To automate, or not to automate...

[andymet87]

Hi all,

We're just embarking on extending and renovating our cottage that dates from 1772 - so lots of exposed timber an fireplaces!

As part of the refurbishment we'll be incorporating:

• Wet underfloor heating downstairs (6 zones)
• Rads upstairs
• Velux integra windows
• Maybe a burglar alarm?

Given the history of the property there's limited scope for running wires and we'll struggle to hide the wires for the lights!

Looking for suggestions of systems to keep controls to a minimum!

Thanks

 

[eveares]

Well for the burglar alarm, you could go for a professional wireless system with only the main panel needing mains power. I would recommend the Pyronix Enforcer Home Control+ panel/system for the burglar alarm. You could get the Enforcer HomeControl+ App Kit 1 along with any extra PIR's/door sensors you need

For the other stuff, depends on what and how much you want to automate. Also can you break the bank are are you on a tight budget?

You may want to check out www.automatedhome.co.uk/suppliers in the mean time for a list of links to automation suppliers in the UK. For general automation you have X10 what was once very popular in the automation world and while still used, is slow, old and somewhat unreliable by today's standards. You also have newer technologies such as Z-Wave, Nest, Rako, insteon, etc...

I will warn you, home automation is not cheap and you can easily find yourself spending £20-£60 per module/automated switch. I have in the past spend nearly £1000 on X10!

Also are you networking your house by running CAT6 sockets to various rooms, if so you may want to have the all running back to a small 6U/9U data cabinet where they can all be managed from.

Hope this helps.

 

[bernardgreen]

Given the history of the property there's limited scope for running wires and we'll struggle to hide the wires for the lights!

It is well worth the trouble to find the scope to run cables for alarms and other services. You have to install cables to take power to where the lamps are and pipes to where the heating is required.

My method in my 500 year old cottage was to wire all the lights ( 230 volts ) directly to a bank of relays. The relays are controlled by ELV ( 12 volt ) circuits to the switches on walls. [GALLERY=media, 78043]Untitled by bernardgreen posted 31 May 2014 at 8:04 AM[/GALLERY]
The cable down the wall is 12 core alarm cable which is small enough to be un-obstrusive when pinned to the side of the door frame. The same cable serves switches on the other side of the wall. The wall is wattle and daub so chasing channnels large enough for 230 volt switch drops was impossible.

There is some "automation" as the switches control the relays via a micro-processor based controller whch allows for functions like timers on exit, lamps turning on when the door bell is pressed at night. ( to find the keyhole ).

The thing to consider with any home automation is ensuring that it is future proof and that it can be repaired ( will spare parts be available in 5 years time ) and with the use of wireless will the channel still be useable in a few years time. The licence exempt wireless channels are getting very crowed with legal users. Add in the malicious anti social idiots with their jammers and the reliability of wireless can fall below acceptable levels.

 

[andymet87]

thanks for the pointers...

Budget is likely to be limited as extending and refurbishing the whole house, we'll make space for luxuries but I think any money left over is going to be spent on a nice bathroom/kitchen/etc... Happy to run cables if they can be unobtrusive and yes have a utilities cabinet planned where boiler, router, cables, etc will terminate - aware of the need to ensure the room doesn't get hot so may have an extractor in there to try and achieve this.

I will look at the suppliers and options, have seen a unit at Grand Designs live that looked good but aware that a plug and play solution would be better to get past the wife!

 

[SimonH2]

The thing to consider with any home automation is ensuring that ... it can be repaired ...

That's a big consideration - and goes far beyond just "will the parts be available". SWMBO keeps telling me what I can't do - for example I was considering putting the boiler in the loft to get it out of the kitchen, and SWMBO points out that if I get knocked down by a bus then she'd not be able to get to it to re-pressurise it etc. And there's things I'd like to do plumbing/heating wise - but that's fine while I can maintain it myself, but any plumber will do that <suck through teeth> bit before announcing that it all needs ripping out and replacing with a combi.
In the same vein, some years ago I got sent out to help an old friend of the boss with network wiring in his apartment. He'd gone to town with X10 stuff - all the light switches were just inputs to the computer, and everything was controlled by switch modules - a whole wall hidden behind a false wall of a cupboard. He did comment to the effect he wasn't sure if it had added any value - I suggested probably the opposite as pretty well any potential buyer would be budgeting on ripping it all out and rewiring. I'll add that much of it was "not very well done" and there was no documentation - leaving a "major task" to figure out how any of it worked.
So above all, consider questions like "will anyone else be able to understand it ?", "will anyone buy a house done like this ?", and so on. You don't want to put in a lovely system, and then find that if you need to sell the house, potential buyers want to knock a few grand off the price to cover ripping it all out, rewiring, and redecorating afterwards.
Even if you have a sparky locally who can deal with this sort of stuff - don't forget that they can disappear. I knew someone who was quite handy, but he got a good job offer abroad and sold the business.

 

[dpm_dpmartin]

Well for the burglar alarm, you could go for a professional wireless system with only the main panel needing mains power. I would recommend the Pyronix Enforcer Home Control+ panel/system for the burglar alarm. You could get the Enforcer HomeControl+ App Kit 1 along with any extra PIR's/door sensors you need.

I've just had this installed. With the Wi-Fi module, not GSM or Ethernet. The App itself is a little clunky and I'm not really using it. I did not have a separate keypad installed. What I use is the very convenient keyfob. I can key a code into the panel of course. I could not recommend the App side of it - I think that it needs major work on the usability and the connection speed front... it's a bit onerous to use for setting and un-setting but I'm guessing that the main reason you'll want to use it is if you're out-and-about and you forget to set the system - this is then the save you want.