Anyone using Home Automation? If so what type?

[Maximus]

Now we have the keys to our new home I want to implement a power and control system throughout the house that takes advantage of the WiFi network and our various tablets and smart phones.

I'm looking at the various standards and trying to work out what direction I would like to go in. Insteon looks pretty nice with a centralized dual-band hub that has Android and iOS app support. Was wondering if anyone had experience with X10, Z-Wave or Zigbee?

Seems like a multi-protocol controller like the Mi Casa Verde VeraLite Home Controller is a good way to go so you aren't locked into a single protocol.

Features I want...

Day 1 -
- control lights in the house via Android/iOS, off on and dim, we are using dimmable LED throughout.
- schedule basic lighting events, on in the morning, off in the evening yadda yadda
- turn certain power outlets on and off via Android/iOS

Future -
- control all the arcade power outlets and lighting via Android/iOS
- who knows what else at this point.

[kahlid74]

I currently don't do this, and really don't have a want to but I have two systems in my house that are similar in automation:

I have an automated Cooling/Heating system like a nest, only it's based in the RaspberryPi world and uses what's called a  "PiFace" which has 10 AMP relays on it.  I have a webpage that runs on the Pi that I can bring up at any time to check the temp and then change it.

I use automation in my pool, where I have an Pi (Arduino originally) test for Chlorine and Ph.  If it detects Chlorine to be below a certain threshold it turns the knob on my chlorinator open wider or closes it.  Since the chlorinator is outside my assembly and movement arm were exposed to the elements and lets just say it's not too happy.  So I'm re-working it and will probably print all the pieces in ABS on my 3D printer so it can withstand the elements next time.

So for what you're talking about, you would probably want to look at stuff like Arduino with XBees and automated relays.  Then you could have Arduino's in every room that are online with the XBee's and respond to a master server running either a webpage you either open through a browser or an app you create.

[Maximus]

I don't think I'm going to go for DIY arduino based gear, that sounds a little too involved. I'm thinking the multi-protocol hub with some off-the-shelf switches, oulets, dimmers etc.

Also we will be going with dimmable LED bulbs throughout, motion sensing switches in low-traffic areas (bathrooms, closets etc) and Nest thermostats.

[ChadTower]

They have kit systems for this stuff now.  I forget what it was called but my son and I were looking at one at Lowe's the other day.

[drventure]

I did all this way back in the day using X10 stuff. Besides the obvious costs, and trouble installing, it worked pretty well. However, EVERY SINGLE thunderstorm took out 1 or more controllers. Maybe that was just the x10, but I'm not so sure.

Anyway, after a while, It started to get expensive keeping it all running reasonably. Eventually, all the controllers except a few were blown and I'd just replaced them with the original switches.

In the end, when on vacation, I picked up a few randomizing timers and put them all a couple lamps in the house. And I just use the regular switches. They don't blow out in storms and replacing them is about as cheap and easy as it gets.

Granted, you can do some cool stuff once its all in place, but honestly, after the first month or so, I almost never used it to control lights.

Now, the timer on my coffee pot? That's used every day! 

[Maximus]

Lol nice.

Well fortunately here in San Diego we don't get thunderstorms, but we do get brown/blackouts during the summer months.

[gamepimp]

We're building and my buddy told me about Z-Wave stuff to automate lights and pretty much anything electrical. Here's their website:

http://www.z-wave.com/modules/ZwaveStart/

He controls his thru alarm.com which he uses for his security system. They have an app for iOS and Android.

[Maximus]

We're building and my buddy told me about Z-Wave stuff to automate lights and pretty much anything electrical. Here's their website:

http://www.z-wave.com/modules/ZwaveStart/

He controls his thru alarm.com which he uses for his security system. They have an app for iOS and Android.

Yeah the Mi Casa Verde VeraLite supports Z-Wave and Insteon, they seem to be popular standards

[TKW4rr10r]

We're building and my buddy told me about Z-Wave stuff to automate lights and pretty much anything electrical. Here's their website:

http://www.z-wave.com/modules/ZwaveStart/

He controls his thru alarm.com which he uses for his security system. They have an app for iOS and Android.

I 2nd the alarm.com route. We have our's through frontpointsecurity. Was great that we could actually move it with us when we reloacting from rental to rental. Plan on expanding it once we find a perm. place in the next year or so.

[kahlid74]

Oh, so you're more talking about a online house, which is a bit different than automation. 

