|
Steve,
First
I want to clarify my comments regarding the doorbell and redundant
systems. My philosophy of keeping each of my HA systems independent
of
each other so that if 1 system is down the others will work, does NOT come
from
having unreliable equipment in my house. Both my HV and Comfort
systems
have worked flawlessly since I installed them. Instead, it comes from
the
reality that eventually 1 of these systems will likely fail and I don't
want to
lose all HA features when it does. I had a lightning strike 2 years
ago
(Comfort was not yet installed) that took out my HV. Since
all HA
devices have local control, I was still able to operate everyhting manually
until I got the HV repaired.
Also,
since I am a software developer, my systems are in a constant state of
change. So, I need to plan for the case when I write bad software for
1 of
the systems or I short 2 wires together and blow something up (which is
much
more likely than 1 of these systems failing I think).
So, my
answer to your question is that from my experience (which is admittedly
only 1
system so far), Comfort is very reliable.
Another of my design philosophies is that my
lighting
has local control and does not use any special wiring that the average
electrician can not work on. This allows me to sell my house and take
my
HA stuff with me, or leave the HA stuff. In either case, the new
owners
can replace the X-10 wall switch with a "normal" switch. And, they
can
operate the lights if the system is down. I would not consider
installing
lights where there was no local control. I am not sure that I could
program into my system all the scenerios where I might want the lights on
and/or
off.
Consider if you will ever just want to leave these
lights on for some reason. And, if controlled by a motion sensor,
will it
see a child walking into the room? What about pets? The list
goes on
and on. Obviously this is a personal preference/situation decision
that
you must make and you may not agree with my thinking, which is fine.
I
just wanted to point out a few things.
Dan
-----Original
Message-----
From:
steve [mailto:steve@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2001
1:46 PM
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxxSubject: [ukha_d] How
reliable is comfort
Hi,
Following on from Phil's recent long reply and
a
comment of Dan's on the comfort list refering to duplication of manual
systems
and HA (Door bell's).
Up to now my HA kit has handled the heating of
my
home and my flats next door. PC based and no big deal when it crashed. I am
now moving on with addition of comfort & have on order a SEP01 and a
LEM01. I have been busy constructing 4 x 4 relay boards for mains
control.
It is my intention to control lighting on a
stair
case (2 flights, 3 landings) and kitchen and bathroom having no manual
control
just comfort. The staircase is covered by 3 maintained emergency lights and
although only 8w we never actually use the existing lights. So no great
danger
of failure here.
I have removed the ify element of X10 by using
the relays. (i have an x10 dusk/dawn light that works fine for weeks then
despite being told its command every 5 mins can look a though it has
failed.
Then as if by magic next days its fine). So back to my question. Having had
one comfort failure generally how reliable is comfort ?
Steve.
For
more information: http://www.automatedhome.co.uk
Post message: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subscribe:
ukha_d-subscribe@xxxxxxx
Unsubscribe:
ukha_d-unsubscribe@xxxxxxx
List owner:
ukha_d-owner@xxxxxxx
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is
subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service.
| Yahoo! Groups
Sponsor |
;) |
|
For more information: http://www.automatedhome.co.uk
Post message: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subscribe: ukha_d-subscribe@xxxxxxx
Unsubscribe: ukha_d-unsubscribe@xxxxxxx
List owner: ukha_d-owner@xxxxxxx
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
|