Brett Davidson re-opened this thread with the words: > I am building a new house at present and am looking at what control systems > are out there worth considering implementing as this will help me what and > where I should pre-wire and where I can use IR or bluetooth, etc. I want to > do it all - switch audio/video along with control of appliances and > monitoring of energy usage, etc.
As far as turning lights and certain power outlets on and off automagically: Install a separate 45 or 60 way switchboard which will house relays/contactors/timers/PLCs/whatever. >From each light switch that you want control, get Sparky to run a three-core[1] electrical cable from the light switch to the control switchboard. For each power socket that you want to control, get Sparky to run a four-core[2] (3C+E) from the power socket to the control switchboard. The controlled power sockets can have an extra switch[3] to select between manual and auto, hence the extra cores to carry the "always on" (manual) feed and the "controlled" (auto) feed. The advantage of the above set-up is that if you automation system fails, everything has manual override wired in so lights and controlled power sockets can operate as normal lights and power sockets. Also, you can rip out whatever is in the control switchboard and replace it with something else. Relays can have 12V coils that are controlled by your linux box, with the proper isolation if required. Yuri [1] Three core has the same number of conductors as twin & earth, but the colours are different. 3C has red/white/blue while T&E has red/black/green. The reason this matters is that the green can't be used for anything other than protective earth. [2] 3C+Earth has red/white/blue/green. Blue & Green can be used for neutral & earth, while red and white can be used for "Always On" and "Controlled" feeds. [3] eg PDL 691X is a socket outlet with room for an extra switch.
