Smart home – how can you control sockets and lighting remotely?

wd40 wrote:

It seems to me that, apart from the hall, any motion detectors are pointless, and the same applies to the lighting control module...

My younger daughter gets up in the night to go to the loo. She switches the light on, but switching it off is a bit of a problem. Since the sensor knows there’s no one in the loo anymore, it should switch the light off.

wd40 wrote:

how do such detectors react to the presence of a stationary household item (a book, the TV) and moving inanimate objects – such as a curtain fluttering in a draught?

They only activate when you turn the pages of a book. They don’t react to inanimate objects.
Speaking of the example above – only go to the loo with a book or newspaper… or wave your arms about frequently whilst sitting on the ‘throne’

alecki99 wrote:

My younger daughter gets up in the night to go to the loo. She turns the light on, but she’s not so good at turning it off. Since the motion sensor knows there’s no one left in the loo, it should switch the light off.

Actually, there’s another way to sort this out without a motion sensor:
- the light switch simply turns the light on.
- the sound of running water – depending on whether it’s a strong stream (which also switches on the fan if it’s not late at night) or a weak stream – causes the light to switch off after a few seconds.

Hello
I’d like to add my two cents. I’ve often wondered what ‘smart home’ actually means. I came to the conclusion that it certainly isn’t just sockets fitted with relays, but something more human – something that would save money and make everyday life easier. As I like water and, once I get in the shower, I can’t bring myself to get out, I came up with the idea of finding a way to save the water that’s pouring over me. Firstly, a water heater with a temperature sensor somewhere near the outlet, and some sort of tank for cold water, which has to flow through the pipes anyway before it comes out anywhere. It could work like this: the water is heated to a set temperature, and the valve won’t let it out until that temperature is reached; the heater is there to ensure this happens quickly. It would only operate for a short while – until the water flowing through the pipes, for example from a combined heat and power plant, reaches the desired temperature. The cold water that would come out of the shower would be diverted into a tank so that the time it takes for the desired temperature to come out of the tap is as short as possible, and then, to avoid storing who knows how much cold water, it would be mixed with the hot water to balance the temperature (that from the combined heat and power plant).
Then I had another idea. When I’m brushing my teeth or washing my hair, there’s no need for anything to be running from the tap. Turning it off is a daft idea too, because I’d make a mess of everything, and by the time I’d managed to find the tap with my eyes closed (and soap in my hair) to turn it back on, I’d have finished my shower without turning anything off. But what if something turned itself off automatically when I moved away from some sort of sensor?
It’s probably worth mentioning the idea of lights following you around the house. For example, if I get up in the night, depending on where I want to go, the lights ahead of me might come on, gently brightening the way. If I move from one room to another beforehand, they shouldn’t brighten up any more, nor should they get progressively brighter. I think everyone knows that if you get up in the night and switch on a bright incandescent bulb, you have to close your eyes because it’s blinding.
Another important thing is some sort of protection against burglars. I think that all this business of making it look like someone’s at home helps, but the user should know whether someone’s already pottering about the rooms or not. That’s why it would be worth setting up some sensors or cameras.… such as alarms that send notifications, for example, to your mobile via text message. I reckon it could be set up so that a computer sends an email via the internet – even my basic mobile can send and receive emails, so that’s probably the simplest and cheapest option. A computer has to be running all the time anyway to handle all the other stuff we’ve been discussing in previous posts.
Another thing – I’d like it so that when I’m really sleepy, the light switches off automatically and I don’t have to get up or do anything, just close my eyes. I’ve been thinking that the simplest solution would be to set up a sensor to a certain level – when I lie flat, the light switches off… but I won’t be reading any more books;) And if I roll over in the night, the light might keep switching on.
You could also think about controlling the heating in a house like this... When you’ve got one room and a kitchen, it’s not a problem, but when you’ve got eight of them – two living rooms, three bathrooms and so on – if you want to heat it all, you’d have to invest a fair bit of money just to burn it all up in some furnace. I’d use some sort of system to redirect warm air from a main furnace. A distribution system like those fireplaces that heat the whole house. The only problem would be that if you want it warm everywhere, it ends up being cold everywhere.. In this situation, I came up with the idea of installing infrared heaters. They’re switched on for a short while whenever you’re there, using a simple motion detector. They don’t heat the room itself, just the human body, so even though it’s cold around you, you feel warm. When you leave the room, the heater switches off and you don’t notice any change in temperature. And you only need to burn one log in the fireplace for 24 hours. Once you’ve saved on these two things (water and heating), you’ll find it adds up to quite a tidy sum:) It’s just that, to save money, you need to build your house with this in mind… above all, the roof insulation. Incidentally, the loft is also an interesting prospect – since heat rises, the loft should be the warmest place, so what’s stopping you from blowing that heat back into the rooms where you want it to be warm?
These are just a few ideas – perhaps a bit sci-fi – but once upon a time, televisions and cars were things that only existed in fantasy books;)
Best regards

wd40 wrote:

