Things I've Learned in Home Automation and HT

In 2010 we built a new house. I had the builders do some extra low-voltage wiring, and that grew and grew into a pretty cool home automation setup. We also had a media room built into the house which I finished/equipped myself. Inevitably, when people come over, they have a lot of questions, and despite the fact I love talking about it, I decided to start documenting some of the things I’ve learned, some of the things I’d do differently, and some of the things I’d do again.

When I started this, I knew I wanted to have a cool automation, thermostat and lighting setup with remote access and webcams, etc... but I also knew that I couldn't afford to have someone install it and set it up. Furthermore, I definitely knew I didn't want to pay someone to come out to the house every time I wanted to change the automation behavior or something. I really wanted to be able to change things myself. So I decided that 'rolling my own' was the way to go.

In no way is this a comprehensive guide to home automation or anything like that. It simply reflects my experiences in adding some automation features to my home. Most views of what I think is ‘better’ or ‘worse’ is just my opinion. I am definitely not a professional. I’m probably best described as a ‘hack’. I’m reasonably technically minded, eager to learn, and read a lot of web forums to educate myself (AVS Forum and CocoonTech are both very good).

That being said; click on 'Blog' at the top of this page to head to the content. Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions that aren’t answered here. I’ll be happy to try and answer them.