Where does a new guy begin??

[TeleFragger]

This was one of the big selling points of X10 from years ago; wake up to fresh coffee, automatically. The points left out were what you found - the coffee pot must have its switch in the ON position and be ready to go. And, yes, you lose the clock on the front until the module is switched on.

exactly.. and with technology today.. somethings are left to be un-automated.... now in a die hard home automation way..
you could take a coffee maker and replace push buttons with toggle switches to force it in say an on mode when power is restored.. this will definitely trip power on and could make coffee.. it will take more thinking and tinkering.. but personally I find it easier to set the coffee pot itself.

my plan is to shut my coffee pot power off when we set the alarm to away. yes i will loose the schedule but i dont have the coffe pot make coffee before i wake up... i can last till i get to work.. and have kids that make coffee for us on the weekends

[Otis]

I'm thinking about starting with these three items:

1. HOMETROLLER-PRO-S3 HomeTroller PRO Series 3 - Home Automation Controller (HomeSeer)
Base Price: $1,299.95
System Restore ($29.96)
Surface Mounting Kit ($19.95)
Keyboard/Mouse ($20.00)
No Phone Add-ons

2. K-ZT-BASIC-ZT Z-Wave PC Starter Kit $199.95 $199.95

3. ZSTAT 2GIG-ZSTAT CT30E - Z-Wave Thermostat (2GIG) $98.50

Couple questions:

- Any value in upgrading to the 8GB flash in the controller? As a novice who doesn't have a huge home, will I really need the extra memory?
- Should I be getting the "phone add on"? I assume that just lets me integrate for caller ID and some other functionality? Not sure that is worth the extra cost for me.
- Anything else I need to get started?

Thanks again all.

[Olbrit]

- Anything else I need to get started?

I found Z-Seer very helpful for graphical display of my network for initial understanding and troubleshooting when I was learning and then later as I grew the ZWave mesh.

Also, I found that an external USB drive on the HT was a life saver for at least daily full copies of the HomeSeer entire folder directory; offsite backup too would be a bonus. This forum has many sad stories of difficult recoveries after unexpected issues...

[Otis]

- Anything else I need to get started?

I found Z-Seer very helpful for graphical display of my network for initial understanding and troubleshooting when I was learning and then later as I grew the ZWave mesh.

Also, I found that an external USB drive on the HT was a life saver for at least daily full copies of the HomeSeer entire folder directory; offsite backup too would be a bonus. This forum has many sad stories of difficult recoveries after unexpected issues...

Thanks -- very helpful to know.

[TeleFragger]

- Anything else I need to get started?

I found Z-Seer very helpful for graphical display of my network for initial understanding and troubleshooting when I was learning and then later as I grew the ZWave mesh.

Also, I found that an external USB drive on the HT was a life saver for at least daily full copies of the HomeSeer entire folder directory; offsite backup too would be a bonus. This forum has many sad stories of difficult recoveries after unexpected issues...

i try not to buy too many plugins as i dont have the extra cash for it.. however you are right... z-seer is one that i really like.. it is nice to see graphically what is going on.... id say an almost must have for anyone.. a must for me....

[Otis]

i try not to buy too many plugins as i dont have the extra cash for it.. however you are right... z-seer is one that i really like.. it is nice to see graphically what is going on.... id say an almost must have for anyone.. a must for me....

Actually, based on what I'm seeing, this should come with what I am ordering above:

"Z-Seer is free with HSPRO"

HSPRO comes with my Hometroller Pro I think.

[kaldoon]

Actually, based on what I'm seeing, this should come with what I am ordering above:

"Z-Seer is free with HSPRO"

HSPRO comes with my Hometroller Pro I think.

All HomeSeer plug-ins / software including Z-Seer comes with the Pro software - the Hometroller Pro runs the HSPro software

[Otis]

All HomeSeer plug-ins / software including Z-Seer comes with the Pro software - the Hometroller Pro runs the HSPro software

:thumbup:

Sweet.

[afmiller]

Hey Otis,

I've been running the 2GIG-ZSTAT for about 2 months now. I've found it very nice, It's not demanding on the battries I found, it will only send updates when you change a setting via the hardware or from the Homeseer. I'm not very savy at electrical things, and I had no issue setting it up, hardest part was removing the old 1980s theromstat from the wall.

[Otis]

Hey Otis,

I've been running the 2GIG-ZSTAT for about 2 months now. I've found it very nice, It's not demanding on the battries I found, it will only send updates when you change a setting via the hardware or from the Homeseer. I'm not very savy at electrical things, and I had no issue setting it up, hardest part was removing the old 1980s theromstat from the wall.

Nice thanks

[Otis]

I can't see this thread from the New Users board, but it appears along the side. What happened to it? Anyway, seems like it's still working.

Well I took the plunge! Order being delivered today. Question: I'm not moving into the new place for a month or two. I'd like to set it up on my wifi network here in our apartment and just mess around with it, set it up, etc. Is there any downside to setting up a Z-wave network here with the components identified above and then porting it to a new location in a month or two? I'm pxyched to get my feet wet!

Thanks.

[Rupp]

I can't see this thread from the New Users board, but it appears along the side. What happened to it? Anyway, seems like it's still working.

Well I took the plunge! Order being delivered today. Question: I'm not moving into the new place for a month or two. I'd like to set it up on my wifi network here in our apartment and just mess around with it, set it up, etc. Is there any downside to setting up a Z-wave network here with the components identified above and then porting it to a new location in a month or two? I'm pxyched to get my feet wet!

Thanks.

You can do this but just be sure when you move to remove/delete all nodes in your network and then readd them when you reinstall at your new location.

[TeleFragger]

I can't see this thread from the New Users board, but it appears along the side. What happened to it? Anyway, seems like it's still working.

Well I took the plunge! Order being delivered today. Question: I'm not moving into the new place for a month or two. I'd like to set it up on my wifi network here in our apartment and just mess around with it, set it up, etc. Is there any downside to setting up a Z-wave network here with the components identified above and then porting it to a new location in a month or two? I'm pxyched to get my feet wet!

Thanks.

i actually did this at work... setup a desktop controller.. 2 appliance modules... for a fan in the room and to mess with a co worker.. turn his computer off... of course it was only when he turned it on... i would power it off... and keep going with it..... but that wore out quick....with the sign of frustration he had!!!!!!

but yes then you can just delete the nodes and re-setup in the new place... plus it gives you the feel before you go to set it up for real!!!

[Otis]

Thanks all for the help in here. Got my HomeTroller pro today with Ztroller and two Zwave appliance modules. With a little tinkering I have it all set up and working, both through the web interface on my Mac and from HSTouch on my iPhone. Pretty cool and fairly easy to set up (thanks to this forum). My next step will be to put those two lamps on some kind of sunset event which I will do now.

Can't wait until we get into our house in a month or two and get some much more complicated stuff up and running. But this is a great way to test/learn...