Hi Guys,
I’m in the process of renovating my house and am taking the opportunity run the data/ comms connections to all the places that I think I would need them. I’ve managed to find a good deal on CAT6 cable so have decided to go with that and am going to have the comms cabinet in the loft. So all in all things are moving along.
I’ve managed to convince my wife that HA is a wonderful thing and will help make life easier, save energy , blah, blah … blah. The problem I’m having is that she hates the look of the Idratek control panels. So I’ve been thinking about how to get round this hurdle and have come up with the following and would appreciate any advice you may have.
1. Try and butcher the panels (e.g. QBI001) to look nicer by using different buttons and face plate. I'm not too keen on this idea and very much doubt it would actually look any better after I'm done.
2. Make my own face plates (CLICK ME) that match the ones which we are planning to use around the house and then use some nice buttons (CLICK ME) (possibly with illuminated rings) and have the contacts running back to Node-I (which I'm still trying to find a place for) via CAT5 cable (because I'll have 8 cores so could potentially have 7 switches per cable and it's cheap) into a ODI001 and then have QRI002s and QRH001s to do the actual switching. This does mean that I'm going to have to run extra mains lighting cable from Node-I to all my lights but this is not too much of an issue as I have most of the house torn apart as it is. It also gives me an easy roll back solution (put the old switches back in and switch the wires at the light source).
3. Pretty much the same as the above with regards to the face plates but instead of the QRI002s and QRH001s, have ODO001s at Node-I and then have a mains rated relay at the light source (in the ceiling) to turn the lights on and off. Ideally I'd like to use a pulse activated relay so it doesn't need to be powered all the time during operation. i.e. 1 pulse to turn it on and another pulse to turn it off but I haven't really found anything along those lines yet. In the event of needing a dimmable switch then I'd have to locate an Idratek module in the ceiling.
I'm open to suggestions on how to proceed and the longer I let this drag the more like the wife is going to turn around and say get the damn house finished and forget about the HA stuff ... lol. So all ideas and suggestions will be considered.
Also ... does anyone have any good ideas on how to turn the power on and off at a 13A socket using Idratek gear? I'd like to be able to turn off all devices from the socket when they are not being used (i.e. I arm the alarm to leave the house and all non-essential devices will be powered off at the socket and then only be powered back on when the device is needed.
Thanks in advance.
Nad
I’m in the process of renovating my house and am taking the opportunity run the data/ comms connections to all the places that I think I would need them. I’ve managed to find a good deal on CAT6 cable so have decided to go with that and am going to have the comms cabinet in the loft. So all in all things are moving along.
I’ve managed to convince my wife that HA is a wonderful thing and will help make life easier, save energy , blah, blah … blah. The problem I’m having is that she hates the look of the Idratek control panels. So I’ve been thinking about how to get round this hurdle and have come up with the following and would appreciate any advice you may have.
1. Try and butcher the panels (e.g. QBI001) to look nicer by using different buttons and face plate. I'm not too keen on this idea and very much doubt it would actually look any better after I'm done.
2. Make my own face plates (CLICK ME) that match the ones which we are planning to use around the house and then use some nice buttons (CLICK ME) (possibly with illuminated rings) and have the contacts running back to Node-I (which I'm still trying to find a place for) via CAT5 cable (because I'll have 8 cores so could potentially have 7 switches per cable and it's cheap) into a ODI001 and then have QRI002s and QRH001s to do the actual switching. This does mean that I'm going to have to run extra mains lighting cable from Node-I to all my lights but this is not too much of an issue as I have most of the house torn apart as it is. It also gives me an easy roll back solution (put the old switches back in and switch the wires at the light source).
3. Pretty much the same as the above with regards to the face plates but instead of the QRI002s and QRH001s, have ODO001s at Node-I and then have a mains rated relay at the light source (in the ceiling) to turn the lights on and off. Ideally I'd like to use a pulse activated relay so it doesn't need to be powered all the time during operation. i.e. 1 pulse to turn it on and another pulse to turn it off but I haven't really found anything along those lines yet. In the event of needing a dimmable switch then I'd have to locate an Idratek module in the ceiling.
I'm open to suggestions on how to proceed and the longer I let this drag the more like the wife is going to turn around and say get the damn house finished and forget about the HA stuff ... lol. So all ideas and suggestions will be considered.
Also ... does anyone have any good ideas on how to turn the power on and off at a 13A socket using Idratek gear? I'd like to be able to turn off all devices from the socket when they are not being used (i.e. I arm the alarm to leave the house and all non-essential devices will be powered off at the socket and then only be powered back on when the device is needed.
Thanks in advance.
Nad
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