If you could start your system from scratch, which technolog

Hello everyone!

I just moved into a new house (existing construction) and am planning to do some automation. I've been on a bit of a journey in my research. I started by thinking I was going to get SmartThings and then my focus moved to revolv. But I found Indigo on the Smarthome website and I have to say I've been impressed with what can be done with the system and with this active community. This feels like the right system for me.

However, I have a couple of questions that I'm hoping you can help me with before I get too far down the automation road.

Essentially, I'm sort of torn between Insteon and Z-Wave. I know I can mix and match with Indigo, but which technology do you recommend for someone who is starting fresh in a 10-year-old house?

As for my list of things to control initially, my plans are to connect about 4 inside overhead lights and maybe 3 outside lights with smart switches. After that I'll move on to thermostats. My house has four, so that will be quite an investment however I can get some green energy rebates on them since I have older thermostats now.

I've been leaning toward Insteon because I want to have a few keypads mounted on the wall to control things. It doesn't seem like Z-Wave has something like this. On the other hand it seems to me like there are more/better options for Z-Wave thermostats.

So for my question, what technology seems to be the best for someone who is new to Indigo?

Or, put differently, if you could start your own system from scratch, which technology would you use?


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Or, put differently, if you could start your own system from scratch, which technology would you use?

I did this about a year-and-a-half ago and have been perfectly happy thus far - would not change a thing. What I did was to go with INSTEON devices for all lighting and control where sensor and status information is not constantly sent. SO, this means lighting, appliance/lamp control and door locks (I didn't need feedback on their state, a limitation with INSTEON locks) are all INSTEON. However, if you read the forum, you'll find this protocol seems to suffer badly when heavy traffic and collisions occur. Thus, anything that is "constantly" sending data -- temperature, motion, multi-sensors, thermostats -- are Z-Wave devices in my network.

Having both has worked out -- I have a large installation of INSTEON and never really have failures at all. Z-Wave is far more difficult to setup and maintain IMHO, but it never seems to miss a sensor reading and, obviously, I have the peace of mind that my sensors don't cause issues with the main lighting/house control.

Adam

in the same direction:

INSTEON: all light controls swicthes and open/close -motion sensors, fan control.
Also two 20Amp appliance switches, some inside and outside power switches
Doors are insteon MiLocks with build lock/unlock sensor (home grown)-- in total 60.
I have ONE issue with one switchlinc outside that sometimes does not work.

Z-WAVE: thermostats, some power switches, energy monitors . in total 20

RFX: rain, temp humidity wind sensors(oregon scientific) in total 6

arduino board with ethernet board is connected to alarm system (home grown) connected to indigo with arduino web server

Some other web enabled devices cameras, switches .. total 10

This is great info and some validation for me! Thanks for sharing.


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