AirWreck
Novice Member
I’m looking for advice on where to start with home automation and security for a new home we are building. Here is a little bit about my situation and wish lists:
1. I’d like to figure out what type of automation ecosystem we need. I’d like HVAC, lighting and home security (intrusion/cameras/locks/door intercom) to all play nice together, and I’d prefer to have a central web client interface to see everything and to program schedules and scenes. I have a little interest in controlling window blinds and it might be nice have appliances integrated, but that’s lower on the wish list. The biggest focus is on home security and then lighting.
2. I am in the commercial fire alarm and security systems industry – sales/engineering/project management, with 10 years experience as a tech. I’d say I’m comfortable with electronics, but am a little behind the curve on IT matters. I ought to know more about this stuff, but we don’t do hardly any residential work. This is a low-voltage industry I’m in, so I’d be comfortable with a soldering iron and building something like this: nikivanov/smarterblinds
3. I also would not be afraid of anything that required a little coding. My biggest hobby is MS Office VBA coding: mostly for work - customization/integration/automation of Excel and Outlook. Between Outlook and the four or five spreadsheets I’ve customized, there’s maybe 40,000 lines of code there!
4. Relatedly, while we are all Microsoft when it comes to PCs/laptops, we are 100% Apple here, with their phones, iPads and watches, if that matters. We also have embraced Alexa, so it would be nice to still be able to use that. Anything Google/Android-centric I'd have to rule out.
5. I am not wealthy, and have a limited budget for all this, but for that matter it’s important whatever I use for the foundation can be added-on-to later. The good news is that I have wholesale-level pricing access for a lot of this through my job. So, lighting, cabling, anything electrical, security systems, integrated locksets, cameras, you name it, I can get fairly cheap. Amazon, for the rest, I guess.
6. I work for a Bosch and Honeywell security dealer, and I am leaning towards a Bosch wireless intrusion system. Looking at their G450 home control gateway, but don't know much about it (Home Control Gateway | Interface Modules | Accessories for Control Panels and Keypads | Intrusion Alarm Systems | Product Segments | us Site) but I haven’t bought it, and I’d rule it out if it it’s not going to play nice with everything else.
7. We are picking out exterior lights right now. I’m leaning towards low-voltage LED, digital low-voltage sounds interesting. The house construction has not started yet, so we can wire it for LV. In particular, I’m interested in using dimmable lights for nighttime exterior ambience/security lighting, but in the case of the garage coach lights I’d like to tie them to a motion and have them act as floodlights at that time. I’d also be keen on flashing them when there is an intrusion/panic alarm. This all needs to be smart or at least have the ability to accept a contact closure or voltage input, so I can make it quasi-smart with a smart relay, for example.
Thank you for taking the time to read this! I'm not asking anyone to spend a lot of time on an answer, but at least to point me in the right direction with some links, etc.
Thanks!
Eric
1. I’d like to figure out what type of automation ecosystem we need. I’d like HVAC, lighting and home security (intrusion/cameras/locks/door intercom) to all play nice together, and I’d prefer to have a central web client interface to see everything and to program schedules and scenes. I have a little interest in controlling window blinds and it might be nice have appliances integrated, but that’s lower on the wish list. The biggest focus is on home security and then lighting.
2. I am in the commercial fire alarm and security systems industry – sales/engineering/project management, with 10 years experience as a tech. I’d say I’m comfortable with electronics, but am a little behind the curve on IT matters. I ought to know more about this stuff, but we don’t do hardly any residential work. This is a low-voltage industry I’m in, so I’d be comfortable with a soldering iron and building something like this: nikivanov/smarterblinds
3. I also would not be afraid of anything that required a little coding. My biggest hobby is MS Office VBA coding: mostly for work - customization/integration/automation of Excel and Outlook. Between Outlook and the four or five spreadsheets I’ve customized, there’s maybe 40,000 lines of code there!
4. Relatedly, while we are all Microsoft when it comes to PCs/laptops, we are 100% Apple here, with their phones, iPads and watches, if that matters. We also have embraced Alexa, so it would be nice to still be able to use that. Anything Google/Android-centric I'd have to rule out.
5. I am not wealthy, and have a limited budget for all this, but for that matter it’s important whatever I use for the foundation can be added-on-to later. The good news is that I have wholesale-level pricing access for a lot of this through my job. So, lighting, cabling, anything electrical, security systems, integrated locksets, cameras, you name it, I can get fairly cheap. Amazon, for the rest, I guess.
6. I work for a Bosch and Honeywell security dealer, and I am leaning towards a Bosch wireless intrusion system. Looking at their G450 home control gateway, but don't know much about it (Home Control Gateway | Interface Modules | Accessories for Control Panels and Keypads | Intrusion Alarm Systems | Product Segments | us Site) but I haven’t bought it, and I’d rule it out if it it’s not going to play nice with everything else.
7. We are picking out exterior lights right now. I’m leaning towards low-voltage LED, digital low-voltage sounds interesting. The house construction has not started yet, so we can wire it for LV. In particular, I’m interested in using dimmable lights for nighttime exterior ambience/security lighting, but in the case of the garage coach lights I’d like to tie them to a motion and have them act as floodlights at that time. I’d also be keen on flashing them when there is an intrusion/panic alarm. This all needs to be smart or at least have the ability to accept a contact closure or voltage input, so I can make it quasi-smart with a smart relay, for example.
Thank you for taking the time to read this! I'm not asking anyone to spend a lot of time on an answer, but at least to point me in the right direction with some links, etc.
Thanks!
Eric