Smarthomes

D

dee94

Registered User
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21
Just wondering if anybody has any experience of using the company Smarthomes?
Basically they provide a wiring/cabling type service that allows for luxuries such as multi room audio, surround sound and data points in every room should you require it, but without the hassle of running cables everywhere!
We recieved a quote for our home which is under construction at the moment for around 9,000 euro for the cabling.To buy the hardware equipment on top of that will cost between 12-15,000 euro. It seems like a lot but we have the extra to spare in the mortgage and are considering it.
Does anybody know of any similar companies that i could use to compare quotes???
Any help greatly appreciated!
 
There are several companies in this area, check out Home Automation in the Golden Pages.

Or you could try

[broken link removed] or [broken link removed]

You can always just put in the wiring and leave the equipment for another day. The technology is improving all the time.
 
dee 94

Dont waste your time and money looking into this.

One word = wireless

Internet access already is!
Telephones have been cordless / wireless for years (+mobile phones)
Music can be fed wirelessly to speakers if you really want it

Run some coax by your electrician for the TV and don't fall for this hugely expensive bit of unnecessary wiring...
 
have Smarthomes in my home.Electrician thought it was a great idea. However as of yet I have seen no real benefit.Granted we have tv ,telephone and internet in each room +outside cctv should we want it but in truth I dont think it was worth the money.
 
I looked into this too and decided against it. I did run some cat 5 from central office to attic and extra co-ax cable for broadband but I could not see the benefits of installing mor than this. As Lakeview said wireless is th way to go especially if like me you are building a timber frame which will have less interference.

One thing I did do was run better than standard co-ax cable called CT100 that is recommended by sky and I am planning on using a loftbox system to allow channel changing from multiple locations such as kitchen, master bedroom, sitting room. I also ran telephone cable to the tv outlets in the sitting room which is needed for sky+ services.

I can't wait to get the ESB on to test it whic should happen in the next few weeks.

Lastbuilders
 
Wherever possible go with a wired network over a wireless network - performance will be superior, more reliable, and more secure.

For me anyone building a new house is mad not to run at least several lengths of CAT 5e to every room – this gives you the option to have a network point in every room, but gives endless options as they can be used as for things like Windows Media Center Extenders (just brilliant), home automation, USB extenders etc. CAT 6 would be best for future proofing.

Running CAT 5 or 6 to each power socket and light switch will give you the option of installing a home automation system, though an X10 system might do the job for much less cash.

In short, wireless is great on paper and pretty good in practice, but nothing performs as well, or as cheaply, as a wired network.

That said, I also think anyone who pays the likes of smarthomes that kind of cash is also mad – you could install both a CAT 5/6 network (mine cost me about €300 including 300 metres of CAT 5e, and 50 RJ45 points and faceplates) and an X10 home automation system, which will work wonders for you if you can learn the skills to install and control it, for well under €2,000.

Installing a CAT 5e network really is as simple as buying the cable, running it from each room and back to a central point (called node zero in a spare room) before the walls are slabbed, then slab the walls and ceiling, and then cut out the holes for your faceplate and terminate the cables using a Krone punchdown tool to connect the cable to the RJ45 sockets – takes about a minute per cable, and maybe 5 minutes to cut out hole and fit the faceplate.

In half a day you’d run the cables yourself, and in another full day you’d fit all the faceplates and terminate the cables after the walls have been slabbed.
 
I have also looked into this ,got a number of quotes all big money for what you are getting,lots of gimic and low practicality.I hope to buy the wiring and extras and get an electrican to put what I need in,which brings me to my question were is the best place to source everything I need.?
 
dee94 said:
.. It seems like a lot but we have the extra to spare in the mortgage and are considering it.
Click to expand...

Are you going to fund consumer electronics from your mortgage ?

Have you calculated the real cost ?
If you do you may want to re-consider.
 
Thanks for all the replys, much appreciated!
Col didi you go for the multiroom audio?and if so did you buy the hardware from the guys they reccommend?
 
No I did not go for the multiroom audio. I did put plasma ready with sound surround in two rooms but these fittings (except speaker fittings) were not needed at all when I got my plasma.
 
Hi Dee94,
I got multi audio and lighting control in my house last year from a company called acoustic images,[broken link removed].
I found the guy really helpful and we sat down and went through my budget and what i could get. Although the lighting control is brilliant, it's expensive so I'd recommend just getting it if you were installing a cinema room.But I wouldn't rely on wireless, also i got the electricain to pull in the cables.I got a product called Control 4, which is cheaper then other brands and practally does the same.The guys are reliable and a few hicups at the start but they came out pretty prompt and,and now i've no bothers and very happy with it.best of luck either way


Edited by Leo to correct url.
 
Darrcorr, in accordance with the , could you confirm whether you have any link with the above company other then being a customer?
Thanks,
Leo
 
hi leo, no i can confirm that i don't have any link with the company only that i would recommend them from the work they did in my house, that's all.
 
Hi everyone many thanks for your posts. Myself and my wife are about to start our self build in Wexford. I'm floored by some of the prices and dare not even mention them to my wife! Im up for running the internal wiring myself excluding electrics but can anyone recommend what type of interface/control system/media storage system is best. I would love to be able to control heating, lighting and security etc but the prices are frightening is the wiring and hard/software that technical?

Thanks in advance for your replies
 
Paintpotmen,

I have just gone through this process and it depends on what you can afford. It is not something that I got my wifes blessing for when she saw the prices but if like me you are a gadget man then you'll go for it anyway. From my research in the hardware I found that Crestron seem to be the market leaders when it comes to home control but are also very expensive. Like Darrcorr, I went for the "cheaper brand" Control 4. It still cost me 16,000 for the hardware for just 3 rooms. The initial costs are the worst so it might look expensive at first. You need to buy a couple of pieces of equipment that are up around the 2000 mark i.e media controller. The speakers for the cinema set up are about 1500 and I am told that they are just about enough. I have things like a DVD player, 42" plasma, Tuner and sky HD included in that price too. When I add the upstairs rooms they will not be anyway near as expensive as all I will need is speakers and a controller. If all you want is Audio then it is cheaper again but you can't control lights, heating etc. I came across a very good system for audio called Niles. You can hook your ipod up to this and control it from whatever room you are in. It's not for the faint hearted!!
 
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