I would be very careful about online security systems, they are still in their early stages of development and adoption.  Don't also forget that if I gain entry into your home by gaining access to your online security system your insurance company won't cover anything I steal.  Online systems have little to no logging and can't prove the burglar wasn't authorized, which is how you'll get porked by the insurance companies.

[drventure]

Oh, so you're more talking about a online house, which is a bit different than automation. 

I would be very careful about online security systems, they are still in their early stages of development and adoption.  Don't also forget that if I gain entry into your home by gaining access to your online security system your insurance company won't cover anything I steal.  Online systems have little to no logging and can't prove the burglar wasn't authorized, which is how you'll get porked by the insurance companies.

Yeah, I'd be more than a little hesitant about such services.

[TKW4rr10r]

Oh, so you're more talking about a online house, which is a bit different than automation. 

I would be very careful about online security systems, they are still in their early stages of development and adoption.  Don't also forget that if I gain entry into your home by gaining access to your online security system your insurance company won't cover anything I steal.  Online systems have little to no logging and can't prove the burglar wasn't authorized, which is how you'll get porked by the insurance companies.

That's interesting. The alarm system I have I can control camera and access them remotely via an app. But the sensors and alarm themselves work off of a cell signal, they don't touch wifi at all. I can administrate my account online (and the app is basically a portal through that site) but I'm not "controlling" the actual system via WiFi, it's just a means of connecting to the parent company via their site. I also get e-mails whenever anyone opens a door and when anything is done on the system. Even if someone tried to access the account incorrectly, all immediate. It was great to get a call from them immediately when the maintenance guys forgot about the alarm. Everything was logged and one of my cameras is pointed right at the front door.

In this setup I don't see how its different than any other wireless system provided by ADT, brinks, or whomever. Now I wouldn't get a "smart lock" on my front door that connects to my wifi, that I'm still leery about. But I don't think my scenario would cause any "porking" by the insurance companies. But what do I know, they live to find loopholes.

[Rick]

I'm planning on using some stuff from X10.com, to control (firstly) a single room in my house - the game room.

Essentially, when the Doom cab is finished, the attract mode will have a 'haunted attract' mode. The monitor - while showing standard attract vids - will suddenly blink out... ... as will the lights. I'll use some red LED's mounted low in the cab, and an integrated fog machine to spit out red fog, while the monitor starts showing some Doom-inspired semi-scary imagery for a few seconds. Then, it will blink out again, the lights will flicker back on, and the FE will 'reboot' back into normal attract mode.

Later, I'll be using the X10 modules and software to automate the rest of the house. I love the idea of going away, and having the house 'react' like we're still at home.

[ark_ader]

It would be fun to hack and make a video.   

[Vanguard]

My entire house (every single light switch, fan controller, garage doors, thermostat, weather station, energy monitor) is z-wave and I'm running a VeraLite.

I'm in Florida and we get hit by lighting routinely.   I've not lost anything except an anomometer on the weather station.   I did lose my whole z-wave network configuration but the VeraLite backs up the network on the MiCasaVerde server so I was able to reload the whole config.

I have a pretty heavily automated house.  Vera pretty much runs my morning schedule.   She turns on the lights in the kids rooms to wake them.   Turns on their bathroom lights and kitchen lights.

I'm using a Vera plugin that allows Vera to speak so she reminds me when it is trash day, when we need to leave for the bus.   When she tells us we need to leave for the bus, she turns off all the lights in the house.  Turns on the lights needed to see going out of the house (laundry room and garage).   She also opens the garage door.   Two minutes after we leave, she turns off the remaining lights and closes the garage.

She speaks through my phone too so as I'm driving away I get her voice telling me the garage closed.

When my heat comes on, Vera also turns on my ceiling fans in reverse to push the warm air down from the ceiling.

At night (via a light sensor) she turns on certain lights in the house.

When we are coming home and I open the garage door via the car remote, vera turns on the inside lights.

At sundown, she checks the garage doors and tells me they are open or closed and closes them if needed.

I also have a light switch as you walk toward the master bedroom that normally turns on/off a floor lamp.   At 11:00pm that switch becomes a special switch that turns off all the lights in the house and checks the door and garage status.   If all is well, vera says, "The house is secure, goodnight".   If not, she closes and locks what isn't secure.

I've also got vera tied into a google calendar so my wife and kids can input events and in the morning a switch on one of the scene controllers will have vera go read all the appointments on the calendar for that day.

