I'm building a 10K sq ft home (4 months away from construction) and want to automate lighting, security, HVAC, A/V, etc. Price is not really an issue, but I want to have a lot of control and flexibility over the life of the home, because I enjoy this stuff and want to have fun with it.
I've got a friend who is using Homeseer (with retrofitted X-10 lighting, along with Omni Pro II, Ocelot, Elan, and a bunch of other products) and I love all the cool things he can do. I'm leaning against a Vantage-type of system where I have to hire someone every time I want to make a change, but I also don't want X-10 because my perception is it's a weak link in the chain, and a technological dead end (not that Vantage isn't).
I'd like a Vantage-quality product that I can control with Homeseer, and that can be upgraded as new technology becomes necessary and available. I'm thinking maybe use ALC for my lighting, controlled by an Omni Pro II (rather than an OnQ controller)? It doesn't look like Homeseer can control ALC directly but it can talk to the OP2 which apparently has hardware to directly control ALC switches. That may be better anyway, so my lighting (and security) still works even if I shut down the PC running Homeseer.
Also, if I use OP2 for lighting and security, will it automatically trigger Homeseer that an event (i.e. switch turned on, or motion detected) occurred so that I can i.e. announce the door opened or use Homeseer to turn on the hall light (rather than programming OP2 to do this) or whatever? Or do I need to poll the OP2 from Homeseer to know if something happened?
Am I moving in the right direction, or should I be evaluating a higher-end software product (Premise?) and/or a higher-end lighting solution (Lightolier Compose?) or just forget the whole thing? ;-)
What can I control with Homeseer, directly or indirectly, that's reliable and good looking? I plan to live in this house for the next 40 years, so I want it as future-proof as practicable. Sorry for my ignorance but I'm just getting my feet wet in HA and I'm overwhelmed -- but loving it.
Thanks!
I've got a friend who is using Homeseer (with retrofitted X-10 lighting, along with Omni Pro II, Ocelot, Elan, and a bunch of other products) and I love all the cool things he can do. I'm leaning against a Vantage-type of system where I have to hire someone every time I want to make a change, but I also don't want X-10 because my perception is it's a weak link in the chain, and a technological dead end (not that Vantage isn't).
I'd like a Vantage-quality product that I can control with Homeseer, and that can be upgraded as new technology becomes necessary and available. I'm thinking maybe use ALC for my lighting, controlled by an Omni Pro II (rather than an OnQ controller)? It doesn't look like Homeseer can control ALC directly but it can talk to the OP2 which apparently has hardware to directly control ALC switches. That may be better anyway, so my lighting (and security) still works even if I shut down the PC running Homeseer.
Also, if I use OP2 for lighting and security, will it automatically trigger Homeseer that an event (i.e. switch turned on, or motion detected) occurred so that I can i.e. announce the door opened or use Homeseer to turn on the hall light (rather than programming OP2 to do this) or whatever? Or do I need to poll the OP2 from Homeseer to know if something happened?
Am I moving in the right direction, or should I be evaluating a higher-end software product (Premise?) and/or a higher-end lighting solution (Lightolier Compose?) or just forget the whole thing? ;-)
What can I control with Homeseer, directly or indirectly, that's reliable and good looking? I plan to live in this house for the next 40 years, so I want it as future-proof as practicable. Sorry for my ignorance but I'm just getting my feet wet in HA and I'm overwhelmed -- but loving it.
Thanks!
Comment