Reference Material on HA

[hdblair]

I am a newby at HA. I am personally installing all the wiring for security, thermo and smoke for a house I am restoring. I have purchased an OmniPro II as the controller and plan to use HomeSeer. While the hardware installation is no problem, I would like to get some reading material on designing/use of HA. Particularly how HomeSeer will control/interact with the Omni. Anyone have recommendations for books, etc.? TIA, Harold

[Rupp]

Harold,
The best resource is before you. Using the search tool on this BB along with asking questions will be your best bet. There's a lot of information on this BB it just takes some "sifting" through.

[hdblair]

Rupp: Thanks for the response. You are correct. There is a great deal of good info here. However, I was looking for something that provides a general overview and then gets into more detail. Something with a structured approach.

[Rupp]

Harold,
I'm not sure there is "formal" documentation or a users guide for the integration of HS and Omni. There is the HAI omni/OnQ forum though.

http://ubb.homeseer.com/eve/ubb.x?a=...4&f=6432983574

[siliconmelt]

This site has given me some helpful ideas in the past.
Home Toys

[Rick Tinker]

This is not an easy question to answer. Typically, HAI wants you to put everything in their controller, and then you slave devices off of that. When you want to go beyond the limitations of what you can make talk to the controller directly you look to integration software such as HomeSeer. With HomeSeer however, you are looking at much, much more than just HomeSeer and what the Omni brings to the system. There is the Internet, alternative lighting control systems, AV/Media control, etc. and those items cannot be "boiled down" to a template because they are so different for everybody.

If you look at what is taught in the CEA Bootcamp class on home automation/control, you will see that the focus is on "features" and not technology. HomeSeer is a platform that provides many different ways of implementing a "feature". For example, HS supports 8-12 different infrared controllers for the purposes of the feature to control infrared devices.

Thus, think of what you want your system to do in terms of features, use HomeSeer to implement those, and then use what the HAI system brings to the table as needed. For example, the HAI system tells you when you are home or away, it gives you control and status on HVAC if the thermostats are connected to the panel, it tells you when a door or window is open (which connects to occupancy as well as HVAC), and can detect motion whether the system is armed or not, which also goes toward occupancy. I have always considered the security system one of the key elements to an automation system for all that it can do and provide by way of information for the system.

I hope in some way this helps!

[huggy591]

Other than sites like this, HomeToys, and manufacturer's product details, you probably ought to head to your local mega-bookstore and do some browsing. I'm sure you'll find something there and you'll have to judge for yourself whether it makes sense and is the right amount of info for you.

[hdblair]

Guys, thanks for the info and references. Thinking of it as implementations of features helps me get my mind around the overall concept.

Harold