This can actually be solved in another way, without a sensor:
- the light switch simply turns the light on.
- Flushing the toilet – depending on whether it’s a strong flush (which also switches on the fan, unless it’s late at night) or a gentle flush – causes the light to switch off after a few seconds.

It’s true that the switch turns the light on. And indeed, it turns it off too. But let the water flow also switch it off – though perhaps not after a few seconds, but after a few minutes. I tend to wash my hands after using the toilet… and I’d rather do so in the light.
However, there’s no point in overcomplicating things – the light is needed when someone is in the room. A motion sensor will sort out the problem in the vast majority of hypothetical scenarios. That’s what it’s there for, that’s what it’s there for .

You could also do it like this:
http://www.tme.eu/automatyczny-wylacznik-swia...enie-do-500w/arts/pl/ochrona_mien/omie54.html
In that case, you’ll also need to sing along to yourself in the bathroom.

Added after 44 [minutes]:

c_04 wrote:

(...)lighting up the house after the occupant has left (...)
(...)making it look as though someone is at home (...)
(...)alarm notifications, e.g. to a mobile phone via text message (...)
(...)One might consider controlling the heating in such a house (...)
(...)so that the light switches itself off and I don’t have to get up or do anything (...)

In decent smart building systems, this is no longer science fiction.

As for the use of infrared heaters and blowing warm air… This would presumably require a certain amount of electricity. Are we really sure we’ll save on heating this way? Does anyone know anything about heating rooms in a cottage with radiant heaters?

c_04 wrote:

Then I had another idea. When I’m brushing my teeth or washing my hair, do I really need water running from the tap? Turning it off is a daft idea too, because I’d make a mess of everything, and by the time I managed to find it with my eyes closed (and soap in my hair) to turn it back on, I’d have finished my shower without turning anything off. But what if something turned itself off automatically after moving away from some sort of sensor axis?

It’s not a bad idea. Has anyone seen anything like this in action? (I realise this isn’t just a standard sensor fitted as standard on some washbasin taps).

c_04, I’d love to hear more ideas – go on then. Sellers of so-called smart home systems claim that the functionality of their products is limited only by the customer’s imagination.
The thread title calls for it.

And one more thing:

c_04 wrote:

Some sort of computer has to be running all the time anyway to manage all the rest we’ve been discussing in the previous posts.

Just as an aside – there should be several dozen of these computers. Distributed systems will always be more reliable than those with a central processing unit.

A large number of computers is likely to do nothing but increase the failure rate and level of complexity; apart from that, it won’t improve anything. I’d suggest two computers, one of which is simply so that the technician has time to set up the first one when it breaks down.
To power the fan, I need about 20W – how much heat would you generate with an electric heater rated at 20W? Either way, you’ve got to burn something – i.e. money;)
To be honest, you can get power from just about anything. I once thought about burying electrodes in the ground. I can’t remember today what they were supposed to be made of, but I know you could get 1–3V from one of them. And with today’s inventions for lighting a house, it’s all a bit of a laugh;) Back in the day, you needed a few 100W bulbs... today, neon lights are just a fraction of that, not to mention LEDs. Have you heard of those Russian and German inventions for powering radio sets? You’d put them in a bonfire, for example, and they’d generate electricity. In the septic tank – because I assume that when building a truly smart, yet eco-friendly house, you can collect methane… You could put three small wind turbines on the roof. I can’t remember the temperature at which butane changes from a gas to a liquid either… But if it’s –6°C or thereabouts, you could probably work something out… a little fridge in winter… You let the gas out into the open air and it turns into a liquid – you let it back into the house and it expands, powering something in the process;)
I mentioned infrared heaters because you don’t need to heat every single room all the time. You can just heat the bedroom and the kitchen, and anywhere you only go in for a moment – for example, the room where you get dressed for work – can be heated this way. When you leave, the system switches off and that’s all the electricity it’s used. A long time ago, my mum had a 60W bulb like that (in the ’80s and ’90s) When she switched it on, standing just 2 metres away, I couldn’t sit there for 10 minutes – it was like being on a beach;) If you have a boiler at home, think about how to control when it switches on. It could be from 4 am to 5 am and then again from 5 pm to 6 pm. Besides, a boiler is a bit of a dodgy invention anyway. If it were refined further to work more like a thermos flask (it’s sort of like a thermos flask, but a poor one), you could leave it off for a few days. There’s something to be said for those prison heaters too – I don’t know how they work as I’m not a repeat offender, but hmm. In any case, heat is lost everywhere – you have to set things up to minimise heat loss. If you’re thinking about a fireplace or any heating system of that sort, you need to think about the flue, because that’s where most of the heat escapes.

