Category: home automation (Page 2 of 2)

Second fix electrics

November 30, 2013 / stephen

We are getting ready for the second fix electrics. The new three-phase supply is due to be installed next week, so there is a lot of work to do.

We need to put a three-phase distribution board in the extension and then connect this to a consumer unit in the older part of the building. This means that there are essentially two consumer units in the property enabling us to shut off the power separately in the two parts of the building.

The plan is to get these consumer units in place for when the new power supply is connected. If we don’t do this, we won’t have any power next week.

We are also installing the Loxone kit that will control the lighting, heating and some of the other features. There will be Loxone kit in both the new extension and the renovated part of the building. The mini-server will be installed in the renovated part and a number of extension modules will be installed in the extension. The Loxone kit is being housed in standard consumer units – there are relatively inexpensive and easy to source.

This is still work in progress and I reckon we won’t have this powered up until the middle of next week.

The new supply comes into a meter box on the opposite side of this wall. A cable will then come through the wall and feed this consumer unit. There is a feed from here to a second consumer unit in the renovated part of the property as well as a feed to the shed.

The top two consumer untis will house the Loxone kit. The bottom unit houses the breakers and RCDs.

Lighting computer

October 30, 2013 / stephen

With the first fix electrics completely and the plastering well underway in the old cottages, it won’t be long before we are ready for the second fix. This means installing all of the switches, sockets and light fittings. Getting the computer configured that will run all of this will not be far behind.

On the basis that I haven’t done this before, I thought it might be wise to get the kit configured on my desk before installing it in the new house. It also means that I get to familiarise myself with it. Sadly, with the poor weather recently, I have been glad that I have some thing to do indoors. That said, it is going to take some time to get this stuff configured. In reality, we will only get it 80-90% configured now – the rest will be done as it gets installed.

I just hope that I can get my head around this and get it programmed. In the first instance, I will just be pleased if I can get it to turn the lights on and off. The fancy stuff can come later.

I am on a training course next week, so hopefully I will know a bit more by the end. Here’s hoping!

This is the majority of the kit that will be need to control the lighting in the new house. I have set it up temporarily so that I can get it configured before it is installed.

The green box is the computer, the other boxes are needed to control the switches and lights.

First fix – still not ready

October 1, 2013 / stephen

Well, there was a lot of work to be done in a short time, but the contractor was confident of getting it all done last week. Unfortunately, it looks like we should be ready by tomorrow lunchtime – 2.5 days late. As it happens, it shouldn’t cause too much of a problem. While the plasterers are due to start tomorrow, I suspect that they will spend most of the day getting the plasterboard to where it needs to be – we have just brought it inside the house (out of any potential weather), but will leave it to the plasterers to carry it up the stairs!

This is the cabling for the lighting, network, power and telephone. It all comes back to a central point in a cupboard on the top of the cellar steps.

This is a photo on the first floor. You can see the underfloor heating above the cables. Yellow cables are for light switches (Cat5e), black are co-ax for the TV/radio, purple are Cat6 network cables, white cables are for the alarm system and the grey round cables are for data/telephone. There are a lot of them!

Light switches

September 26, 2013 / stephen

With the first fix well under way, we are looking to finalise much of the sockets and switches that will be used as part of the second fix.

We have decided to use Schneider flat plate screwless switches and sockets throughout the house. This product range has a full range which includes ethernet sockets, shaver sockets, etc. These come in a variety of different finishes. We have decided to used stainless steel with black inserts. These match the window and door furniture that we have selected to use elsewhere.

The front of the switches and sockets can be removed while the rooms are being painted and simply pushed into place once the paint has dried.

The majority of the light switches will be modified Schneider two button switches. The switches have been modified to use an RJ45 socket make them easy to connect to the Loxone lighting computer. Each of the buttons has an LED. These come in a variety of colours. We have decided to use ones with white LEDs.

This is a two way switch. It is from the screwless flat plate range from Schneider. The small circles at the top of each of the button are LEDs. They come in a variety of colours. We have decided to use white LEDs.

The black socket at the top of the switch is an RJ45 socket. We will use CAT5e cable to connect these switches to the lighting computer (Loxone).

Telephone system

September 6, 2013 / stephen

We are going to use the same cabling and sockets for the ethernet and telephone points. This means that any ethernet outlet can be reconfigured as a telephone point and vice versa. Since there are multiple ethernet connections in each room, this provides us with a lot of flexibility plus we won’t have to worry about those ugly telephone extension cables around the place.

We have a standard BT telephone line and master socket. I have acquired a unit that will convert the incoming telephone line into 4 RJ-45 connections. This is the standard connector for ethernet.

All of the room sockets terminate in a patch panel, so it is a case of connecting the telephone line to the appropriate socket using a patch cable – rather line the old fashioned telephone exchanges you used to see on TV.

Once the telephone line is connected to the socket, it is a case of plugging in a short lead that converts the RJ-45 connection back into a standard BT plug (or an LJU socket to be more precise). These are just a few pounds each.

