Home automation - still a bit confused

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Home automation - still a bit confused

moshel

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#133426 22-Oct-2013 09:44

Hi All,

I have been reading through forum posts and still have some questions. I am new to home automation so probably a few silly questions in stock.

I am retrofitting a house and would like to have the following functionality:
1. lights - preferably via inwall inserts
2. HWC (not a must, probably can do most of the functionality I am looking for using a programmable breaker switch
3. heating (air condition included, also some radiant heaters)
4. sprinklers

I have no roof cavity so wireless should be the way.

From the posts here it seems that Ninja blocks and z-wave are the only options I have. Did anyone here (NZ) did a similar setup?
with Ninja blocks I am a bit worried about the range, and couldn't find where to get them here. do you import them from the states? also couldn't find inwall light switches in the confirmed hardware. as for z-wave, it seems to be an even bigger mess. frequencies differ and the NZ frequency is not very common. also USB stick with NZ frequency seems to be hard to find. any help on this?

Thanks,
Moshe

SumnerBoy

2074 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#919592 22-Oct-2013 11:27

Hi Moshe,

I am using ZWave in-wall switches throughout my house and they work very well. The devices form a mesh network so that if you have a node at the far end of the house, out of range of the controller, any nodes in between will automatically route messages back and forth. This works very well in my experience.

You definitely need to buy only Aus/NZ frequency devices. I could only find the USB Z-Stick controller at the smarthomes.com.au site - but it is relatively cheap at about $100. When you sign up to that site they give you a 10% discount from memory - which should just pay for some of the shipping costs. Their shipping rates to NZ are very high unfortunately.

I am in the process of starting up a business reselling the Fibaro ZWave devices. Check out http://www.fibaro.com/nz. Fibaro have a very good reputation for producing good quality devices and have excellent support.

I am looking into getting a supplier for the ZWave USB stick so I can provide locally. However Fibaro also have their own controller - the Home Center 2 - which is a very polished unit and takes a lot of the guess work out. They provide free iOS/Android apps to interface with the HC2.

If you would like some prices PM me.

Cheers,
Ben

moshel

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#919680 22-Oct-2013 13:38

Thanks Ben,

I looked at the Fibaro web site but couldn't find the stick... thinking to use openHAB as the brain so the stick would have been perfect. can the lite Fibaro box communicate with the openHAB?

couldn't find any way to shop on smarthomes.com.au - is it that well hidden or do i need to contact them about the prices?

I will PM you with amounts i need when i count everything and will see if it comes out reasonable...

Thanks,
Moshe

SumnerBoy

2074 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#919684 22-Oct-2013 13:45

Yeah the stick is not a Fibaro device - it is made by AeonLabs. Fibaro only have the HC2 as their controller as far as I am aware. I actually just had a look and found the ZStick on Fishpond.co.nz but it said it ships from the US so I would be checking with them to make sure it is the Aus/NZ frequency device.

I think I sent you the wrong link for the smart home site sorry mate! They have the stick listed for $AUD98 currently.

I had a fair bit to do with the implementation of the ZWave binding in openHAB but I am not sure about whether it will work with anything other than a USB stick controller. I doubt it very much as I assume those proprietary controllers don't expose the raw serial port to the outside world, which is what the binding needs.

The openHAB binding effectively becomes the ZWave network controller so all you need is the stick.

Let me know what you decide. If you do go down the openHAB route I should be able to assist a bit as I have a pretty comprehensive setup.