Hi All,
I'm new to this home automation stuff but think it might be what we need.
I do some IT work for a Not for Profit that runs a museum in a heritage listed bluestone building in Melbourne Australia. We want to add some "light and sound" so I'm looking at something like Hubitat with motion sensors that would trigger lights and audio tracks so you can hear the old guys reminisce or explain a bit of equipment type thing. Also a couple of push buttons that will trigger the same sort of thing. Down the track we may want it to trigger videos and some small motors to add effects like the "call recorder" tape actually spinning.
We have a Synology NAS to host the audio tracks. I'm working on wifi throughout the building which has been a battle in itself.
This is way out of my skillset at present so I'm wondering if anyone knows of a company in Melbourne I could get to come in and have a chat and quote for me ? Then I can take it to the committee and see if we can get it funded.
Unfortunately, like joel said, most companies at an enterprise/corporate level are still pushing the more expensive implementations such as Nero / Homeseer. Most sparkies and installers i've spoke to are surprised to hear about Hubitat.
Smartthings has just been launched by RACV here in VIC so there may be more folks on the horizon that are familiar with our style of setup. As much as it pains me to say, perhaps speaking to RACV's installers about quoting up a smartthings install maybe??
You'd be able to migrate to or introduce Hubitat later once you're more familiar with the setup. I certainly hope more aussies catch on to HE, that's why I created this thread.
Still waiting to see if the new 700 Series Z-Wave will start making its way through the development cycle. Hopefully it will mean one single product with switchable Z-Wave RF frequencies. Aeotec seems logical.
@gbrown@joel_dj Thanks guys, so far Smartthings were not helpful, anything not "out of the box" was too hard apparently. I have been pm'd by someone offering me a hand so I'm going to get some advice/assistance down that path, will keep you updated on how we go and what we do.
No prob. That's great if someone is happy to assist. I think if you do implement a hubitat solution it'll be worth advertising that around (at least Melbourne) to other installers and solution providers to see if HE can gain some traction in the services space.
I think the HE team haven't really had time to focus on any high level management features that would say allow an integrator to manage multiple sites remotely. Apart from maybe setting up VPNs into all your clients that is. I could certainly see HE maturing into the professional space a bit more as time goes on. @bravenel
I'm hoping we can get far enoughy down the track that the guy offering help will be able to use us as a "display site" and maybe even get Hubitat interested (then try and squeeze them for some extra gear)
Installed a couple of the NUE double power points around the house today, now the SmartThings multi purpose sensor (used as contact sensor on the window in my daughters bedroom) is reliably picked up. It's the furthest 'thing' from the HE hub. Pretty happy with the NUE power points
Saw those Sengled's at bunnings yesterday. Not bad, but I think i'll wait for a sale price on the hue ones. They're ambiance, so you can do warm or cool. the sengled's looked like warm only i think. I still have MR16s throughout my ceilings, but i've got some gu10's in the bathroom over the mirrors.
Still haven't decided on what i'm going to do with the MR16s, whether I just change over the switches/dimmers and deal with any drivers that play up or just replace them all with either a standard led (with smart switches) or gu10 plugs and smart bulbs.
Was just looking at the sengled site as i havent really seen their range..
They are half price at bunnings atm..
Think i might try the pulse solo in the ensuite, wife wants music, so seems like a relatively cheap solution
Just be careful, the Sengled range includes WIFI and Bluetooth devices along with the “Element” series which are Zigbee.
The basic GU10 Zigbee lamps that I posted above work great and haven’t messed up my mesh at all.
Sengled don't actually act as repeaters apparently, so they tend to be safer than other bulbs. Still thinking of the ambiance hues, just for the different whites. Wait for sale of course