So if the boys have a test or something, they get a reminder.   The calendar also has on it what days are holidays and on those days the "wake kids" and "leave for bus" scenes don't run.

VeraLite is a pretty awesome controller.   You can write your own programs to do things like i've done with fans/thermostat.

Z-wave is very stable and the more devices you add, the better coverage your network gets and therefore makes it that much more reliable.

[TKW4rr10r]

That setup is awesome. I'm assuming you can program custom voices and/or voice commands? I'd certainly like to have JARVIS help me manage my future home 

If you don't mind, ballpark how much do you think you've spent on your system so far? Did you run a separate server for all the z-wave equipment in the house?

[Rick]

All this talk of home automation, and not a hyperlink in the bunch. I'd certainly love to see links - especially to Vera and all associated Stark-worthy stuff!

[TKW4rr10r]

All this talk of home automation, and not a hyperlink in the bunch. I'd certainly love to see links - especially to Vera and all associated Stark-worthy stuff!

Here ya go:


Sorry, it's early.

[Rick]

Here ya go:


Sorry, it's early.

I tried

, but it didn't work for me.

[DaOld Man]

My entire house (every single light switch, fan controller, garage doors, thermostat, weather station, energy monitor) is z-wave and I'm running a VeraLite.

I'm in Florida and we get hit by lighting routinely.   I've not lost anything except an anomometer on the weather station.   I did lose my whole z-wave network configuration but the VeraLite backs up the network on the MiCasaVerde server so I was able to reload the whole config.

I have a pretty heavily automated house.  Vera pretty much runs my morning schedule.   She turns on the lights in the kids rooms to wake them.   Turns on their bathroom lights and kitchen lights.

I'm using a Vera plugin that allows Vera to speak so she reminds me when it is trash day, when we need to leave for the bus.   When she tells us we need to leave for the bus, she turns off all the lights in the house.  Turns on the lights needed to see going out of the house (laundry room and garage).   She also opens the garage door.   Two minutes after we leave, she turns off the remaining lights and closes the garage.

She speaks through my phone too so as I'm driving away I get her voice telling me the garage closed.

When my heat comes on, Vera also turns on my ceiling fans in reverse to push the warm air down from the ceiling.

At night (via a light sensor) she turns on certain lights in the house.

When we are coming home and I open the garage door via the car remote, vera turns on the inside lights.

At sundown, she checks the garage doors and tells me they are open or closed and closes them if needed.

I also have a light switch as you walk toward the master bedroom that normally turns on/off a floor lamp.   At 11:00pm that switch becomes a special switch that turns off all the lights in the house and checks the door and garage status.   If all is well, vera says, "The house is secure, goodnight".   If not, she closes and locks what isn't secure.

I've also got vera tied into a google calendar so my wife and kids can input events and in the morning a switch on one of the scene controllers will have vera go read all the appointments on the calendar for that day.

So if the boys have a test or something, they get a reminder.   The calendar also has on it what days are holidays and on those days the "wake kids" and "leave for bus" scenes don't run.

VeraLite is a pretty awesome controller.   You can write your own programs to do things like i've done with fans/thermostat.

Z-wave is very stable and the more devices you add, the better coverage your network gets and therefore makes it that much more reliable.

Did they just make a new movie about you?

[Vanguard]

That setup is awesome. I'm assuming you can program custom voices and/or voice commands? I'd certainly like to have JARVIS help me manage my future home 

If you don't mind, ballpark how much do you think you've spent on your system so far? Did you run a separate server for all the z-wave equipment in the house?

You can do z-wave on a broad range of budget.   Z-wave is a licensed technology so any company can make a z-wave device.   Prices for switches vary wildly and there's some factors to consider when buying the switches.

You can get away with fairly cheap switches $30-50 if you don't want to dim lights or use LED bulbs.   If you do want to dim and use LED's the switches get a little pricey.   A dimming switch that can properly control LED's will run $100 or more.    The switches that can switch LED's are relay switches and have a neutral wire.   This can be difficult to wire if the switch you are replacing doesn't have a neutral wire.

The whole thing with these switches and LEDs is that the switch itself needs power.   If you don't have a neutral wire, the only way to power the switch is to let a small amount of current pass through the switch into the light and out the neutral wire of the light.   On a incandescent bulb, this is no issue.   The amount of power isn't enough to illuminate the bulb.   On an LED however, it's a problem.   The LED will actually light up slightly or pulsate.   You really need to research the switches and understand your wiring in the house before you start buying switches.

