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Hi all
I've been lurking for a few years, but now am seriously planning my HA setup, so have a few questions. Firstly, I'll give a bit of background.
We're moving to a property where we will be installing Cat5e cables to each room. The intention is for the house to have intelligent Video, Audio and Lighting.
Audio
This is the easy one. Once I saw the demo of Sonos, I was sold. I'll be putting Sonos gear in Master bedroom, Living room, Lounge, bathroom and kitchen (though not all at once). When my daughter's older, expanding into her room also.
I did look at Logitech Squeezeboxes, but have heard that they're less reliable, though there is an attraction of the integration with linuxMCE.
Video
I shall be using the existing PC as a Core for a linuxMCE system, with small thin clients at each TV (living room, lounge, and bedrooms). I will mainly be distributing ripped dvds, but also would like each room to use the PVR functions of this as default (so will be putting as many tuners in as I can manage!)
Lighting
Here, I'm a bit stuck. I could go for a wired solution, but have three hangups: price, portability, and integrability.
Whilst I don't mind paying for quality and reliability, I don't want to break the bank unnecessarily.
I would also like (though not essential) to have a system that I can change as required - i.e. I don't have to keep moving wires around the house when I move a lamp.
Finally, I'm not overly concerned with integrating the lighting with the linuxMCE, but if I can do so, then all the better. If it's integrated, then it would be good to have a 2-way system, so I can see what lights are on from the net.
I'm based in the UK, so availability is a key factor. What I would like is a system whereby each room has a panel (at the lightswitch) with four/five "scene" buttons, similar in idea to this one:
So far, I think z-wave is winning in my head. I like the ready integration of it with linuxMCE, and I like the rf nature (and the mesh network).
The downsides are: availability in the UK (though I've found 3/4 sites now that offer this product), reliability (I don't want lots of broken modules), and the availability of a decent lightswitch replacement.
So, the main question (after a lot of writing) is whether or not anyone has any ideas of how to integrate a nice looking wall switch into the system? In particular, can I use a European switch in with a UK system? Am I right that it's fine so long as the modules are all UK (i.e. UK plug sockets)?
I'm sure I'll have lots more questions when I get going!
Thanks
Ian
I've been lurking for a few years, but now am seriously planning my HA setup, so have a few questions. Firstly, I'll give a bit of background.
We're moving to a property where we will be installing Cat5e cables to each room. The intention is for the house to have intelligent Video, Audio and Lighting.
Audio
This is the easy one. Once I saw the demo of Sonos, I was sold. I'll be putting Sonos gear in Master bedroom, Living room, Lounge, bathroom and kitchen (though not all at once). When my daughter's older, expanding into her room also.
I did look at Logitech Squeezeboxes, but have heard that they're less reliable, though there is an attraction of the integration with linuxMCE.
Video
I shall be using the existing PC as a Core for a linuxMCE system, with small thin clients at each TV (living room, lounge, and bedrooms). I will mainly be distributing ripped dvds, but also would like each room to use the PVR functions of this as default (so will be putting as many tuners in as I can manage!)
Lighting
Here, I'm a bit stuck. I could go for a wired solution, but have three hangups: price, portability, and integrability.
Whilst I don't mind paying for quality and reliability, I don't want to break the bank unnecessarily.
I would also like (though not essential) to have a system that I can change as required - i.e. I don't have to keep moving wires around the house when I move a lamp.
Finally, I'm not overly concerned with integrating the lighting with the linuxMCE, but if I can do so, then all the better. If it's integrated, then it would be good to have a 2-way system, so I can see what lights are on from the net.
I'm based in the UK, so availability is a key factor. What I would like is a system whereby each room has a panel (at the lightswitch) with four/five "scene" buttons, similar in idea to this one:
So far, I think z-wave is winning in my head. I like the ready integration of it with linuxMCE, and I like the rf nature (and the mesh network).
The downsides are: availability in the UK (though I've found 3/4 sites now that offer this product), reliability (I don't want lots of broken modules), and the availability of a decent lightswitch replacement.
So, the main question (after a lot of writing) is whether or not anyone has any ideas of how to integrate a nice looking wall switch into the system? In particular, can I use a European switch in with a UK system? Am I right that it's fine so long as the modules are all UK (i.e. UK plug sockets)?
I'm sure I'll have lots more questions when I get going!
Thanks
Ian