Building New Home

Hi all,

I am building a new home fairly soon and I want to integrate the C-Bus system into this new home. I understand programing and fair knowledge of electrical and electronics. my question is:

Where can I find the C-Bus system installation and programing info.

Thanks for reply..

 

NickD, Thank you very much ... I have been searching this infomation for quite some time ...

I think with this information it will keep me busy for a while yet.


Thanks again... Cheerss..

 

KK06,

There are also quite a few threads where people have asked similar questions about what people on this forum would recommend for their particular situation, so if you have a look around, you should be able to find alot of valuable information that might also give you some ideas and directions you might want to head in.

Best of luck mate,

Darpa

 

Thanks guys, I've almost read all of the materials about connections and wiring for the new home. Now I think I know what to do from now on.

I am really into home-automation. I have read alot about home automation materials including magazines, books and websites but I think this site have a lot of info that I needed at least they are based in Australia.

Just want to contribute to this forum. I will post my designs, thoughts and pictures about this new home of mine when it's getting ready...


So hang in there guys...

 

New home builder also!

Like KK, I am also a new home builder. At this stage, I haven't had too much time to fully investigate all the possibilities, though I have managed to achieve a small level of understanding of the various components and what they can be used for. However, what I am having trouble getting my head around is a sample diagram of hardware requirements. Is anyone able to help me in achieving a basic understanding as to what would be essential and what would be more a nice to have as far as components go in designing a home automation project?

I have spoken to a few various people in my area, but some seem to be shonks, and some seem to have no idea, and I don't seem to have enough understanding at this stage to tell the difference! All I have managed to get so far is rough quotes of total cost but none as to what these costs would include! Add that to the fact that some companies have stated they would require $500 deposit to prepare a full project plan for me before I am able to get a breakdown of costs (kinda disappointing; what if their end quote for the project was not competitive with other installers).

Can anyone point me in the right direction please, including other relevant posts in the forums that may help?

Thanks,

Rompas

 

training

KK and Rompas, have you considered doing any of the training courses that ClS do from time to time. They will give you a basic understanding of wiring methods and product selection. And included in the course costs, you get some hardware (in some of the intro courses).

Cant find the exact link right now but look for a "training" tab @ http://www.clipsal.com.au/cis

Cheers

Grant

 

Hi KK and Rompas

The difficulty is that getting quotes for Home Automation is like pricing a "length of string" - the price always "depends". Or like a chicken and an egg - in order to quote, need to know what is needed. In order to know what is needed, have to get budget prices...

Do not get involved with "firm quotes" or "equipment lists" at this stage. NO integrator is going to prepare itemised lists of equipment without a firm order or deposit - they have probably been burned too many times by clients taki g those lists and shopping them around. Treat it like buying any other high-priced home equipment, and keep asking people until you find someone who speaks your language... word of mouth recommendations are the absolute best way of finding the best people.

You need to tell them that you want advice, and for them (system integrators) to tell you what you need and/or can afford to do. But you need to be clear in what you want.... don't worry about "how", anything is possible. Make up a list of "must haves" and "optional features" before you start... you should at least know exactly how many lights there will be and what their wattages will be - so you need to have a goot lighting consultant / designer do that part BEFORE you worry about trying to integrate it. Also note that the lighting people will be able to help you much more than you think, as they have the practical knowledge of what works best, but you MUST find a decent company to do this (NOT the local lighting shop with products on special, you need a specialist).

The most important thing is to decide on a budget. I reckon you should make it 10% or 20% of the whole project project to get anything even half-decent ! I made up those percentages, but you get my point - you aren't going to get anything even slightly reasonable for $5K or even $10K... The last couple of houses that I did totalled about $40K and $60K including equipment, lighting and programming. Both jobs had a lot of ****y stuff in them, but neither had enough of the cheapest things (wall switches) !

For example - the last client wanted a 17" or 19" touchscreen in his kitchen. There was no allowance made for cabling to it, and it was a LONG way away from the C-Bus equipement. It needed a dedicated PC to run it, and the VGA cables had to be run over 20m between PC and LCD. He wanted a custom interface. Basic supply and install, with minimal programming (scenes etc extra) ran out to about $20K... and there was absolutely NO need to have that touchscreen on the job, he just wanted it for the "**** factor"

So, it really depends what yoiu want to do... blind controls are nice, but costs $$. Integration with alarms, remote door opening, how many groups in each room (a lounge room could have 1 or might have 10 independantly switched groups of lights). Do you want Air Conditioning integration? Do you want it act like normal switches, or have scenes set from each wall plate instead? How many ****-factor items do you want to show off to friends?
Are the other products (A/C, alarms etc) going to be chosen after the control system, or must the integrator hack something together because you've already decided on those things?

So if you have a specific budget in mind, then almost any integrator will be able to give you advice about what you can get for your money. Don't concern yourselves with equipment (parts lists), or what they cost - that is somewhat irrelevant at this point. The important thing is to decide WHAT needs to be controlled and integrated, then take it from there. Think of it as a 10 step process, and you are at step 1... deciding what you want to do is step 2 and deciding on what equipment is required is about step 8

 

LOL - the **** censored words above aren't really as rude as you would think they are

I was referring to "added features that are nice to have, and great to pose off to your friends, but not really necessary to add functionality". The word I used above starts with a W then A then an N...

Hmmm, maybe I am getting old - I thing the new term for this stuff is " BLING "

 

Great advice John, but sounds to me like both guys are looking to do the job themselves. If they are i think training is the best option. However if they are not, I agree with you whole heartedly.

Cheers

Grant

P.S.. where i come from we still call it the "(art of self pleasure) factor"

 

Thanks guys

Thanks I appreciate the advice - it's nice to have a plan! Oh, and where i come from, I believe the word you were looking for is the one describing the action carried out by "Self-employed owner operators"