Observe the carpenter’s maxim: Measure twice, cut once
You can build your home-automation system piecemeal and expand it as you have the inclination and budget, but we can’t overemphasize the importance of spending some time to plan what you want to accomplish. A little forethought will save you a lot of time and a load of cash. Here’s a broad overview of what’s possible and how much you can expect to spend.
The most important decision you’ll make is which home-automation protocol you’ll use—at least for lighting control—because you don’t want to take a mix-and-match approach. Although there are others, we’re currently recommending that readers choose between these two wireless mesh network technologies: Z-Wave and ZigBee.
The advantage of a mesh network is that each device on the network is capable of receiving a command from any other device and responding to it. The response could be to activate a switch that sends power to a light or it could be to recognize that it’s not the intended target, in which case it passes the command to the next device within range. This approach gives the network nearly unlimited range while consuming very little power.
Zensys manufactures Z-Wave chips and sells them to nearly every lighting-control manufacturer in the market, including Cooper, GE, Intermatic, and Leviton. This promiscuity has prevented any one licensee from dominating the market, which has in turn helped keep prices in check; it has also prevented the more open ZigBee standard from gaining a strong foothold.
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| We can close our entertainment center (and hide our cable mess) thanks to Logitech’s Bluetooth-powered DiNovo Mini keyboard and Niles Audio’s Remote Control Anywhere kit. |
When people think of home automation, managing their home’s lighting via remote control is usually the first thing that comes to mind. Fortunately, this is the cheapest and easiest feature to implement on a small scale—and it’s not much more difficult to set up on a large scale.
For those who just want to dip their toes in the water, plug-in modules are the easiest way to go. You simply plug a box into the wall, plug your lamp into the box, and program the remote control; you can then control the light using the remote (make sure the outlet cannot be shut off by a wall switch). The typical kit (with two modules and a remote) sells for about $100. Another $50 to $60 will buy a USB controller and basic PC software that allows you to manage your lighting system using your PC.
If you don’t like the look of wall warts, you can replace your outlet with one that can be controlled via remote ($35 to $75), or you can replace the switch that controls that outlet (assuming there is one). Dimmers and switches cost between $35 and $75. You’ll also need the remote, of course—those run from $35 to $150.
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| We can keep an eye on Maximum PC Lab North from anywhere we have Internet access, including our smartphone. |
Interested in keeping tabs on your house while you’re away? Want to know if the kids got home from school OK or if the dog is tearing up your flower beds? Have you considered an alarm system but balked at the cost and the prospect of strangers monitoring you? Consider deploying a video-surveillance system or a home-monitoring package.
Price tags for such systems range from $250 for a basic kit to a couple thousand for an elaborate system capable of monitoring every square inch of your property. In addition to the cost of the equipment, most packages also carry a modest subscription fee for off-site video storage or sending alerts to your smartphone.
We’re assuming you already have a broadband Internet connection and a wireless router with at least a four-port switch. You might need to expand your network by stringing Ethernet cable, installing RJ45 jacks, and adding a second switch. We’ll cover that in more depth in the next section.
If you intend to control your home-theater equipment with the same remote control you use for lighting, you’ll need a remote that’s compatible with both infrared (the technology used by most everything in your entertainment center) and RF (radio frequency, the technology used by everything else). If your A/V gear is hidden away in a closet, you’ll also need an IR control kit. We like Niles Audio’s RCA-HT Remote Control Anywhere kit for this; it’s pricey at $270 but can be expanded to control everything from two different zones in your house (you’ll find our review at http://tinyurl.com/39fr5g).
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