Building new House and prewiring it to be a Smart House, need advice

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Natjur

18 posts

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#250555 16-May-2019 10:27

So I am building new house and trying to get everything pre-wired for a "Smart House"

and finding which devices etc that talk to which Smart Hubs....is starting to be information overload.

Trying to find out what others have done and what works best in New Zealand

So most rooms have cat 6a wired

I have power to all curtains and added Fibaro Z Wave relays and AC powered Curtain motors

Most light switches have Fibaro Z Wave relays added

The heat pump has a Wifi unit added

The sound system is Sonos

A Family Hub 3 for the fridge and a Samsung TV

Ring 2 door bell and an alarm with a Z-wave controller built in.

Now I need a controlled for them all, but the Samsung Smartthings hub v3 , does not use the correct Z wave frequency range for New Zealand, so I have to find something else instead.
What are other people using for a Z Wave Controller? (the brains of the Smart House)

Is Hubitat my only real option?

rogercruse

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#2238949 16-May-2019 11:22

Ditto. Also having a new house built and aiming for 'smart everything'.

I've previously installed a basic system using the kiwi flavour of Z wave using a usb based module from Aeotec plugged into a Vera controller and then integrated into my Amazon Echo solution. So I can ask Alexa to 'turn the lights on' etc.

For our new house, I want to control every device in my new home and I've chosen a super clever air-conditioning / ventilation / water heating / lighting solution from a New Zealand company called https://www.atatouch.co.nz/

This solution has the capability to provide finger-tip control (via an app on your android / ios device) for any number of devices using a simple 24 volt wiring system and a central control module.

While it may not be the cheapest solution on the market, I visited the company in Hamilton and was given a guided tour of the system and was very impressed.

It doesn't currently integrated into my Amazon / Sonos / Nest systems but it seems to be a better starting point for future development.

Question: Where are you with your new home process?

davidcole

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#2238951 16-May-2019 11:26

Have a look at home assistant or openhab with a USB Zwave controller to the tinkerer option.

For a less tinkering option, a Vera or https://www.activeautomation.co.nz/home-centre-lite can be used for zwave control.

Previously known as psycik

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billgates

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#2238967 16-May-2019 11:37

I use Hubitat as my controller. It's great. Local control with no cloud reliance. Support by awesome devs that did quite a bit of work for SmartThings and support most if not all world's different ZWave frequencies with the use of USB ZWave dongles along with Zigbee USB dongle. There are multiple USB ports so both ZWave and Zigbee work together.

I am going with CAT7 everywhere and single mode or multimode fibre running from server rack to each TV location for future proofing to allow for 100gbps (8K and beyond). Run network cables in ceiling for AP's as well and IP cameras under the eaves for both front and backyard and wired intercom with electrified mortice lock but I see you have already invested in Ring.

Which brand and model AC powered curtain motors are you using out of curiosity and mind posting a photo where and how your AC cable for curtain exists out of the GIB? Is it through the top middle of the window frame? Did you just run 1.0mm 3 core cable for the AC curtains?

Do whatever you want to do man.

davidcole

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#2239010 16-May-2019 11:47

rogercruse:

For our new house, I want to control every device in my new home and I've chosen a super clever air-conditioning / ventilation / water heating / lighting solution from a New Zealand company called https://www.atatouch.co.nz/

An interesting looking company, do they hard wire everything? And it must be their own hardware/software.

rogercruse:

It doesn't currently integrated into my Amazon / Sonos / Nest systems but it seems to be a better starting point for future development.

Unlikely to get nest working given that Google has just decided to start shutting up api access to it.

Ruphus

465 posts

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#2239062 16-May-2019 12:13

Another Hubitat owner here and I'm also running Fibaro modules behind my switches.

Not using the Hubitat dashboard but using Home Assistant instead with MQTT for communication between HA and Hubitat. I've added the Hubitat skill into Alexa so the lights can be turned off from our Echo Spot aka alarm clock.

Natjur

18 posts

Geek

#2239063 16-May-2019 12:21

Sounds like Hubitat is the way to go. (Fibaros Home Centre 2 seems costly for what it does, even tho I use Fibaro relays)

The house has the gib up (and most wiring done) but still at a stage I can change things, that why I need to lock down the way I am going in the next week.

I got the AC powered curtain motors from www.ismartwindow.co.nz

I can't remember of the top of my head the exact model, I will check tonight, but they have no battery (mains AC only), have their own wifi remote but can also use a Fibaro Z Wave relays behind them to allow your smart hub to control them too (by-passing the current open/close stage of the motor).

I will take some pictures of them and the way I got it wired. (power comes out of the wall at curtain height to the side of the window, so is hidden at all times by the curtain. One side of the curtains only (only powering the curtains not the nettings behind them) but the motor pulls both curtains to each side.)

So the light and curtains can be controlled manually or via a controller without messing each other up.

Once I get the basics setup, I am sure I will add more and more 'device' cause we all know this kind of stuff is addictive.

billgates

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#2239121 16-May-2019 13:53

Below is the only AC model tubular motor that ismartwindow has on their website so must be this.

https://www.ismartwindow.co.nz/product/1909182

It's the same one that I have bought from Aliexpress in bulk. Almost $70 cheaper per tubular motor incl free shipping. They are just reselling Dooya rebranded gear..

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/High-Quality-Original-Dooya-Tubular-Motor-220V-50MHZ-DM35S-For-Motorized-Rolling-Blinds/2805154_32813300342.html?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.2.427750c644BCAH

Do whatever you want to do man.

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Natjur

18 posts

Geek

#2239126 16-May-2019 14:02

Thanks for that. I only have one so far from them for testing the setup of the blinds in the kitchen

I think the curtains tho is using the

https://www.ismartwindow.co.nz/product/1849473

But I will check, and would not be surprised if I can get them too cheaper oversea

Guess I know where I will be buying the rest from, you just saved me some money.

I owe you a beer or three.