
Originally Posted by
Kevin
Creating an ideal HA system is still a labour of love and usually a compromise between technologies, desires, money and time. The ability for many different systems to integrate seamlessly isn't there yet, and may never be for both technical and commercial reasons.
xAP is still very much a HA enthusiasts tick item. It's goal is to provide the cross product interaction in a standardised and expandable way but it still needs quite an investment in understanding and time to usefully implement . Much as we would like it to be transparent / plug and play... it isn't.
So from where you're starting from at the moment I wouldn't place too much insistence on xAP support. Products like Alert Me are very consumer friendly. I am not a fan of X10 - although that is where I started from. Its lack of reliability, status information and confirmed actions are serious problems - particularly in this large old house. IIRC Alert Me does not offer a lamp dimming solution and if you are truly retrofit then wired solutions are probably out so you're left with X10 or RF - and my choice would likely be RF (Z-Wave, ZigBee or other two way system). The range of products can be restrictive though.
What I would suggest is posting again here, but in a more general forum and asking for suggestions . There are many software solutions at various pricepoints. Or indeed are you a member on the the UKHA mail list ?
Most of the commercial HA applications have a plugin for xAP and so if you can choose one that supports your intended hardware then that usually means it can be exposed via xAP which is useful for your future aspirations eg with the Joggler.
I do like Plugwise and it offers most of what you need but, like ALert Me only with appliance type modules (no dimmers yet). The switches are limited and no sockets or wall switches with relay/dimmers inbuilt. .
I would seriously still consider Alert Me (again no dimmers) as the lack of realtime event feedback may not be as bad as it first appears . It integrates security and an iPhone app nicely too.
Also take a look at Harmony and their range of supported hardware ( although there is no xAP plugin). I use HomeSeer but when you add up HS + their iPhone Client it not an inexpensive solution.
BTW The iPhone is always going to be a 'no' for any Flash based control application.
I'll think some more too - on what's out there - do you want integrated security (alarm functionality) too ?
K