Introducing myself and some questions!

[icx1322]

Hi all,

After finding your site very useful I decided to join the forums - as you guys are all mostly pros in the world of HA you probably can't remember a time when this seemed quite daunting!

Anyway, I've long had aspirations for an automated home. My partner and I just purchased our first apartment and I figured this would be a good time to spend lots of money on gadgetry and get started with HA (!).

So here I am. Here's what I have right now:

- Visonic PowerMax+ with 1 door contact, 4 PIRs and a flood sensor.
- 2 x D2WD (2 Button Wall dimmer switches from http://www.uk-automation.co.uk/produ...oducts_id=1285)
- 1 x MC10 Mini Controller

I also have the following items on their way:

- Harmony 5.2 Gold
- XM10U controller to interface with my Powermax+ (plus a straight RJ11)
- CM12U controller for use with harmony

So what does my setup consist of right now?

In short, just the PowerMax+ box. And this has yet to be mounted to the wall

Perhaps you guys can help with my aspirations:

We have an open plan living/kitchen area which is quite big. The property has one panel of light switches by the entrance door, with 4 (non dimming) switches that control the two ceiling lights in the kitchen and the two pendants in the living area.

I purchased the D2WDs to replace the quad switches I currently I have as I didn't feel confident enough to install all the backbox modules that are available, plus they had the dimmers built in.

I'd like to use the Visonic PIRs to control the lighting - i.e. at dusk, turn lights on if someone enters the room. This functionality I'd like to extend to all the room lights, too in the future.

I'd then like to use the Harmony software to setup scenes which I will eventually trigger from a remote, for instance to prepare the room lights in the living/kitchen areas for a movie, or for cleaning etc.

I'm hoping that I can use the Powermax/Visonic PIRs for this purpose by using the XM10U?

The other rooms only have single pendant lights, but I cannot find a single version of the D2WD switch unit for use in these rooms. Can anyone suggest a suitable alternative?

As I mentioned at the start, I'm a complete beginner so would appreciate any help and guidance you folks have to offer.

Many thanks!

[toscal]

Try here http://www.intellihome.be/english/productview.asp?id=35
It may look like it has 2 switches but it is in fact only one. I have one in my bedroom. It has no status, so you may have to adjust the setting on the Powermax the installer manual will tell you what the settings are.
Also its possibly worth investing in the computer software to program the powermax. It makes setting up the home automation side of things much easier.
But if you are using the harmony system I would get the powermax to transmit say a b1 ON if the pir in the lounge is triggered then get the harmony system to decide if the light needs to go on then if it does it would send an A1 ON command for example. Don't have the manuals infront of me at the moment for the Powermax plus. But what you can't do is, when its dusk turn lights on if a PIR is triggered. It can do it if its between a certain time though. Which may be good enough.
Hope this helps.

[icx1322]

Hi Toscal,

Many thanks for your reply! I had seen this product before but assumed it was two switches (because of the picture). LetsAutomate.com only has the LW11G (the German model, which requires a neutral connection). Does anyone know where the UK version can be obtained from? I also quite like the double mounting frame that was available (p/n CD582WW) but I can't find anywhere that supplies that either. Any ideas?

Thanks

Richard

[toscal]

Try here https://www.laser.com/?page=shop/bro...e69913b55bc01&

[icx1322]

Hi, thanks for that!

Incidentally, I'm having a problem with the Domia wall dimmer - it seems not to look the mains-voltage halogens used in our kitchen (under the units). It simply makes them flash (it will not turn them on, or dim, it just flashes). Incidentally, sometimes the switch doesn't control those lights at all.

Could this be a faulty unit?

If not, what can I do to solve this?

Thanks

Rich