This didn't get a lot of traction in the Help category, so trying here to get some advice (let me know if cross posting is frowned upon, I will delete!)
This is sort of a "what would you do if you were starting from scratch?" We're (wife, 1-yr old son, myself) building a new house and I want to be thinking ahead to make sure we're incorporating the things we need to make our new home HE ready including PoE stuff etc.
After lurking here a while, I've got a few ideas but would like everybody's feedback on specific brands/items to use. Also if there's a smart item not listed that we should incorporate, I'd love that feedback:
-Smart Switches for dimmable lights and fans - Lutron Caseta
-Security Cameras & doorbell - was thinking Reolink with Camect to connect to HE
-Locks - Yale given the native driver here.
-Blinds - Graywinds
-Thermostat - We're having geothermal installed and have heard ecobee is the way to go here.
-Motion sensors - My wife thinks the Third Reality ones we currently have are a bit too slow for her. Open to people's advice here.
-Garage opener - Heard that MyQ recently bailed on their third party support? Open to suggestions here again. Are the tilt sensors too complicated for a beginner like me?
-Dog door - SureFlap dog door that reads chip. Looks like there's a community driver too on HPM
-Car charger - we have two electric cars. Wallbox looks like it has the best community support here?
For the record, it's not an elaborate house so budget is middle-of-the-road but willing to spend more if its worth it. I'm a beginner level user with almost zero coding abilities. I've been practicing at our current apartment with some basic rules with motion sensors, smart plugs, and smart lights/strips. HE is awesome so far. Definitely have a preference for smart items that have native support or well established custom drivers. I've only used custom drivers off of the Package Manager which is great for a beginner like me, but I would be willing to try other custom drivers too even though if I'm being honest, Github intimidates me.
I think most folks will generally say that your list looks fine; however, the bigger thing is taking a step back and making sure that your "in-wall" wiring is ready to go. Thinking about ethernet drops, light switch/outlet placements, wiring for blinds/door contact sensors/video doorbell, etc...are significantly more important.
In getting more specific, the biggest choice for me in your list is the switches. Do you want to use Caseta or bump the budget to Ra2. Ra2 brings in (my opinion) nicer switches and the use of keypads. Caseta has keypads available, but they work slightly differently than the ones available with Ra2. Granted, this would be a significant bump in cost.
Everything else on your list is more of a personal preference.
I will talk about conventional wired networking. Use smurf tubes and pull strings. Ensure you have one that goes from your network center to the outside of the house for your service provider. Put one or two between floors if multi story. Put one or two to the attic and basement. Put ethernet to the soffits for cameras. Put ethernet to the patio for an outdoor WIFI AP. Put two ethernet per room plus one for every TV. Choose a single provider for your network equipment (wired and wireless).
Put your network on dedicated circuit breaker. Ensure you have cooling/heating dedicated to the network space. Purchase a high quality network monitorable UPS for your network equipment and any provider supplied equipment that requires power.
It's a little bit of chicken versus the egg when planning a new build. For the interior, lighting, outlets, ethernet drops, and low voltage wiring (lighting for kitchen cabinets, wired door sensors, blinds, etc...) are of extreme importance since it is easier to add now with the wall open rather than later. This will allow you to minimize battery operated devices. For the exterior, be thinking about outlet placements, whether you want to use Power over Ethernet cameras, exterior lighting, and how many water spigots you want (and where!) should carry the day.
Super fast and the batteries last a very long time. I have some that I haven't changed the battery in over a year.
These are conflicting statements, but may be immaterial. To quote myself:
There's some other good info in that thread. I'm by no means knocking Lutron, but the cost/benefit just isn't there for me. It's ultimately your choice though.
For either brand, if you're outfitting an entire house, it would probably be worth while to call around about a bulk discount.
Thanks for sharing. And yep definitely contradictory statements but it seemed like enough people here really love the Lutron brand that it might be one place thats worth the extra $. But really appreciate the other opinion--will look more into the Zooz switches. And definitely was considering Aeotec, they seem popular here too.
Inovelli has some of their dimmer/switches on pre-order that will incorporate mmWave sensors.
I have a bunch on pre-order myself and will be adding them to every room that doesn’t have an Aqara FP2 already.
The advantage of those will be that they will essentially be invisible, since they will be inside the dimmer. Also, since they will be powered by the dimmer, no batteries to change.
Not sure yet how their response time will be.
I have both Inovelli and Lutron Caseta - I already had a bunch of Caseta dimmers, but I much prefer the functionality of the Inovelli dimmers, so am slowly replacing them. The Inovelli LED bar is highly customizable and allows for an easy way to show key events. Ex.: Garage door open results in a purple light pulsing. That said, the Caseta are very solid dimmers. They just work. Always.