In fact, the unit that I have bought is capable of converting two telephone lines into 4 ethernet connections each. This means that if we ever get a second line (e.g. for business use) that this could be patched to any room in exactly the same way.

You will find the central unit is available from CyberSelect. I did have a good look around and there aren’t many on the market. They also supply the converter leads too.

Telephone connectivity

August 5, 2013 / stephen

One of the problems in a number of homes that I have owned is that the telephone points are never where you want them. This either results in unsightly cables or poorly cabled extensions. We want to avoid this in this house.

The plan is that every room will have at least two data ports (RJ-45 sockets) cabled back to a central point using CAT5 cable. All the cables will terminate in a patch panel. Then by using a patch cable at the central point, it will be possible to supply the sockets in each room with either data or telephone services.

The incoming telephone line goes into a hub which then connects the line to 4 RJ-45 sockets. I found this 1U rackmounted kit at Cyber Select. I have actually added the optional second voice hub to the unit which means that potentially two separate phone lines could be brought into the house and distributed independently.

I am going to install a small 19″ rack in the cellar. This will house a RJ-45 patch panel (for all the terminations for the cables to the room outlets), this telephone hub, a 48 port ethernet switch and the broadband router. The telephone master socket will be in the cellar, thus making it easier to connect up to the rest of the house.

Trying to plan the electrics

July 26, 2013 / stephen

We are going to need to get the details sort out for the electrics so that we can organise the first fix (installing the wiring without any switches or sockets). We need to get the first fix done before any of the ceilings or walls can be plasterboarded. So getting the wiring sort is important.

However, it is not just the power and lighting that needs to be sorted out. What about the network points? telephone points? thermostats? PIR sensors for the alarm? TV points?

With this in mind, we had a go at marking all of the above on a floorplan. It gets messy very quickly. Don’t believe me? See below.

What did we learn from this process?

You need to understand how each of the rooms are going to be used if you are going to put the services in the right place. e.g. where is a table/desk going to be placed in each room in order to get the sockets in the right place? Where would a TV go? And this might not be where you might put it, but where a potential new owner might place it.
Lighting design really needs the input of an architect. This is creative process and isn’t simply a case of working out where the pendant light goes in the middle of the ceiling. I met with our architect this week and they had some good thoughts about lighting ideas.
Plan the wiring in such a way to make it as flexible as possible. I will write up more on this later, but for example, bringing the telephone services in via a patch panel means that with a little bit of thought it is possible to “liven” up telephone services in different sockets. This is a much more flexible approach rather than hardwiring everything.

This shows the potential location for different services on the first floor. Legend: P=power socket, TV=TV point, E=ethernet, T=telephone, S=lighting switch. Where there is a number before the letter, this denotes the number of sockets.

Home automation: Too many choices

July 20, 2013 / stephen

I am feeling pretty overwhelmed by the number of choices in technology for home automation. Just take a look at this page which provides a list of the main options – http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/home-automation-technology-choices

Given that I am a geek, I do wonder how members of the public manage. I think the answer is that they don’t. This might explain why this technology isn’t really mainstream yet. Even I have had moments where I have wondered if this home automation stuff should really be put in the “too hard” box for now.

There are a number of solutions around that seem to proprietary or “turn key” – why would anyone want to buy a system for flexibility and then have to go back to the installer every time that they want to make a change?

From what I can make out there seem to be two choices that might work for us:

Loxone: (www.loxone.co.uk) This is central server based solution connecting to KNX based devices. (Thanks to the pointer from Chris Hampele)
Fibaro Home Centre 2: (www.fibaro.co.uk) Similar to Loxone, but based on using Z wave devices.

Next step is to find some time to look into this further. I am under pressure to get the first fix wiring sorted. However, the wiring seems to be fairly standard and the kit can be fitted lated to the server.

Home automation: Requirements

July 16, 2013 / stephen

One of the things that we haven’t thought very much about yet is home autmation. Ironic really given my work background.

As always the starting point with this sort of project is a set of requirements. Let’s see if this list makes sense……

Lighting

Control of indoor and outdoor lighting including dimming
Timed e.g. outside lights might come on at dusk for 4 hours and then turn off
Preset “scenes” that might control multiple lights e.g. “Welcome” turns on the outside lights at the front, the porch lights and the hall lights, “Good night” that turns off all the internal lights
An “away” mode that simulates normal patterns of usage while on holidays or working away

Remote control

Ideally via a browser that would allow remote access
Web pages that could be integrated into other sites

Door bell

Programmable intercom that connects to mobile phone when in “away” mode

Gate control

Programmable intercom that connects to mobile phone when in “away” mode
Remote opening and closing of the gate via SMS

Remote viewing

Web access to remote camera

Heating/Hot water

Programming via browser
Zoned (temperature control and timed)
Remote control

Music

Zoned music
Moisture proof speakers in bathrooms

User programmable

Relatively easy to program
Does not require supplier to program the system

Networked

Cat 6 to be used throughout the build
No real requirement for a media server, although “connected devices” will be used
Private and guest wifi