I once wondered how to make use of the fact that a chimney pipe creates an upward draught – would it be possible to erect a 20-metre pipe vertically and fit a wind turbine at the bottom to generate electricity?

And on a completely off-the-wall note, the idea of doing away with keys – replacing them with remote identification, e.g. based on facial features (proportions) against a template plus distance measurement. That way, you can be sure no one will hack into your photo;) That’s a simplified explanation, as there are other ways to solve it – for example, using a facial model, i.e. an image from two cameras. The result: once the house spots you on the street, it can open the gate for you, and you can walk in on all fours and naked;) In case of problems, I’d add some sort of emergency (mechanical) opening mechanism, e.g. a cupboard where the key is kept. You could also secure it with a password. If I owned a house like that, I’d give serious thought to security measures to stop some bums breaking in and making off with all those computers. Coded barriers in the windows – it could be some sort of simple code. For example, 11010101. Sent from a counter and received by a comparator. If something’s not right, you’ll get a text message on your phone telling you that someone’s tampering with one of your windows. If you also had CCTV cameras, the system could send you an MMS with photos of what’s happening, and then you could either ignore it or call the police;)

But the more of this electronics there is, the worse the impact on health, I suppose. Perhaps you’d need to build some sort of special shielded room. Cut the computers off from the outside world so they don’t constantly get infected with viruses. And all those sensors in the sockets are just more inductors for all sorts of flying rubbish. I’d control everything centrally, and normally everything should be switched off. In the rooms, just a few small, single, multi-purpose sensors for low voltages and low frequencies. And that’s it:)

Heh, and most importantly: communication! Can you imagine shouting at your wife from the garage? Perhaps a system of voice-activated location commands. You’re in the garage and you say: ‘Bathroom 2’. The system connects you automatically and gives you a confirmation signal – a beep or something similar – and you speak, whilst your wife also gets a beep before you start speaking, so she knows she’s about to be connected to another user in the house and won’t wander off anywhere just then. Once a user has been located, they can be tracked via the same sensors that were designed to smoothly switch the lighting on and off at night. The system can follow them and switch the speakers accordingly. In the same way, you can have audio set up throughout the whole house. For example, if you’re listening to the radio, instead of turning it up to full volume, the sound follows you wherever you go, so you can still communicate with your family. And there’s plenty of scope for creativity here too. For instance, when you start speaking, the system turns the music down... This could be achieved by means of comparison. If the system hears the music it’s currently playing and nothing else, it won’t change the optimal volume. But if it hears your voice, which it compares to the music, and they don’t match – because, after all, your voice is something else – then it turns the volume down. Cool, isn’t it?

Heh, at some point you’ll realise that it’s all well and good, but you can’t be bothered to go to the kitchen for a cup of tea or a slice of sausage roll… I’d perhaps think about something with wheels and arms. And controlled by the same localisation/communication system. The command: “kitchen robot” would send it from wherever it happened to be to the kitchen;) I suppose if it couldn’t carry out the task, it could tell you why using some sort of sounds – that’s the simplest way. And to make it more interesting, the robot’s movement could be controlled via the same audio system, but using ultrasonic frequencies, e.g. 30 kHz–50 kHz. The robot would also have to transmit a signal so that the system knows where it is.

c_04 wrote:

A large number of computers is likely to increase failure rates and complexity without improving anything else. I would suggest two computers, one of which is solely so that the technician has time to set up the first one when it breaks down.

