New Member (Introduction)

[sirmeili]

Hi all, I don't know if this forum does "introduction" threads, but I am a part of more than a few that do, so I decided to Introduce myself.

I am Frank (SirMeili) and I am from Sebring, Florida. I am moving to Homeseer from A MiCasaVerde Vera. I started home automation in July of 2013 and it quickly grew to the point where I don't think that Vera was able to meet my needs anymore. I thought their new controllers would be more powerful, but alas, they were barely more powerful, just cheaper. They have new ones on the horizon, but I refuse to wait. the Homeseer 50% off sale did it for me.

I will say that it is thanks to @S-F that I am here. He posted on the vera forums about his experience with HS, and after doing the trial, I was completely sold. I bought my license yesterday and I am slowly moving over from the Vera to HS (which is running on my local Development server for now).

My Technologies:

• I am running mostly Z-Wave for my lights and outlet control. I have picked up a Z-Net for this since @S-F raved so much about it. So far so good
• I am Running Insteon, mainly for the KPLs and the FanLincs, however I have been considering moving to using them for light switches and outlets (especially since they now have the outlets where both outlets are controllable). I am currently using an ISY as a go between, but I might consider trying out the direct Insteon plugins in the future.
• I am running a limited set of Philips Hues. These are only used in places where there is no light switch or I use another light's switches to turn them on/off. Some are only ever controlled through "automation", but do have overrides, mainly through the use of KPLs
• I have a Nest thermostat, but as I wasn't really using it for Automation in the Vera, I have held off on getting the plugin. I work from home, so I don't even use the "away" feature of the Nest. This might all change in the future.
• I have a NetAtmo, but I opted to not use the plugin either. That may change, but I feel that perhaps it is not the most accurate solution out there. I am still testing it, but as I was also not using this for automation yet, I have opted to not use the plugin.

Things I want to do:

• Irrigation - I currently have a "scheduled" one. I can only water on specific days, but I would like to change out the irrigation controller with one that I can control in HS and then perhaps use my NetAtmo Rain sensor or another weather station to determine if I really need to water that day.
• Security panel/sensors - I am not really looking to do this for the purpose of security. Instead I am looking to use this for faster and cheaper sensors (Motion, Door, etc). I know this is possible on the Vera, and I'm absolutely sure this is possible in HS. I'm still researching the parts and then I will have to wait till next Winter to potentially install it (too hot in the attic right now).
• Cameras - I don't currently have any, but would like to have a few. Mainly the front door for when someone arrives and we are expecting our 4th baby, so I would like an integrated camera for the "baby monitor"
• Whole house audio - I'm looking at picking up a system with keypads, but I want to research it more. I haven't done much looking into it recently. Whichever system I go with, I want to be able to integrate the HS speak functions for notifications, reminders, and querying the system for information/actions.

I am still looking at what is possible in HS, but I would welcome any suggestions. Even just links to interesting threads would be good. I know there are a lot of plugins that are only on the forums, so any notes on the "hidden gems" would be appreciated. I'm sure I'll find them on my own as well, but it's sometimes you don't know you want something until someone shows it to you..LOL

[ServiceXp]

Welcome from over at Vera..

You and I are traveling the same road, the biggest difference is that I'm heavily invested in MySensors devices..

[mrhappy]

Welcome...can't really help with anything you want to do to be honest I don't need irrigation (when we are nearly in June here and I am wearing a waterproof jacket still), cameras are still a bit of a dark art and they I think always will be to a degree although the Foscam type seem to be reasonably successful for some people. Whole house I am rolling out a Sonos system for the sake of ease, not the cheapest but it beats trying to chase cables and cutting holes in the ceiling for speakers.

I think for HS3 there are not as many plugins floating around on the forum and the majority are in the updater...there is the odd couple (and I think I might be one of the ones with the most and there are only four of mine) and I would say less than 10-15 (?) I have personally seen. There are however a large number of scripts floating around for all sorts of uses, probably totalling the hundreds. Searching the board via Google stands you a better chance and if you have an idea post it and someone can potentially help...

[dcdelong]

Welcome

Welcome Frank,

You will find that the folks that hang out in this forum are most willing to help and guide on the HS journey. I would say that may be one of the main reasons that I keep growing my system. There are too many great developers and knowledgeable contributors to list. I would do a disservice if I started. I will mention that Jon00 has lots of really excellent additions to HS that can be downloaded using a link in his signature line. Also not in the updater is a very nice serial PI from drule.

As for me, I have been transferring my z-wave slowly to Insteon over the last few years (mnsandler's PI = great).

Been a huge fan of SONOS for whole house music and announcements (Dirks PI is fantastic).

Also support your notion of using an alarm system for motion/door/window status. Not only a two for one but crazy fast and reliable. I use a Vista 20p and the also great PI from mnsandler.

Enjoy,

Chris

[S-F]

Bro, check out Russound. Great plugin and it integrates nicely with BLSpeech for all your notification needs.

Working ATM. I'love have a more verbose reply later tonight.

[LeoS]

Welcome.. welcome...

Are you one to tumble down the rabbit hole...? Check this thread out for a whole house VR+Announcement system : http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=165984
It's a completely hands-free, room-aware voice recognition and tts announcement system, plus room-to-room intercom system.

