Hi there,
I have been reading a lot about the various ways and systems available for settings up an "automated home" however the more reading I do the more the confusion grows.
Basically what I'm aiming to do is to aggregate control over all house functions incrementally, and would also prefer to have computer/network control over things.
I was planning to use OpenRemote as the control base: http://www.openremote.org/display/HOME/OpenRemote with Zoneminder http://www.zoneminder.com/ for security.
Since it is difficult and expensive to lay cabling I was considering going wireless which means Z-wave or even better 802.11 (wifi) since I already have quite an extensive computer network due to my profession/hobby of being a computer/network engineer, meaning a tonne of servers and network infrastructure in a computer rack.
What would be a good rundown of brands and components needed to set things up. I did discover this site: http://www.uk-automation.co.uk/ which has a lot of different manufacturers and products.
I guess to start with I would like to change the current alarm system to something that is network compatible. Basically something that would interface with computer software (like Zoneminder or similar) and alert via email or even better a full network with much more verbose data in addition to ringing an external alarm (like conventional alarm systems).
- Also the lighting so that by using a cell phone/web interface or touchscreen controller one can adjust the lighting throughout the premises.
Could someone help me in where to begin and the manufacturers/products I should be looking.... I'm guessing that I need some kind of multi-protocol (X10, Z-wave) central control system which links to the IP network that acts as controller/gateway/bridge between the various protocols to the already existing computer network?
Thanks.
I have been reading a lot about the various ways and systems available for settings up an "automated home" however the more reading I do the more the confusion grows.
Basically what I'm aiming to do is to aggregate control over all house functions incrementally, and would also prefer to have computer/network control over things.
I was planning to use OpenRemote as the control base: http://www.openremote.org/display/HOME/OpenRemote with Zoneminder http://www.zoneminder.com/ for security.
Since it is difficult and expensive to lay cabling I was considering going wireless which means Z-wave or even better 802.11 (wifi) since I already have quite an extensive computer network due to my profession/hobby of being a computer/network engineer, meaning a tonne of servers and network infrastructure in a computer rack.
What would be a good rundown of brands and components needed to set things up. I did discover this site: http://www.uk-automation.co.uk/ which has a lot of different manufacturers and products.
I guess to start with I would like to change the current alarm system to something that is network compatible. Basically something that would interface with computer software (like Zoneminder or similar) and alert via email or even better a full network with much more verbose data in addition to ringing an external alarm (like conventional alarm systems).
- Also the lighting so that by using a cell phone/web interface or touchscreen controller one can adjust the lighting throughout the premises.
Could someone help me in where to begin and the manufacturers/products I should be looking.... I'm guessing that I need some kind of multi-protocol (X10, Z-wave) central control system which links to the IP network that acts as controller/gateway/bridge between the various protocols to the already existing computer network?
Thanks.
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