The topic of the difference between a ‘distributed system and a centralised system’ has been discussed on the forum on numerous occasions. No one will convince me to control a smart home from a single computer. Even if it isn’t running Windows .
It’s not just about reliability. Think about the complexity of the algorithm in a central computer compared to that of dozens of independently operating small computers, each capable of communicating with every other one. After all, we’re talking about a smart home, not industrial automation systems.

c_04 wrote:

You can actually get electricity from just about anything. I once considered burying electrodes in the ground. (...) Back in the day, you needed a few 100W bulbs… today, neon lights use only a fraction of that, not to mention LEDs. (...) In the septic tank – because I’m assuming that when building a truly smart, yet eco-friendly house, you can collect methane... You could put three small wind turbines on the roof. I can’t remember what the temperature is at which butane changes from a gas to a liquid (...) a little fridge in winter... You release the gas outside and it turns into a liquid – you let it into the house and it expands, powering something in the process;)

Heat pumps, solar panels, LED bulbs, wind turbines, heat recovery units, water-jacketed fireplaces, smart boiler controllers… We’re not reinventing the wheel here; these innovations are already available to… Exactly, for the most part for the average Joe – though one with a bit of a bit of a treat. They’re designed more to save money than to improve comfort. As long as the investment costs take several or even a dozen or so years to pay for themselves, they won’t find many supporters. And they need servicing. They don’t last forever either.

An energy-efficient home and a smart home are not the same thing. Ideally, our beloved home should be both at the same time.
But certainly, smart technology in an energy-efficient home will save fewer zlotys than in one where no investment has been made in things like heat pumps and LED bulbs.
I’m interested in solutions that make a home smart – regardless of whether I spend 1,000 zlotys or 50 zlotys a month on heating and lighting.
You can take a look at the website www.unihome.pl.

c_04 wrote:

And on a completely off-the-wall note, there’s the idea of going keyless – instead using remote identification, for example based on facial features (proportions) against a template, plus distance measurement. That way, you can be sure no one will be able to impersonate you in a photo;) That’s a simplified explanation, as there are other ways to solve this, for example using a facial model – an image from two cameras.

It’s a good idea. Retinal recognition plus, possibly, a fingerprint. Ready-made modules have been around for years. What I find far more interesting is what my smart building will do with the information that it has just opened the door for me.

c_04 wrote:

But the more of this electronics there is, the worse the impact on health is likely to be. Perhaps we’d need to build some sort of special shielded room. Cut the computers off from the outside world so they don’t keep getting infected with viruses. And all those sensors in the sockets are just more inductors for some kind of flying rubbish.. I’d control everything centrally, and normally everything should be switched off. In the rooms, just a few small, single, multi-purpose sensors for low voltage and low frequencies. And that’s it:)

Don’t buy a microwave, God forbid an induction hob in the kitchen, a whirlpool bath is out of the question, no dimmers on the lights, chuck out the TV and radio… But I’m sitting at my computer right now!!! No, no. Let’s not let it drive us mad .

c_04 wrote:

Perhaps a voice-command location system. You’re in the garage and you say: ‘Bathroom 2’. The system connects you automatically and gives you a confirmation signal – a beep or something similar – and you speak, whilst your wife also beeps before you start speaking to ensure she’s connected
with another occupant of the house so she doesn’t wander off anywhere at that very moment.

Everyone carries a transponder, and the building keeps an eye on everyone. It’s time for the elderly gentleman to take his medication, yet he’s still sitting by the telly? Bedtime has already passed, and the child hasn’t been to the bathroom? My brother went to the woodshed to chop some wood for the fireplace – he’s not coming back, and he’s not coming back, oh dear. And my wife... well, she’s off somewhere again, damn it . I reckon she’s gone to open the door for the guests. She’ll be strapping transponders onto them in a moment .
But hang on – I’m not having a laugh. A building isn’t just there for itself. People live in it. A smart building should probably know where they are, or even roughly what they’re doing (if it can find that out). Please expand on this, correct it, improve it.

Adamvaleo, could you describe your iDOM system in more detail?
Or, better still, could you post it as a DIY project?

