Thought I had better de-lurk as I will probably end up asking lots of questions in the near future...
Have been a UKHA subscriber for at least 9 years (looking at the vast mail stash) and attended the meeting in Hatfield where karam and Vivian unveiled Idratek on the HA audience.
Having recently moved into a cottage which requires a total re-wire I have decided to go down the Idratek route for the automation needs. Planning on lighting and heating control as the starting point.
The first sub-project I am planning will be the drive lights and this is based on an idea that Chris proposed in the forum. What I hope to achieve is...
There will be 5 driveway lights fitted with dimmable CFL bulbs. Initially I plan for these to come on at a fixed starting time but hopefully later move to a light sensor triggered start. I will want them to run at a dimmed level say 25%. There will then be 2 PIR's, 1 at the top and one at the bottom of the drive. When these are triggered the light level for the CFLs should go to 100% for a fixed time period, say 15 mins before dropping back to the base level. For the added compexity twist, at 01:00 in the morning the lights should go off all-together, but retain the ability to be triggered by the PIRs if movement is detected.
I have ordered the starter kit from Idratek with the addition of quad dimmer module which was delivered very promptly this morning and I have got a one month demo of Cortex which I will turn into a full licence when I work out which of the options I need/want!
I have ordered the following PIR's http://tinyurl.com/a3wfkw which have a volt free contact but the minimum closure time seems to be 5 seconds.
Anyone see any problems with my plans? From my first play with Cortex I am not sure that I can do the light shut off at 01:00 which wouldn't be the end of the world.
Regards
Allan
Have been a UKHA subscriber for at least 9 years (looking at the vast mail stash) and attended the meeting in Hatfield where karam and Vivian unveiled Idratek on the HA audience.
Having recently moved into a cottage which requires a total re-wire I have decided to go down the Idratek route for the automation needs. Planning on lighting and heating control as the starting point.
The first sub-project I am planning will be the drive lights and this is based on an idea that Chris proposed in the forum. What I hope to achieve is...
There will be 5 driveway lights fitted with dimmable CFL bulbs. Initially I plan for these to come on at a fixed starting time but hopefully later move to a light sensor triggered start. I will want them to run at a dimmed level say 25%. There will then be 2 PIR's, 1 at the top and one at the bottom of the drive. When these are triggered the light level for the CFLs should go to 100% for a fixed time period, say 15 mins before dropping back to the base level. For the added compexity twist, at 01:00 in the morning the lights should go off all-together, but retain the ability to be triggered by the PIRs if movement is detected.
I have ordered the starter kit from Idratek with the addition of quad dimmer module which was delivered very promptly this morning and I have got a one month demo of Cortex which I will turn into a full licence when I work out which of the options I need/want!
I have ordered the following PIR's http://tinyurl.com/a3wfkw which have a volt free contact but the minimum closure time seems to be 5 seconds.
Anyone see any problems with my plans? From my first play with Cortex I am not sure that I can do the light shut off at 01:00 which wouldn't be the end of the world.
Regards
Allan
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