Cost wise, I've probably got $5-$6k in the house.  In all with switches, plug in modules, HEM, etc.. I've got around 50-60 devices.   I got started with this because my whole house had lutron maestro dimmers.   I started switching the house to LED lighting and found that the maestro dimmers couldn't control the LEDs properly.   They either flickered or for lights that shared a single switch, they lights would strobe.   I needed to replace all the lutron dimmers with newer LED compatible ones anyway so I just spent a little more and went z-wave.

Z-wave operates on it's own wavelength and protocol (around 900mhz) it does not communicate on your 802.X network which is in a much higher band.
No extra networking is needed.   The Vera controller is a bridge (and smart controller) between your 802 network and the zwave network.   Vera plugs into your computer network but can send wireless commands on the z-wave network.   This allows you to access vera via your computer, phone, tablet, etc.. from anywhere you can get on the internet and control your lighting.

[Vanguard]

All this talk of home automation, and not a hyperlink in the bunch. I'd certainly love to see links - especially to Vera and all associated Stark-worthy stuff!

Here's a quick video of my system at work.   There is voice control but its really not practical.   The voice recognition works well but you have to be carrying a phone, launch an app, push a button, speak, "turn family room ceiling lights on",etc..

It's cool to show off but in reality its quicker to just pick up a remote and hit a button or use my kindle, phone, etc..

In the video, I'm using an old Kindle Fire as my controller.  In this video, I'm manually triggering scenes that usually run on a time schedule.   The text to speech voice is coming from an android phone that I use as a text to speech server.   Vera sends GCM messages to the phone and a little app on the phone catches them and speaks the message.

]

[ark_ader]

I had a Chrysler E class car once, that sounded like that, drove me nuts.

A single chime would suffice. Or get a housekeeper.

[Vanguard]

I had a Chrysler E class car once, that sounded like that, drove me nuts.

A single chime would suffice. Or get a housekeeper.

Whatever works for you.   I'm happy with my setup.

[Rick]

Or get a housekeeper.

Certainly worked out for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[Vanguard]

Several people in my neighborhood have maids or au pairs.   I don't know how people can do it.   I don't want a stranger living in my house.

[lilshawn]

I don't want a stranger living in my house.

people don't stay strangers forever... aaaayyeee! wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more, say no more!

[Rick]

people don't stay strangers forever... aaaayyeee! wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more, say no more!

Certainly worked out for Arnold Schwarzenegger!

[ark_ader]

Several people in my neighborhood have maids or au pairs.   I don't know how people can do it.   I don't want a stranger living in my house.

Just don't get one that pushes your buttons.

 

[Vanguard]

Several people in my neighborhood have maids or au pairs.   I don't know how people can do it.   I don't want a stranger living in my house.

Just don't get one that pushes your buttons.

 

It's not a matter of pushing buttons.   It would be like being at work all the time.   I'd be worried about walking out to fridge naked in the middle of the night.   Next thing you know you're getting sued for harassment.   You'd have to be worried about everything you say or do.   You never really know people or what they are capable of.   

[Rick]

I'd be worried about walking out to fridge naked in the middle of the night.   Next thing you know...   *cues 70's porn music*

FTFY

[EightBySix]

When I finish my table one day, I'm hoping to make it an X10 controller, so I can dim the lights from the front end.

[kahlid74]

My entire house (every single light switch, fan controller, garage doors, thermostat, weather station, energy monitor) is z-wave and I'm running a VeraLite.

I'm in Florida and we get hit by lighting routinely.   I've not lost anything except an anomometer on the weather station.   I did lose my whole z-wave network configuration but the VeraLite backs up the network on the MiCasaVerde server so I was able to reload the whole config.

I have a pretty heavily automated house.  Vera pretty much runs my morning schedule.   She turns on the lights in the kids rooms to wake them.   Turns on their bathroom lights and kitchen lights.

I'm using a Vera plugin that allows Vera to speak so she reminds me when it is trash day, when we need to leave for the bus.   When she tells us we need to leave for the bus, she turns off all the lights in the house.  Turns on the lights needed to see going out of the house (laundry room and garage).   She also opens the garage door.   Two minutes after we leave, she turns off the remaining lights and closes the garage.

She speaks through my phone too so as I'm driving away I get her voice telling me the garage closed.