My idea has always been to minimise human intervention in any interaction between people and devices – that is, at least to make it seem as though I don’t have to, for example, read a user manual to find out where things are, etc. That is why I haven’t mentioned anywhere anything about remote controls or any controllers worn by the residents. It’s their home, and it should somehow recognise who its owner is. You could have a microchip implanted, but that’s also a form of intrusion into one’s own body, which I wouldn’t go along with. The best solution would be some sort of mind control, and that’s no longer science fiction either – have you heard of a game called ‘Mind Battle’ or something like that?
I’d compare a home voice communication system to the one in *Star Trek*, except without those funny badges, heheeh. I can’t remember the name of that scientist who’s in a wheelchair; they used to show him quite often on *Discovery*. The bloke is completely paralysed, yet he selects letters with his eye movements and the computer speaks the text for him. Perhaps this is also a way of interacting with a home system. A glance at something would activate the system’s readiness to accept commands. Or simply raising a hand in the air It might feel a bit like being in a pub...
In a home like this, there must also be space for entertainment, and at the same time, we mustn’t limit contact between household members, as this would lead to everyone staying in their own ‘cell’ and interacting with the outside world only through the system.
Perhaps it’s time to think about 3D – some games, films. Displayed using a series of projectors that swivel to follow your gaze;)
Many computers linked together form an industrial automation system – for example, controlling a production line with a large number of machines, each of which has its own more or less advanced computer. The problem is that configuring this is probably the exact opposite of what you’re saying. You have to configure each computer individually to perform the tasks intended for it, and additionally configure all the computers to work together – which strikes me as rather impossible to achieve by making entries in the programmes so that every computer can work with every other one – you’re running Windows on each one, aren’t you? The central computer could even be a 486, supported by, say, a faster additional computer for special tasks where computing power is needed. Control can be managed via the LPT port. Of course, this is just an example. But that’s the approach I’d take. The computer overseeing everything and acting as the executive unit is the same 486, whilst the computer responsible for processing external stimuli and communicating with that 486 to carry out commands could even be a Duo Core. Anyway, it doesn’t really matter, as the software is what counts most. That said, 486s were and still are more energy-efficient and more stable, albeit less powerful – but do you really need a Duo Core just to draw the curtains or play a children’s DVD for your child?
Best regards

In my opinion, a person is meant to play cartoons and draw the curtains – we shouldn’t go overboard with all this automation
Before long, someone’ll come up with the idea of having a robot wipe your bottom too...

As for the computer, the best option would be an EPIA ITX motherboard, e.g. the M12000
or something based on the Intel Atom platform, paired with a 12V ATX power supply. I use the whole setup as a server with a 500GB HDD and a CD drive drawing up to 40W, so it’s not a huge amount of power

Hmm, you know, I’ve actually thought about this whole wiping business before. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s probably not very hygienic. It’s a bit like someone wiping themselves with paper every now and then instead of washing. The Japanese invented toilet seats ages ago which, after you’ve done your business, restore the part of the body you sit on to its pre-use state;)
As a point of interest, it was also mentioned that these toilets had a special coating that didn’t discolour and didn’t allow bacteria to build up on it, meaning the toilet remained clean and white at all times. A long time ago, they showed a sanitary trade fair in Japan on the telly, showcasing all these innovations. Here in Poland, everything seems so backward. A few years ago, whilst in Norway, I had a job on a house-building site, which allowed me to see how they build there, and those blocks were about the size of our three-hole hollow blocks, only the construction was quite different. It looked like this: two layers of something lightweight with some aggregate or similar, separated by something like polyurethane foam. As the wall was being erected, it was insulated straight away. The whole bricklaying process involved a metal trough with cut-outs about 5 cm wide. Cement was poured into this and moved along the wall, which spread the cement to the correct width and height. Then you just placed a block on top, and so on until the end of the wall…. and a spirit level to check whether the wall is going up, not sideways;)

The only thing I don’t like is underfloor heating. I’ve never liked it and I never will. Not that I’m old-fashioned, but what happens when the floor heats up? Warm air rises, after all, and so everything that’s ended up on that floor will start floating around in the air;) For the floor, I’d much rather have very good insulation from the ground and traditional wooden floorboards.

mały naukowiec wrote:

In my opinion, there are people for playing fairy tales and drawing the curtains; we shouldn’t go overboard with this automation

Actually, curtains, blinds and shutters are really handy. Automation can close the windows when the light from outside is weaker than the light from inside – that way you save energy.

mały naukowiec wrote:

As for the computer, the best option would be an EPIA ITX motherboard, e.g. the M12000 or something based on the Intel Atom platform, paired with a 12V ATX power supply. I use the whole thing as a server with a 500GB HDD and a CD drive drawing up to 40W, so it’s not a huge amount

I did consider something like this once, but the annual running cost of such a setup is around 200 zł. So it’s not exactly energy-efficient; I even doubt whether using it would actually help reduce the energy consumption of the whole house. It’s probably better to put those 200 zł + the cost of the computer – around 400 zł – towards energy-efficient household appliances.

