Smart Home Blog

INSTEON seems a good candidate to replace old-school technology X10. Especially, if it’ll take into account compatibility between them. I see the only one disadvantage of INSTEON - it isn’t adopted to European electricity standard yet. But I hope it’ll be done soon. But now I’d like to introduce you three cool INSTEON devices.

INSTEON 8 Button Keypad Countdown Timer with Dimmer allows to define countdown timers to switch ON/OFF lighting. There are 8 predefined timers from 2 minutes to 4 hours and they can be applied not only lines connected to the device but to every INSTEON device in your home. Additionally, keypad can be used as a dimmer to set comfort level of the light.

INSTEON Thermostat Adapter offers a simple way to add Venstar T1700 thermostat into your INSTEON network. As advantage it might to expand 1-Day Programmable thermostat functionality by creation and storing scenarios on the central controller.

INSTEON KeypadLinc Dimmer w/ Amber LEDs combines two devices in one: In-wall controller and 400-watt dimmer. It allows to monitor and control six different devices or sets of devices and easily create whole-house lighting scenes. Mounting into Tabletop Enclosure gives you possibility to have a portable controller which can be plugged it into any indoor outlet.

Well, I really like to have European version of INSTEON devices. Especially after INSTEON interface was added into LinuxMCE.

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Belgian company Velbus recently presented its CBus based automation system Velleman. All information is on Belgian. But it seems that soon the Velleman will be sold via Elektor magazine. The price of the system and its parts is reasonable: the LCD module was only 99 Euros and a 4 channel relay was 149. So, it might be a good alternative X10-based system.

[via AutomatedHome]

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Unique Automation announced its new product - automated bath filling system Bath-O-Matic. It automatically lowers the motorized plug, fills up the bathtub to a predetermined temperature and depth, and can even add bubble bath and fragrances to the water. Additionally, the Bath-O-Matic auto adjusts depending on pressure, temperature, and never overflows. It can be integrated with AMX, Crestron or any other home automation system via RS232 or Ethernet(?) port.

Unique Automation offers two models of Bath-O-Matic: Basic - with a controller, motorized waste kit and basic UI and Eco Ultimate - with an eco controller, motorized waste kit with filler, basic UI, in-line heater and eight-way oil dispenser.

People who likes taking a bath can get Bath-O-Matic for around £4000.

[via CePro and AutomatedHome]

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Recently Actiontec officially announced its new lines of Z-Wave Home Automation Controllers - zControl. It gives you the ability to automatically add consumer devices to the network such as IP cameras, thermostats, powered shades, garage doors or lights, and then control them, not only from any location in your home, but anywhere in the world where you can access the Internet. The setup procedure is extremely simple. Just add zControl to your home network, press the button on its front panel and the corresponding button on the Z-Wave device. The chosen device will be automatically added to the home Z-Wave network. To provide an universal way for device management zControl includes a web interface. Thanks to that the interface can be accessed from any Internet-enabled PC anywhere in the world or from most mobile phones with a special service package available from Actiontec.

As you might see the zControl demonstrates a new point of view to HA directed to consumers and not to professional installators. That first version is needed a separate router but the next generation will contain it as well. It might be a good opportunity for Service Providers who can offer home automation service together with Internet broadband, VoIP and IPTV.

The standalone Actiontec zControl Starter Kit will be available at producer’s web site next month at $399 including the zControl unit, one indoor camera with motion detector, one lighting control module and a remote control. zControl-enabled wireless gateways and routers will be released in March.

[via Electronic House]

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Control4 rolled out a new home controller HC-500. In addition to control lighting, climate and security it allows to create a multi-room A/V system (thanks to built-in media server). It sports 160Gb HDD, Ethernet and RS232 ports, WiFi and ZigBee adapters, and packs IR. On-screen menu in HD resolution should make a configuration procedure more comfortable. For sure, HC-500 is fully compatible (I’d be surprised if it isn’t) with the rest Control4 products.

HC-500 is expected to be available on this March at £1674.

[source: AutomatedHome]

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