When my heat comes on, Vera also turns on my ceiling fans in reverse to push the warm air down from the ceiling.

At night (via a light sensor) she turns on certain lights in the house.

When we are coming home and I open the garage door via the car remote, vera turns on the inside lights.

At sundown, she checks the garage doors and tells me they are open or closed and closes them if needed.

I also have a light switch as you walk toward the master bedroom that normally turns on/off a floor lamp.   At 11:00pm that switch becomes a special switch that turns off all the lights in the house and checks the door and garage status.   If all is well, vera says, "The house is secure, goodnight".   If not, she closes and locks what isn't secure.

I've also got vera tied into a google calendar so my wife and kids can input events and in the morning a switch on one of the scene controllers will have vera go read all the appointments on the calendar for that day.

So if the boys have a test or something, they get a reminder.   The calendar also has on it what days are holidays and on those days the "wake kids" and "leave for bus" scenes don't run.

VeraLite is a pretty awesome controller.   You can write your own programs to do things like i've done with fans/thermostat.

Z-wave is very stable and the more devices you add, the better coverage your network gets and therefore makes it that much more reliable.

Whew, the fun a hacker could have with you.

[NiN^_^NiN]

I want to throw in my two cents for Z-Wave as well

I haven't gone all out like Vanguard but it is pretty great and helpful as well to have it around the house.

I'm using a Vera 2 (Vera 3 is available now or a Vera lite if you don't need all the functions of Vera 3) and it's a pretty interesting system.

Cause it hasn't been explain here I will give a quick rundown of the system.

Z-Wave is a mesh network so the more devices you have the better the communications it will use other Z-Wave devices as hops to the device you need so no need to worry about distance of your Z-Wave device.

The Vera has a lot of great functions in general setting up scenes which are just a container for your program they are simple and easy to create you don't need to know code to get it to turn stuff off and on or set a lighting percentage with dimmers etc.

It does allow you to add extra coding and improve the functionality to other non Z-Wave devices which is great so if you have wifi enabled stuff you can have them triggered with your Z-Wave stuff.

The Vera is just a router for Z-Wave you can either have it as your main router or have it connect to your route it's handy as a backup if a router dies on you but it's pretty flexible as well.

Now for my setup I use everything android and use HomeBuddy on android for most things.

I did grab a few $50 4.3" Android tablets for my upstairs and downstairs and use some intercom apps on it as well to talk upstairs which is handy.

Here is a pic


That's when I was testing it out.

Also cause i'm using android it's handy for access cams too


I also have a plugin to stop and continue music and movies on my XBMC in the lounge so when I get up to open the door I can pause it as well.

I had a list of stuff i had written out that can be used and i use when i started with the HA stuff here it is below.

• XBMC will turn off all the lights when playing a movie and turn on the lights when finished but also turn on a lamp when paused so you can see your way to the kitchen.

• Tablet on the side table in bed just tap the PS3 icon and it turns the ps3 on and changes the HDMI input to ps3 and pressed again it checked to see if ps3 is powered on and powers it off and puts input back to XBMC.

• Play select playlist on XBMC as wakeup music and slowly turn the light from 10% to 100% in the course of 10mins to wake up easier (Like a sunrise)

• Press Coming home button on phone and it Reads the temp inside the house and turn AC on if needed so house is cool when you arrive home.

• Motion Sensor outside front door and notify the Phone when motion detected and turn on IP Cam to view.

• Motion Sensor outside front door to turn light on at night based on time unless sleep mode is activated.

• Sleep mode on tablet that turns off all lights downstairs and sets a variable to 0 so other actions don't run unless variable is 1

There is a lot of other things that can be done too like sending IR signals to turn stuff on that you can't fully automate with just Z-Wave and other things too.

Lots of people have added in stuff to their wifi enabled stuff one great thing that I will be doing soon is Virtual blinds (Just smart film) it's wifi enabled film that lets you make a window see through or solid and that can be added onto vera no problem.

Plus on the somewhat crazy side I will be making an interactive mirror

I'm just using a monitor behind 2way mirror tint in the bathroom which will display weather and news and allow music to be turned on for the shower using a haptix from kickstarter for the touchscreen (It's like a kinetic) so that will be a fun project to play around with it will also be handy to play movies on while in the bath too so that will be a very fun project

[TKW4rr10r]

Lots of people have added in stuff to their wifi enabled stuff one great thing that I will be doing soon is Virtual blinds (Just smart film) it's wifi enabled film that lets you make a window see through or solid and that can be added onto vera no problem.

