My home came with some janky in-wall speaker system, but if it was outdated when they built it, it was most certainly outdated when I moved in. I've never really used it, because it simply sucks.
I've finally decided to do something about it, and that is to put a Google Home Mini in lieu of the speakers (by creating a 3D-printed plastic adapter to fit them in the existing rims). That means, however that the control panels in each room will be useless. They're not usually so close to the speakers as in the picture, more at the entrance of the room, and the speakers sit close to the ceiling.
I was wondering what the Hubitat community would put in place of these modules. I have no idea or restrictions whatsoever, just curious what can be done here. The obvious choice is a small touchscreen to control everything or just room-specific, but a screen seems overkill when you're talking about putting it in every single room of the house. Maybe some would make sense, and others for another purpose?
Anyway, I just want to hear all the cool ideas the community would do in my situation.
Edit: To answer @fshagan, regarding the wiring, as I said, I have no restrictions. Currently, they are all connected to a central source panel (where all the audio sources would connect via RCA, thus the various buttons on the control module), which is also going to be removed. I will replace the speaker wiring with whatever is needed to power the GHMs effectively and will do the same for whatever I decide to do with these panels.
Also, important to note, I am in the EU (Portugal, to be specific) so this is all 240v.
Have you looked behind the plate? I suspect you have a small hole about 1" in diameter where the low voltage wires come out ... like seen in a thermostat installation. At least that was the way my parent's old 1970s in-wall speaker system was built. There wasn't 120v to the speaker controls.
If that's the case, I would just patch them, and paint.
Unless it's a junction box under it with conduit - I would just put a switch plate cover on it for future use if I could later run wires, fiber or some future product like dilithium crystal strands to it (you never know when a high power transporter will be available). But a junction box without conduit, where the wires are stapled to the studs somewhere out of reach, is as useless as the low voltage hole I expect to see under it.
I wouldn’t build on someone else’s idea of a good control or speaker placement unless it aligned with my own. If it wasn’t where I wanted it, I’d simply patch the hole and either put exactly what I want there, or put nothing there. I typically opt for wireless controls attached by 3M command strips so changing my decision later doesn’t involve further patch work.
You can always get someone to patch and paint for you, but it’s a great skill as a homeowner to have. I was quite bad at it until recently renovating my home. I’ve become quite good and have developed a method that works for me, and is relatively fast and easy, with professional looking results.
Since it's been mentioned by many of you, here are some photos of "behind the wall".
Bear in mind, that these not only are 240v, but I can also change the wiring. As for what I can do with the existing setup, I have no idea. It does have conduit, but only for these devices, not the rest of the house wiring.
To each their own. Just consider the disaster you have posted a picture of, and how difficult it now is to change that decision made for you by someone else.
Wireless can be unreliable if it’s not carefully planned, this is true. However, changing your mind with wireless means stretching some adhesive strips until they release, rather than trying to fit something into or on top of someone else’s idea of convenience.
Totally agree, my whole house has been me fixing someone else's disaster.
But on the other hand, I'm very certain about what I want, and hardly ever do I change my mind. However, to be safe, I always contemplate how I could change something should I want to (even though I never do).
That means my initial build will have future-proof wiring that'll work with something else later on, should I choose to do so. In this particular case, means not just using the existing wires or putting something in place that'll fulfil the need for now, but what is the best wire I can fit in there that'll have any and everything, and cut off what I don't need for the time being.
The only thing forever out of my control is the placement, as it has to be on these things, no matter how bad it looks inside (and it looks pretty bad, these builders were pretty careless it seems).
But note, the linked diagram does not seem to show any input power. Since there are illuminated lights on at least one panel, power has to come from somewhere. Would need to find the power source and "cap" it before any removals.
It is in business, but it shouldn't be. This is as generic as they can come.
Their best offer has Bluetooth, FM Radio, line-in, a USB charging port and a basic LCD screen, none of which I'm interested in.
The power source is very much like the one on the bottom of the diagram you provided, and it will be replaced by another source powerful enough to provide juice to all GHMs throughout the house (around 15 of them).
Fair enough. I don’t understand how the relay turns on. I have to assume you have this controlled from a separate system integrated with your solar charge controller. If that’s the case, I would simply have the relay trigger a contact sensor with dry (no voltage) contacts. Then setup a rule to turn on the Z-Wave outlet when the contact sensor condition=closed. However, I would also still have the motion sensor act as a second required condition to your rule, so the heater could not be left on be mistake when the room is not occupied for a certain period of time.
It might be worth capping off the mains wiring so it's safe, stuffing everything back into the jbox, and getting a flat box cover to fit over them. Having power wired to those locations does make it kind of valuable if a cover there doesn't bother you. Any solution you come up with to cover or remove an patch is complicated by having live 240v there. I know most locations in the US require live wiring terminations to be accessible and they cannot be hidden by the wall.
@fshagan took me a while to decipher what you were saying because of all the terminology, lol.
I was hoping to put it to some use though, didn't really just want to put a cover over it.
@Ranchitat showed me something pretty sexy, but it only comes in black I'm gonna think that part over, and possibly use the rest with recessed motion sensors (I already have an Aeotec one that works like a charm), to activate the lights on the way in, and then maybe try to coordinate that with Sound output from the GHM (although I don't think that's going to be easy/possible at all)
Has anyone tried the SONOFF NSPanel? Is there any compatibility with the rest of Hubitat? Don't see many threads on this yet
Won't you need the power from that rectangular hole to feed the Nest Mini? So just put a blanking plate over it when you've run the power up to the round hole. Or an isolation switch.
All the holes (speaker and module) are individually connected to the power source, so they will have wires directly connected to them.
The plates remain without a purpose, but I guess I'll add a couple of motion sensors and a some of those SONOFFs when the time is right (and compatibility exists).
I'm gonna think that part over, and possibly use the rest with recessed motion sensors (I already have an Aeotec one that works like a charm), to activate the lights on the way in, and then maybe try to coordinate that with Sound output from the GHM (although I don't think that's going to be easy/possible at all)