You’re right, but a computer like that with an HDD on, say, a CF card and no CD drive draws about 15W, so that works out at about 6 zł a month, or seventy-odd a year (I don’t know the exact price per 1KWh), the cost of the computer is 150 zł for the motherboard, 40 zł for the CF card, and a power supply ranging from 10 zł (230 V) to 120 zł (12 V). Assuming someone wants to spend a few thousand zł on a smart home system, 200 zł for a new computer with a warranty isn’t that much.

You still need to connect something else to this computer. I’m not talking about roller shutter motors, light bulbs, pumps or central heating valves here, but about intermediary systems. In other words, something that sits between the computer and those light bulbs and motors. How much power will these control units draw? Because you lot are arguing over a dozen or so watts here.

mały naukowiec wrote:

The cost of the computer is 150 zł for the motherboard, 40 zł for the CF card, and the power supply starts at 10 zł (230V) up to 120zl

Where do these prices come from? A new motherboard with a processor is nearly 200 zł gross, plus RAM; you can use second-hand CF cards and a power supply too.

alecki99 wrote:

You still need to connect something to this computer.
(...) I’m talking here about (...) intermediary circuits.
How much power will these circuits draw? Because you lot are arguing over a dozen or so watts here.

They will only draw power whilst in operation and should also be taken into account at the planning stage when deciding whether it’s worth using automation for individual system components.
A computer, on the other hand, consumes power 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year – it’s exactly the same as with standby circuits, which are soon to be banned in the EU. Devices operating non-stop at 30W consume as much energy in a year as all other appliances combined (washing machine, fridge, lighting, computers, TV) do in a month. In other words, almost 10% of energy is wasted!

Link
This is the Epia m12000; it costs 155 zł, and the 256MB of memory costs a dozen or so zł...

Well, there is a difference between the Intel Atom and the Via C3 – at least in terms of price – the Intel costs a third more.

Hello,
I stumbled across this website by chance because I noticed that someone had accessed my unihome.pl from this IP address. I’ve been involved in the design of smart homes for years – both in practice (I live in one) and academically. If anyone would like to find out more, I’d refer them to the website mentioned and the latest issue of *Polityka*. I don’t do this commercially – you can’t buy such a system from me; I focus on design (or helping with design – there’s a ‘DIY Smart Building’ section on the unihome.pl forum).
I must admit that your discussions are very interesting and spot on. Most of the systems you’re writing about and discussing have already been implemented and make perfect sense (kudos for your intuition! ). I’ll respond briefly to a few solutions – specifically for C4 – as that’s where I see the most ideas.
1. DHW reheating. In my system, this is called the ‘Intelligent DHW Reheating System’ and involves installing instantaneous water heaters as close as possible to the tap (or shower). These devices work by allowing you to set a target temperature, and they heat the water by only dT (i.e. just enough to reach that temperature). If the DHW is 35°C (because that’s what the solar panels provided today), it heats it up by 10°C. If the incoming water is 45°C, it switches off... All in all, based on my experience in the building where I live, the greatest savings come from combining, for example, solar panels with water reheating (either instantaneous or via a heat pump). The greatest losses occur in a traditional system with a storage tank and circulation.
2. Lighting. This is a very simple subsystem. In Unihome, this is achieved using dual-socket light fittings. The system, recognising that it is night-time – and detecting the movement of a passing person – switches on only the discreet (LED) lamp; during the day (if necessary), it switches on the other (standard) lamp. In the case of a single fitting, this can be achieved using two settings (one with a dimmer, the other without).
3. Fans. I’ve tested a few – today my house (Galia) is powered by a single one with a capacity of 3 kW (max), and it’s a good investment – although it needs to be used in conjunction with a large battery bank, otherwise it’s difficult to utilise that energy. As for the possibility of building a ‘chimney-draft wind turbine’, I’m sceptical because experience shows that to achieve a reasonable output (more than a few dozen watts), you need blades with a considerable diameter (my current one is 4.5 m) and, of course, sufficient wind speed (at least 4–5 m/s). I’m afraid it wouldn’t be possible to do this in an ordinary chimney…

