Apologies if this is in the wrong sub-forum, but it I'm hoping to get some recommendations from the community to help improve my setup. We are buying our first home at the moment and as part of the purchase I have c.£1,000 set aside to automate the new house (which is a small 3 bed). Until now Ive only been able to limit my setup to piecemeal purchases and nothing that requires wiring to the mains.
My current setup is as follows:
Server kit:
Raspberry pi 2 running Domoticz stable
RFXCom (433 only, not the e)
Aeotec Gen 5 stick
My sensors USB controller
Limitless LED hub
Automation kit:
5x limitless LED colour bulbs
3 fibaro motion sensors
homeeasy motion sensor
2x Marmitek x10 motion sensor.
MySensors relay (hooked to the bolier for heating control).
1x Oregon Scientific temperature sensor
What I would like to achieve:
Zoned heating via thermostatic heating valves.
Main room lighting automation which allows for the switches to still be used and the lights to be polled/broadcast their status.
Specific Questions
If I was to swap my limitlessLED for Hue bulbs, can these be polled for status? Also if anyone has both limitless and hue bulbs - do the hue bulbs give off a nicer white (I find the limitless white to be quite jarring)?
With 2 wire light switches do I have any practical means of using z-wave? Seems like the standard route around this has been to use fibaro dimmers, but how does this work if you end up with non-dimable LED light fittings?
Otherwise please feel free to make any other suggestions as to other cool projects you would throw in if you were starting a setup from scratch. Any / all help much appreciated.
- how comfortable you are with DIY/tinkering? It can save you massive amounts of money and do higher quality setup. Or do you want purely off-the-shelf products?
- how good your house for wiring and how comfortable you are with rewiring if necessary? e.g. putting new cables (or reusing existing Ethernet cable if any) between socket/ceiling sensors?
I'm OK with DIY, but ideally I don't want to have to make any massive holes in walls (so I don't really want to add a neutral wire to the lighting for example unless the cable is conveniently situated.), but small holes / bigger back boxes here and there etc should be OK. Ive installed plug sockets before (as in run a wire and placed a plug socket where there wasn't one) but that's about the extent of my mains electricity experience. I also hooked up the mysensors relay for the boiler control at our existing place. Also I should probably mention that when we move we will have a 3 weeks old baby and so I cant see my wife being massively amused with me doing anything too major.
As for the wiring - I don't really know as we are still in the process of buying the house. There is no ethernet and the wiring is 2 wire to the switches I believe.
If you ok with DIY the setup I'd recommend from my experience:
use Pi as central controller (which you already have).
use Arduino Nano's (< 1.5£ each if you buy in bulk on eBay from China) for local control, and you can program them whatever you like and connect to whatever sensors or relays you like (again from chinese ebay these components usually <=1£ each).
use usual usb 2.0 cables (with "regional" usb 2.0 powered hub(s) ) to connect arduinos to your Pi. You can use usual cheap usb cables or use Ethernet cable to run USB over it.
I recommend using mySensors serial protocol which automatically picked up by Domoticz from USB devices on your Pi
with USB & wired you will have no need to think about reliability of wireless and no need to think about supplying power (because each USB cable already supplying 5v). Also your devices don't have to sleep and can report very frequently and always react instantly.
where you can't put a wire to, I recommend using nodeMCU/ESP8266. Each module about 3£ from Asian ebay, and basically like Arduino with standard 2.4Ghz WiFi connection - so you can just put them on you home wireless network and use whatever protocol you like (e.g. Domoticz JSON or MQTT which I'd recommend). Again, this is completely customizable and you can program/change protocols whatever you like
for radiator control I'd recommend wiring Arduino or nodeMCU to thermal actuators like that - http://www.heatingcontrolsonline.co.uk/ ... p-396.html. These are basically electronically-controlled TRVs which don't need batteries (so they could react very often & quickly), barely have any parts to break, completely silent (they don't have buzzing motors) and they could be modulated 0-100%
you can keep using your ZWave devices. Though you most likely will find (like I did) that they become pointless and just hassle since you have your own DIY tech running. Generally I figured out that more you can stay away from proprietary tech, the better.
Edit2: If you want great customizable socket plates (e.g. build a 2-gang plate with power socket, usb socket and place for your sensor), I can't recommend more the Euromodule clip-on module system, e.g. https://www.euronetwork.co.uk/clip-in-modules
Last edited by RidingTheFlow on Wednesday 06 April 2016 14:18, edited 1 time in total.