Home Automation

[Vivek Batra]

Hi Guys

I am planning to have some amount of home automation in my upcoming home. I do not have crazy plans just a wish list and budget which would be the deciding factor what to pick what to drop. Just curious if any one here has any first hand experience with home automation at your homes/offices/any other place? I am listing my wish list in order of value that I feel is there to have it automated.

1. CCTV
2. Video door phone
3. Elevation lighting just in case one needs to schedule the lights while no one is at home for longer durations.
4. HVAC
5. Multi Zone speakers (Ceiling speakers at 3 different areas of the home)
6. Smart switches at few selected locations.

Any guidance, pros/cons on the above will be highly appreicated.

Thanks
Vivek

 

[vinothmanick]

Hi,
U should definitely allocate budget for the mentioned things.
i hope it is a individual villa type (mention how many sqaure feet )

Go for everything IP based and Cat 6 copper cable will be bit furture proof
CCTV- IP camera and NVR
Video Door Phone - SIP Based IP Door Phone and Display
HVAC - Personal choice based on budget Centralized HVAC will be very expensive u can go for multi dwelling unit with has single outdoor unit and multiple indoor units(like normal split easy)
Multi Zone Speakers - Speaker of your choice (only amp side u should decide for zone separation )
Smart Switches / Elevation Lighting / Home Automation both almost same
Consist of majorly two types: 1-Centralized Processor based control/ 2- individual module based (independent just to that switch board mostly wifi based)
1 - integrated to db board itself very reliable but expensive have to plan well ahead at the start of the building (well known brands Creston,Control 4 systems,Legrand)
2 - individual mostly module based wifi system less expensive less reliable

Other Suggestions

Plan Ceiling based wifi Access Point it will give very gud coverage and avoid unwanted wifi dead spots in home give u seamless wifi roaming across the home.

Plan hardwire based security system for all the main door/balcony and optional window sensor if its full glass window (vibration sensor)

Gas leak sensor in kitchen.

there are some free online tools to plan that based on ur house plan

Let me know if u need those , will share the product and design suggestions

 

[Vivek Batra]

Hi,
U should definitely allocate budget for the mentioned things.
i hope it is a individual villa type (mention how many sqaure feet )

Go for everything IP based and Cat 6 copper cable will be bit furture proof
CCTV- IP camera and NVR
Video Door Phone - SIP Based IP Door Phone and Display
HVAC - Personal choice based on budget Centralized HVAC will be very expensive u can go for multi dwelling unit with has single outdoor unit and multiple indoor units(like normal split easy)
Multi Zone Speakers - Speaker of your choice (only amp side u should decide for zone separation )
Smart Switches / Elevation Lighting / Home Automation both almost same
Consist of majorly two types: 1-Centralized Processor based control/ 2- individual module based (independent just to that switch board mostly wifi based)
1 - integrated to db board itself very reliable but expensive have to plan well ahead at the start of the building (well known brands Creston,Control 4 systems,Legrand)
2 - individual mostly module based wifi system less expensive less reliable

Other Suggestions

Plan Ceiling based wifi Access Point it will give very gud coverage and avoid unwanted wifi dead spots in home give u seamless wifi roaming across the home.

Plan hardwire based security system for all the main door/balcony and optional window sensor if its full glass window (vibration sensor)

Gas leak sensor in kitchen.

there are some free online tools to plan that based on ur house plan

Let me know if u need those , will share the product and design suggestions

Hi @vinothmanick

Thanks for your detailed answer, much appreciated. Seems like I missed some important info in my post so here it goes.

Its a stand alone house, area approx 6500 Sq Ft spanning accros 4 floors (Basement + 3).

I contacted Schenider locally and they demoed a sample falt that they did locally. This is what they had done in the demo flat.

Living Room
There was just one controller (touch with some physical buttons) on the wall no other switches. It was controlling the follwing
1. TV
2. Normal Split AC
3. Curtains
4. Fan
5. Lights

They had installed Control 4 multi channel amplifer with speakers in Living room and bedrooms etc. Source was streaming. CCTV was integrated I guess and the main door digital lock as well.

I was told that there are two ways to automate the house, one is wired (CAT 6 and KNX) that needs C-Bus, Dimmers and UPS as well since the whole system runs on DC not AC. Ofcourse this is way too costly.

Other approach is, to have individual wifi controllers for switches where ever automation is required, I guess this is not a neat and reilable solution as some one wrote somewhere that its a pain if your internet provier changes and you need to re configure the controllers by opening the switch boards again to reset those.

Here is what I plan to do.

Internet
Initially, I was thinking connecting each floor with LAN cable and then having a router on each floor. But now thinking of having 3 to 4 mesh routers, one for each floor.

HVAC
Contract already in place, somehow I like the colored touch displays over boring thermostats with monochrome display like a calculator.. But no doubt physical buttons are always easy to operate especially during sleep. Thats the only motivation to have it integrated, if its too costly then this would be the first in line to be shot down.

CCTV
IP based cameras

Video Door Phone
Not sure yet, but will check the suggestion

Lighting
I am thinking instead of going for dimmers, why not Philips Hue, I guess that would be a cheaper solution and less complex and more reliable than installing dimmers and RGB controllers. Not all around the home, may be listening room and HT room, dining/lobby and master bedroom only.

Main Gate
Sliding gate, I would like to integrate this as well.Possibilities are there.

I was browsing the forum and found this thread Home Assistant. I can do the same but it needs too much time and not something can be done in few days. This is I think individual module based and running Home Assistant on a VM.

Definitely you may share the tools/plans/design ideas, most welcome and thanks for that.

Regards
Vivek

 

[aeroash]

Internet
Initially, I was thinking connecting each floor with LAN cable and then having a router on each floor. But now thinking of having 3 to 4 mesh routers, one for each floor.

Even with mesh it’s better to do an Ethernet Backhaul. The slave mesh devices always connect to the parent/main device and this could be a bottleneck when using it on a multi-floored building.

Read here for a detailed description.

https://www.windowscentral.com/ethernet-backhaul-or-wireless-which-mesh

 

[vinothmanick]

Hi,

Video door phone if you go for ip based then u can easily integrate with automatic gate talk to your vendor.

Mesh should your last resort not for newly constructing home do a ethernet backhaul
If you are going for false ceiling better to be in ceiling as no fuss in the table and no adapter issue all power by POE

Iam running a home assistant with minimal devices and some wled strips and zigbee sensors, raspberry pi4 will be a gud choice of hardware reliable too

Wled for false ceiling will be wonderful choice but a steep learning curve integrate with home assistant

Will share the tools soon

 

[Vivek Batra]

Hi,

Video door phone if you go for ip based then u can easily integrate with automatic gate talk to your vendor.

Mesh should your last resort not for newly constructing home do a ethernet backhaul
If you are going for false ceiling better to be in ceiling as no fuss in the table and no adapter issue all power by POE

Iam running a home assistant with minimal devices and some wled strips and zigbee sensors, raspberry pi4 will be a gud choice of hardware reliable too

Wled for false ceiling will be wonderful choice but a steep learning curve integrate with home assistant

Will share the tools soon

Thanks a lot.