4 PCs. Generally speaking, PCs aren’t suitable for a Smart Building. The instability of the operating system and the hardware itself – in short, that’s not the way to go. Everyone who designs such buildings relies on specialised controllers (usually one per room) and a user interface (where a PC is perfectly fine). It’s important that heating, HVAC, green electricity and other systems that cannot tolerate downtime are managed in a stable manner. There are specialist tools for this, and that’s how it’s done professionally. Unihome operates on the LONWorks system.

5. User identification. In my experience, people (families) don’t like this. I had it (biometric door access) but had to remove it…;-(Firstly, because it’s not yet a 100/100 solution, and secondly, because people feel as though they’re living under Big Brother’s telescreens, and it spoils their sense of comfort as they associate it with surveillance...
Best regards,
JacekUnihome

And how big is this house, because from what you’ve written, a horrendous amount of money has been wasted, and you could achieve much better results simply by burning wood in the cheapest and simplest stove - 200 zł in the summer is, in my opinion, a horrendous bill for a house with solar panels and a wind turbine. Unless I’ve missed something, because when I saw that bill, I nearly fell off my chair!

Hello,
The house is 380 m² and has a volume of around 1,000 m³. The figures on the website are from last year. This summer, as far as I can remember, the total cost was around 100 zł per month (all electricity and gas), most of which was fixed charges... As for the solid-fuel stove, of course we have one (a turbo fireplace with a water jacket), but it’s not true that this is the cheapest form of heating... The worst thing is that, with a space of this size, when you’re burning the fireplace, you end up being a smoker in your own home;-) , because you can’t load enough fuel to last the whole night..
But by combining the fireplace with a heat pump, solar panels and other sources, along with the IB system that manages it all, you end up with a pretty decent system.
Best regards,
Jacek

JacekUnihome, could you tell us a bit more about those electric water heaters you’ve had installed, the ones that heat the water by dT? Are they the sort of thing you can buy off the shelf, or do you need to fit them with temperature sensors and build a custom controller?

Hello,
There used to be a manufacturer in Poland, but people weren’t really keen to buy it, so I think they stopped making it… I can check… I bought a few of them a couple of years ago and I’m still using them today.
This little gem is called GEJZER and runs on three-phase power – I have the 18kW version. However, you need to bear in mind that for it to work properly, it must have sufficient incoming water pressure, as the unit significantly reduces the pressure and won’t switch on at all if the pressure is too low. And, of course, you’ll need a three-phase supply at every location where you plan to install it...
JacekUnihome

OK, please have a look.
That seems like quite a good idea.

Added every 5 [hours] 7 [minutes]:

OK, I’ve found it now: http://www.kospel.pl/index.php?s=pl/produkty/elek_przepl_podgrz_wody

Exactly, something like this EPVE Focus electronic. I’ve checked – mine is made by Elfran (the same company that makes the tracking solar panels described on my website). This Kospela model is in a similar price range, but it seems slightly better as it has a built-in flow meter and a display (showing, for example, the current power output).
JacekUnihome

Do you really think that’s the most cost-effective solution?
You know, electricity isn’t cheap compared to gas.
For central heating, I’m thinking of getting a BUDERUS gas boiler. A good friend of mine works at Buderus, and he’s sceptical about the cost-effectiveness of this method of water heating.
Can you back up your observations with some calculations?

I’ve got a question – I’m not sure if I’ve come to the right place. I’ve got electric actuators
for a double-leaf gate, and I’ve also got a remote control for them, but now I’m not sure what else I need to buy or do to make the remote control work with the actuators.

Quote:

Do you really think this is the most cost-effective solution?
You know, electricity isn’t cheap compared to gas.
For central heating, I’m thinking of getting a BUDERUS gas boiler. A good friend of mine works at Buderus, and he’s sceptical about the cost-effectiveness of this method of water heating.
Can you back up your observations with some calculations?

