24 October 2010 12:16
I've always had a part-time obsession with automating my home. I remember in DT class when I was 14 my project was a prototype for a house with automated lighting - move a model person from room to room in the little balsa-wood model of a house I made and the lights went on and off!
Ever since I've kept an eye on the field of home automation. Usually this manifested itself in the media side of things - one of the first things I bought for my room in the second year of uni was an IR receiver so I could control ZoomPlayer from the other side of the room. When I bought an original xbox one of the first things I did was chip it, not so that I could pirate games but so I could install XBMC and watch all the episodes and movies from various flatmates computers on the knackered 21" CRT in the front room.
And that now I'm all grown up and a homeowner, I feel the need to do all this properly.
The end result
Before I get going, I'd like to set my own expectations of what I'm going to end up with at the end of this.
- All my media - I'd like the ability to access all my music from anywhere in the house, and watch any video I've got on any screen in the house. I'm not planning on getting rid of my FreeView TV, but would like any programmes I record to be avalable anywhere else in the house. I still buy CDs and DVDs so I'd like to be able to easily rip these to a central location when I get them so I don't have to worry about swapping discs etc.
- Something hackable - I'm a programmer by trade & like getting into the nitty-gritty of how things work. Being originally a .NET developer I'm probably more comfortable with Windows, but I seem to be gradually moving away from that so a linux-based solution would probably help me learn a few things.
- Proper automation - being able to turn the lights on and off around the house while I'm out would be great. Being able to control the heating too, & maybe even open/close windows would be smart.
- Low power - I don't want a massive power bill every quarter because I leave a 400W server running 24/7 just to turn the lights on and off and stream the odd video (when I'm home). I'd prefer something that actually saves me money in being able to control my heating while I'm out and monitor my energy usage
- Security - I constantly worry about getting broken into. Our area isn't renowned for being high-crime but having never been the victim of a robbery I don't ever want to be. It would also be nice to be able to monitor the house while I'm away
- Low cost - Being a new homeowner money is tight, and I'd rather build something myself than get something off the shelf which could work for or against me here.
So, I'm going to start a series of posts about my journeys through home automation. Here's a basic list of posts:
- Part 1 - The Intro - That's this one
- Part 2 - The Server - Choosing the brain of the system
- Part 3 - Media - Getting audio & video to every room
- Part 4 - The Cool Stuff - automating lights, heating etc
- Part 5 - Security
Tagged: automating-my-home
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