I must know more about this. Is this like a tint film that can change its opaque-ness on command? 

[Rick]

I must know more about this. Is this like a tint film that can change its opaque-ness on command?

+1,000,000

This. Is. Awesome.

[lilshawn]

I want to throw in my two cents for Z-Wave as well

I haven't gone all out like Vanguard but it is pretty great and helpful as well to have it around the house.

I'm using a Vera 2 (Vera 3 is available now or a Vera lite if you don't need all the functions of Vera 3) and it's a pretty interesting system.

Cause it hasn't been explain here I will give a quick rundown of the system.

Z-Wave is a mesh network so the more devices you have the better the communications it will use other Z-Wave devices as hops to the device you need so no need to worry about distance of your Z-Wave device.

The Vera has a lot of great functions in general setting up scenes which are just a container for your program they are simple and easy to create you don't need to know code to get it to turn stuff off and on or set a lighting percentage with dimmers etc.

It does allow you to add extra coding and improve the functionality to other non Z-Wave devices which is great so if you have wifi enabled stuff you can have them triggered with your Z-Wave stuff.

The Vera is just a router for Z-Wave you can either have it as your main router or have it connect to your route it's handy as a backup if a router dies on you but it's pretty flexible as well.

Now for my setup I use everything android and use HomeBuddy on android for most things.

I did grab a few $50 4.3" Android tablets for my upstairs and downstairs and use some intercom apps on it as well to talk upstairs which is handy.

Here is a pic


That's when I was testing it out.

Also cause i'm using android it's handy for access cams too


I also have a plugin to stop and continue music and movies on my XBMC in the lounge so when I get up to open the door I can pause it as well.

I had a list of stuff i had written out that can be used and i use when i started with the HA stuff here it is below.

• XBMC will turn off all the lights when playing a movie and turn on the lights when finished but also turn on a lamp when paused so you can see your way to the kitchen.

• Tablet on the side table in bed just tap the PS3 icon and it turns the ps3 on and changes the HDMI input to ps3 and pressed again it checked to see if ps3 is powered on and powers it off and puts input back to XBMC.

• Play select playlist on XBMC as wakeup music and slowly turn the light from 10% to 100% in the course of 10mins to wake up easier (Like a sunrise)

• Press Coming home button on phone and it Reads the temp inside the house and turn AC on if needed so house is cool when you arrive home.

• Motion Sensor outside front door and notify the Phone when motion detected and turn on IP Cam to view.

• Motion Sensor outside front door to turn light on at night based on time unless sleep mode is activated.

• Sleep mode on tablet that turns off all lights downstairs and sets a variable to 0 so other actions don't run unless variable is 1

There is a lot of other things that can be done too like sending IR signals to turn stuff on that you can't fully automate with just Z-Wave and other things too.

Lots of people have added in stuff to their wifi enabled stuff one great thing that I will be doing soon is Virtual blinds (Just smart film) it's wifi enabled film that lets you make a window see through or solid and that can be added onto vera no problem.

Plus on the somewhat crazy side I will be making an interactive mirror

I'm just using a monitor behind 2way mirror tint in the bathroom which will display weather and news and allow music to be turned on for the shower using a haptix from kickstarter for the touchscreen (It's like a kinetic) so that will be a fun project to play around with it will also be handy to play movies on while in the bath too so that will be a very fun project

this really appeals to me, but i'm too lazy to do anything, so i resort to just getting up and turning on the light. IRONY.

[Vanguard]

Lots of people have added in stuff to their wifi enabled stuff one great thing that I will be doing soon is Virtual blinds (Just smart film) it's wifi enabled film that lets you make a window see through or solid and that can be added onto vera no problem.

FYI, Aeon Labs has a z-wave film in the works.

Also, what automation software are you running on the tablets?

[Maximus]

Huh.

Local TV station just called and want to do a spot on home automation so they're going to come over to the new house and interview me about why I'm considering it and what I'm interested in, I guess they must have found this thread then contacted me through the Arcade Icons web site.

 

[CoryBee]

Huh.

Local TV station just called and want to do a spot on home automation so they're going to come over to the new house and interview me about why I'm considering it and what I'm interested in, I guess they must have found this thread then contacted me through the Arcade Icons web site.

 

odd