Whether it’s cost-effective or not, however, depends on the system you choose. If someone installs a system based on an excellent gas boiler (that’s how I started – a condensing boiler with 102% efficiency), then after spending a fair bit of money on such a system, it might not be worth their while to add any extra water heaters… My house (Galia) is a laboratory where I’m going through various phases – and the aim is to optimise energy consumption. If you redesign the system from the ‘traditional’ one – described above – to one of the modern concepts, you may find that the costs of, for example, domestic hot water production are halved. This is the case when using the system I described earlier – solar panels and/or a heat pump – along with instantaneous water heaters (to ensure hot water is always available immediately without the need for circulation). But this is, of course, a new philosophy for designing central heating and domestic hot water systems – one that is still in its infancy. If you take standard appliances (e.g. the water heater itself) and do this without advanced automation – then you’re right – it isn’t at all cost-effective. If you put in a bit of effort and use a BMS (or at least some of its components), you can reduce costs by 47 per cent. I’ve managed to do this and I’m pleased with the results. But one important point – this isn’t electric heating, but rather reheating previously obtained domestic hot water (from a solar panel, a fireplace or a heat pump). Water from the solar panel is 35°C in autumn – that’s a bit low for a bath. But if you heat it up by 8°C, it’ll be lovely. And the energy consumption for this is minimal. That’s why it makes sense. I don’t have any specific figures to hand; perhaps if I’m writing a publication, I’ll look into it. If you like, I can give you a few formulas to work it out. For now, I’m sticking to regularly posting the totals of my electricity and gas bills (on www.unihome.pl) because that seems reliable to me. I hope I’ve convinced you
Best regards,
Jacek

I have a question about installing temperature sensors in individual rooms.
I once tried using temperature sensors (thermistors) on a longer cable, but there was too much interference.
Now I’m using a wireless thermometer with 5 external sensors, but I can’t check what the temperature profile looked like throughout the day, and the range varies too (I don’t always get readings from all the sensors).
Is there perhaps a way to connect more sensors and get a temperature graph for each individual room?

Hello,
Of course, you can experiment with various types of thermometers; it all depends on whether you’re looking for a hobby-grade system (cheap but with limitations) or a professional-grade system (more expensive but accurate and stable). Measurements using thermistors and wireless sensors tend to fall into the former category. In the second category, there are a number of different solutions; at Unihome, we most often use thermometers based on the excellent (and cheap!) Dallas DS 1820 chip. I see that someone has already described this in detail on the forum: https://www.elektroda.pl/rtvforum/topic13526-210.html
It’s not straightforward – but you can also programme it on a PC.

Best regards,
Jacek

To monitor the temperature of electronic components (outdoors), I use a device of Polish design. A data logger, with or without a display (larger and smaller versions). It stores several thousand readings at a set time interval. You can programme the recording threshold, e.g. from 25°C or below 0°C. Powered by an LR battery – 5-year battery life. If you’re interested, drop me an email.

Hello everyone. I once posted a topic on the forum about the control bus in a smart building, but there was no interest.
This is what I did at home:
- a control unit for the lighting system, sensors, output relays and alarm detectors – an Atmega128 supervising the RS485 network.
- Actuators: small circuit boards that fit into switch boxes, based on an Atmega8 and a triac
- Actuators using relays: Atmega8 and power relays
- Sensors – based on an ATmega8 with a humidity and temperature sensor
It works as follows:

The entire system operates via an RS485 network (A, B, +12V, GND – 4 wires in total). The central unit is responsible for controlling the alarm sensors and supervising communication with all measurement and actuator modules. It can operate standalone or with a PC application.

Standalone operation.
Communication via GSM control (from a mobile phone)
Operation based on a pre-programmed control algorithm.

Operation with a computer.
The computer is built around an energy-efficient motherboard with an ATOM - D201gly2 processor. Currently running Windows XP, but the long-term plan is to run it on Linux.

A DVR card is installed in the PCI slot, with cameras connected to it, which (for the time being) operate as an independent surveillance system.
The building control management application will support:
- the alarm system
- switching the building’s lighting on and off
- automatic/manual switching of external lighting
- switching power-consuming devices on and off
- communication via the internet and the local LAN (Wi-Fi)
- operation of a touchscreen monitor – a 15-inch LCD with a touch overlay.

As of today, I have completed the build and we have moved into the cottage.
I have laid all the control cables (no actuators yet), and the cameras and alarm sensors are installed and connected.
I’ll be getting round to making the actuators very soon. I already have some of the printed circuit boards and am waiting for the rest.
I’m also getting round to finishing the control programme in both server and client versions, as well as enabling internet access.