dream world or does such thing exist and roughly how much would it cost, i have no idea!

[neilball]

For lighting control it depends on how many separate circuits (groupls of light fittings) are required plus number of keypads. Unitl those numbers are known it's impossible to give any meanigful budget prices. Most have infrared & RS232 for control by any number of touchscreen/tablet remotes as well as volt-free input interfaes to link to security alarms etc. Colour change can be by propreitry hardware for by hidden red, green and blue fittings and mixed simply by adjusting the individual dimming levels. Any multiroom lighting control system will meet your basic requirements although most (if not all) will need to be supplied and programmed by a local dealer. I supply Helvar equipment and can recomend their Digidim system (see www.helvar.co.uk for details) but you will could also consider Rako, Lutron GraffikEye & Homeworks, Mode and lots of others. There will be small differences between them but the main feature sets are pretty much identical.

For music I would recomend Sonos, you can buy it from any number of retailers and it would work with just about any NAS device. Note that this has it's own remote control and cannot be controlled by other systems or control other systems. There is a PC-based control app that you could use as well.

Velux supply their own electrical motor/control unit for window and blinds and it is possible to interface some of these with the lighting controls for automated operation.

Touchscreen control could be through Philips Pronto or URC MX-3000 - both are infrared remote controls with optional radio receivers for remote/hidden equipment. If you go down the RF route then you would wire in an extra lighting keypad or IR receiver to provide control of the lighting, windows etc
For ultimate control take a look at Crestron or AMX - expensive and supplied by specialist dealers who will program the system for you.

[Rian1988]

Well, I no nothing about wiring or anything! So I have no idea how many rings are needed, hopefully you can tell me! It is a T shape room with one - being the ensuite and the L as a bedroom/lounge combi. I have read about sonos, but i think that is more for multiroom, this is just one single room. And i would like it all integrated to be controlled by one touch screen, and one light switch panel at the ensuite for it's lighting.

[neilball]

On the lighting controls you need to think about how many groups of lights you want to control independently. You might have one or two sets of spot loghts in the lounge, wall lights, table/standard lamps via 5A sockets etc. So the open plan area might be 4 or 5 circuits. The Ensuite could be 4 circuits - 1 for general lighting and 3 for colour change/mixing (if you go down the route of concealed fittings with red, green & blue lamps). So do a count of what you would like and then you will end up with some totals. This numbers will heklp determine what systems would suit your planned install. Wiring is relatively straight forward - you wire the power for each ciruit back to a central location using standard twin & earth cable. THe keypads generally wire back independently to the same location (although some are systems daisy chain their keypad connections) but the cable could be Cate, twin & earth or some specialist cable depending on your choice of controls manufacturer. Don't forget to allow for a keypad for remote IR control.

Sonos is designed as a multiroom system but it can also be bought for a single room. If you are installing a separate A/V surround sound setup then you can use the ZP80 unit (no amplifier) or if it is completly stand alone then go for the ZP100 as it's amplifier sounds very good for the price.

Have you a budget in mind for your touchscreen controller? If you want to spend a bit of cash then the new Crestron Adagio system could be worth a look. This includes a hard disk sound server and will allow any of the Crestron touchscreens to be used within the system for fully integrated control.

[Rian1988]

Yes, i think you understand my situation, do you have a very rough price that it would cost for the amount of circuits you say, and the cost of installation, I live in central scotland, is it hard to find people to do the work?

[neilball]

Drop me a PM with your contact details and I'll certainly be able to help with both costs and someone to do the work ;-)

[Rian1988]

Ok, i have now decided just for the lights, would you be able to give a rough price for 4 "zones" each the equivelent of having 5 downlighters each, i would like a remote control to change each zone and set moods, is this possible?

[Rian1988]

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