Hi all,
I am interested in building a simple demo for an automated home control sys tem. Essentially, I do not have access to the property as of yet, and canno t put in live systems just yet.
However, I am looking to start purchasing some of the components and plan t he wiring and layout for the project as of now. As well as to test how inte roperable they are.
Ideally, in the long term, I am looking for the following:
- Open source and hackable/modifiable code/hardware. This is a must for as much of the project as possible. I would like hardware and software, that h as some sort of open source support, as opposed to some propriety code whic h may or may not be supported in 10~20 years when I want to change parts of the system.
- Green and energy efficient. Ideally looking at LED lights and low power c onsumption units. I do not like the idea of having things plugged in consta nty and powering them up with a timer, as they seem to draw power even when idle. It would be great to be able to monitor energy use for both heating and electricity.
- Central point of control (ideally with a web front end). I understand tha t a home automation system will require some sort of server to monitor and control it for the most part. I am happy to purchase a low energy machine w ith ample power for the system. Again, this will ideally be a pretty standa rd software/hardware solution, that can be upgraded and mantained over the years by myself. I would have thought some sort of linux box with software that can be controlled with a web based interface (I only ask for this, as I can build a mobile app to work alongside this tool, with an interface of my liking)
- Main light systems (not lamps plugged into the wall power outlet) to be c ontrolled by this system. I just want a interface on my server that lets me choose a room and which lights to enable.
- Heating: ideally like 'google nest'. Centrally controlled, and again, I j ust pick a room, and enable/disable or set a temperature. Or set a profile. I.e 'summer setting' or 'winter setting' and have preset values for each o f the room.
- Not too bothered about music and video streaming, but I will route TV cab les and CAT5 cables through to the most important living spaces (living roo m, some bedrooms and kitchen), hidden behind walls/floorboards. This will a llow me to setup a music streaming server or remote file access for my musi c collection and enable my smart TV to pick it up or someone with a laptop to pick it up off the wireless network.
The truth is, I have no idea where to begin, I keep hearing about complex w iring systems and plug and play systems that control the likes of lamps and toasters (x10 and so on). But what I would like is to start simple and bui ld the system up as I go along. I am doing major renovation work to the hou se and that would be a good time to replace some plaster board and lay some new cables.
Starting with the very basics, what would I need to control the living room light (just on/off, no dimming for now) via my PC?
I assume I would need the light switch modifed to be attached to a device t hat can pick up signals from the home router. When my computer sends an on signal, the switch activates and vice versa.
I can then attach a second device to my kitchen lights, and so on?
Sorry for the long post, but I hope the long term goals help realise that a ) I have grand plans and no idea how to execute them, and b) They are long term goals but they will shape the short term things I do now (such as the component purchases and length of wiring and so on).