Home Automation suggestions

[Dizzle]

Hey,

I wanted to know if any of you guys have had any experience with home automation. Something like the products below:

http://www.smarthome.com/_/index.aspx

The reason I ask is that I would like to remotely turn on appliances, lights, A/C etc without having to actually be at home. I know some of you guys have camps/homes on various lakes and I wanted to know your opinions or suggestions as to what experiences you've had. Thanks for the info!!

Oh.. and btw.. GOOOO CATS!!!!

[bplgocards]

Hey,

I wanted to know if any of you guys have had any experience with home automation. Something like the products below:

http://www.smarthome.com/_/index.aspx

The reason I ask is that I would like to remotely turn on appliances, lights, A/C etc without having to actually be at home. I know some of you guys have camps/homes on various lakes and I wanted to know your opinions or suggestions as to what experiences you've had. Thanks for the info!!

Oh.. and btw.. GOOOO CATS!!!!

Sure, it is not too complicated if you are electricly inclined, but if you arent that could be a different story. As an electrical engineer, I have done many solutions like this in my industrial plant, but have never had the need to do at home. The basic principle behind this is to install remote relays on the electrical feeds to these devices, and by using the internet, or placing them on a timed circuit, control them how you like. Appliances would be more difficult than simply lights and A/C, because there is not a permanent 'on' switch as with lights or the A/C unit. If you would like me to try to explain this further for you feel free to send me a message.

[Dizzle]

LoL.. I'm not electrically inclined. I mean I can solder and put things back like they were.. but I'm no Nikola Tesla by any means. Hahaha... What I want to be able to do is control my thermostat at the lake house from here. I'd like to be able to turn on the A/C when I get a half hour out or so. The only issue I may have is that I don't have internet service down at the camp, so I was wondering if there are some cellular options..

humm.. gonna go do some more research....

Thanks for the input, much appreciated!!!

[DJD]

I know that there are many security systems that integrate with home automation. They have modules/relays that do what your asking. They also have Cellular service for monitoring. I haven't looked into logging in to turn on/off options but my guess is it's very possible. This is a start...

http://www.mytotalconnect.com/mobilecontrol.php

[bplgocards]

I'm sure that these is some kind of integrated cellular control relays out there. As I said, controlling appliances would be more difficult, but hooking up the A/C and lights would not be very difficult. If you look into buying to controls from a local company, they may even be able to install everything for you.

[roadrunner]

I have a house boat and there are people on our dock that have a system that will turn on the lights and AC from a phone call. This system can also call you with a code if it detects water in the bilge the temperature gets to low, the door has been opened etc. However I do not know who's system it is I would think you could call some marina's and they could help you find a reliable system that some of their slip owners use.

[DJD]

I have a house boat and there are people on our dock that have a system that will turn on the lights and AC from a phone call. This system can also call you with a code if it detects water in the bilge the temperature gets to low, the door has been opened etc. However I do not know who's system it is I would think you could call some marina's and they could help you find a reliable system that some of their slip owners use.

Thats exactly what I know can be done with Honeywell Security (Ademco) that we sell. You can pull up video and without doing any further research I bet you can pick a relay to energize anything. I would look into it if someone needed to know.