Thread: Smart wired man cave

Here is my smart wired house story.

About 10 years ago a relative of ours built a very large, fancy, smart wired house - i think it had over 4 km of extra wiring in it - these days I believe they do a lot more with wireless.
This house had 3 storey, a lift, and 8 toilets so if was fairly substantial.

At the house warming party one evening, the large group of nieces and nephews were having a great time running in and out of every room opening and closing doors and windows, lights going on and off, and riding the home theatre black out curtains as they were going back and forth across windows. At the console the system was having a hard time keeping track of everything and eventually it went blue screen and the whole house locked up. The home owner had to announce over the PA for everyone to stay put for a couple of minutes while the house was rebooted. Despite all this, in this house smart wiring made a lot of sense e.g. checking every door and window was closed before going out.

I looked into this on and off over the last decade for our modest hovel and have kept a limited eye on developments but I can't say there is anything that comes up as a killer app that's worth the investment at our place. Being able to turn the air con or coffee machine on before I get home - YAWN! Voice control over lighting DOUBLE YAWN.

Most of the things I want to be able to do in my shed can be handled by timers and switches.
For example more important than being able to turn a DC on remotely is setting a delayed auto-off time to clear the shed of dust after the last dust making activity. This is something that does not need smart wiring - just a relay and a timer.
SWMBO has her rock tumbler connected to the same powerpoint as a low power light globe which can be seen through the window of the shed. To switch the tumbler off she uses a simple remote switch same as what most folks on this forum use for their DCs.

Even as far back as 15 years ago we had security web cams running at our place but about the most exciting thing we did with that was watch the dogs in the back yard but that lasted about 5 minutes. My main problem was not the installation of all this stuff but bothering to use it and seeing as most of the time I forget to to bring my mobile with me it's a waste to able to monitor or control things in the first place. Before I used to listen to audio books I was always leaving my mobile at home or at work and with that or a similar mobile device. Even now I only take my mobile with me maybe one out of two times I leave the house - it hasn't really become grafted to me like some folks I know.

One thing that put me off doing more was, after running ethernet to all rooms in the house in 2000, the idea of running extra wiring just to know if a door or window was open didn't really appeal, although these days with wireless control it is possible to retrofit a lot of this stuff in an easier fashion.

There are lots of little and BIG very clever things that can be done with electronic kits and gizmos like arduino boards but they are not off the shelf units and are still operating at the enthusiast level.

If you just want to turn stuff on and off remotely the simplest units are just adapters with built in WIFI that plug into GPOs (e.g. http://www.belkin.com/au/p/P-F7C027/) but they do not look anywhere near as tidy as the units that are hidden away inside the walls which unfortunately are still quite expensive. One issue with controlling built in lighting is that the lighting circuits usually need a neutral line run to the switches which means extra wiring.

Monitoring and controlling building openings (door and window) is usually a wired situation. All this is a lot easier to do while building - but is it worthwhile? Maybe if you need to monitor an elderly relative or similar situation. Security can also be a bit of a problem.

Thanks bob. And informative and considered reply

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

You can get a remote controlled power board at bunnings. Low tech solution for hard to reach power points or to shut down machine systems. Just make sure you stick the remote to the front of the machine or if your shed is like mine and you put it down it will take weeks to find it again.

Originally Posted by DSEL74

You can get a remote controlled power board at bunnings. Low tech solution for hard to reach power points or to shut down machine systems. Just make sure you stick the remote to the front of the machine or if your shed is like mine and you put it down it will take weeks to find it again.

I think Dave was looking at going to the next level e.g. mobile apps able to do things from further away.

I'm still looking for a remote I lost in 2013.

What about this?

http://www.simplyenergystore.com.au/...7C027AUAPL.htm

Originally Posted by droog

What about this?

http://www.simplyenergystore.com.au/...7C027AUAPL.htm

That's the same unit as in my link above.

Here's a budget eBay version
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-WiFi-...-/181745180293

Doh

Originally Posted by droog

Doh

Been there and done that - many times

Im probably in fantasy land but my shed is a way off yet so who knows

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

Originally Posted by BobL

That's the same unit as in my link above.

Here's a budget eBay version
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-WiFi-...-/181745180293

Is that the longest product name?

NEW WiFi Cell Phone Remote Control Smart Power Socket Timer Switch

The other smart wiring option is something like the C-BUS system from Clipsal. Allow about $5-8k for the 'brains' of the system and about $1-200 extra per powerpoint/light switch connected!

I see Aldi has a starter set of 5 powerpoints controlled with a smartphone app and WiFi on sale now....

Originally Posted by Master Splinter

The other smart wiring option is something like the C-BUS system from Clipsal. Allow about $5-8k for the 'brains' of the system and about $1-200 extra per powerpoint/light switch connected!

Ouch. Who has that kinda money

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

Originally Posted by jhovel

I see Aldi has a starter set of 5 powerpoints controlled with a smartphone app and WiFi on sale now....

That sounds doable. Is there a maximum wattage youncan use with them?

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art