Also, the newly added 'Device History' plugin is a great way to log and graph temperature, power usage, luminance changes and whathaveyou, and it's such a breeze to setup and use.

And tonlof has a Tasker (android) plugin that's not in the updater yet. It provides a framework for 2-way communication system w/ Tasker. Very powerful stuff..

[TomTom]

Welcome!!
This is the right choice!

From my experience after looking into it a long time.
Irrigation - OpenSprinkler (IP based) with free HS plugin.
Security - Honeywell/Ademco Panels w/ Spuds Envisalink Plugin(IP based)
Ademco over DSC panel for me because of parts availability on
ebay(cheap)
Cameras: I went with Panasonic Cameras with Geovision DVR PCI card(16channel). Free software and apps. There is away to get images into HS but I haven't done it yet, but other have. A work in progress for me.
Wholehouse audio - After all the looking around, I settled on Squeezeplug or Logitech Media Server.
Voice Recognition - XAP800
Search the forums for details about each and there is plenty.

Again welcome to a great forum and software.

Things I want to do:

• Irrigation - I currently have a "scheduled" one. I can only water on specific days, but I would like to change out the irrigation controller with one that I can control in HS and then perhaps use my NetAtmo Rain sensor or another weather station to determine if I really need to water that day.
• Security panel/sensors - I am not really looking to do this for the purpose of security. Instead I am looking to use this for faster and cheaper sensors (Motion, Door, etc). I know this is possible on the Vera, and I'm absolutely sure this is possible in HS. I'm still researching the parts and then I will have to wait till next Winter to potentially install it (too hot in the attic right now).
• Cameras - I don't currently have any, but would like to have a few. Mainly the front door for when someone arrives and we are expecting our 4th baby, so I would like an integrated camera for the "baby monitor"
• Whole house audio - I'm looking at picking up a system with keypads, but I want to research it more. I haven't done much looking into it recently. Whichever system I go with, I want to be able to integrate the HS speak functions for notifications, reminders, and querying the system for information/actions.

[gearyt]

welcome to the land of the .........
as you can see from my signature I have many irons in the fire.. and you could guess I have little hair

You made the right choice and will enjoy spending time and $$ here

Geary

[sirmeili]

I've hit my first speed bump. I have outlets all over my house. To add a node to the vera, you merely unplug it, pop in some batteries, push the battery button and wait for it to start up (no network connect). YOu then just take it to the device push the + (or - to exclude) on the device and it removes it. The Next time the Vera starts up, the node is gone.

With the Znet, it appears you not only have to have it powered, but connected to the network. I didn't buy the wireless dongle because I have no interest in running it full time on wireless as I prefer to hard wire most things.

So is there really no other way? This puts a huge wall in front of me moving most of my devices. Some are in the Attic in junction boxes (micro switches) and others are around the yard.

I really don't want to make a 50' ethernet cable just so I can include my devices, but at this point, if I want to do anything tonight, I guess I will have to.

A little tip for "future" revisions of the hardware. Have a button on the device for inclusion/exclusion and have it merely include the object if no network connection is present. Then next time it has a connection it can communicate that to homeseer.

I'm off to see exactly how long my longest ethernet cable is

[mrhappy]

I thought the Z-Net supported NWI so you didn't have to move it, I have a series 500 interface (UZB so not the Z-Net) and you don't have to bring the modules close to the controller and I believe it adds through other nodes.

[Guest]

My Znet is in the basement and my upstairs switches included just fine ;-)

[ServiceXp]

Battery or hardwired devices?

[Guest]

Most hardwired, but my Yale locks included fine as well.

[S-F]

• Whole house audio - I'm looking at picking up a system with keypads, but I want to research it more. I haven't done much looking into it recently. Whichever system I go with, I want to be able to integrate the HS speak functions for notifications, reminders, and querying the system for information/actions.

With a Russound system you get keypads for each location but the real beauty of it is how it integrates with HS. If you have the BLRussound plugin and BLSpeech the integration is very tight. Before you enter the text for the TTS you want spoken you add some simple commands telling BLRussound and BLSpeech things like what zone to speak over, volume, you can specify that an audio file be played before the TTS. Also it will return the zone to its previous state. So it will turn the zone back off or back to the zone you were listening to music on and so forth. That one feature right there is huge for me since I use a lot of TTS. Aside from the Z-Wave plugin those two are my most used. You can (and should if you use a lot of TTS) use BLSpeech with other sound devices like Sonos or whatever but it won't integrate like it does with Russound so you won't get the return to previous state functionality. And you also won't get the slickness of having a built in system. And you'll also have to pay the Sonos tax. Those things will put you in the poor house.

[TomTom]

Not sure if the wifi function on the znets works or not.

Anyway, One way to add distant devices as a one time thing, since your devices are already installed, would be to install HS3 on a laptop, then copy the HS3 directory from the real HS machine to the laptop. Then plug your znet into your laptop and walk around including the distant devices. When finished copy the HS3 directory back to your real HS machine.
This is assuming your real HS machine isn't portable.

This is my plan for future devices I add that are in the attic(90ft away) and outdoors by the gate and dock(200ft+ away).