Smart Home Automation Systems with x10 controllers

It doesn’t happen to often, but when it happens it’s the most annoying thing ever; locking yourself out of your own house. Your mind starts racing. Where are the people who also own a key of your place? Your looks become one of a burglar. Didn’t I leave the backdoor unlocked? Isn’t there a window open somewhere? What will be the smallest damage to my house when I brake into it?

Of course you could have hidden a key somewhere in your garden. But is that something you really want? Maybe today, it is something you want. But you would be worried for the rest of your life, worried if not somebody saw you picking up that key or hiding it away.

There is a simple solution however to your problem, a Smart Code Deadbolt.

The Smart Code Deadbolt can be as simple as a deadbolt which can be unlocked by a key as well as with a code. The bolt is a true locking dead bolt due to its motor driven bolt inside. The activation code is set by a 4 to 8 digits string of numbers. Locking is done by pushing one simple button and the code is not needed for this action. Nothing new so far, this technology has been on the market for a while and is used all around.

The true Home Automation System connection comes with the Smart Code Wireless Z-Wave Deadbolt. The bolt is able to talk wireless to your installed Home Automation System. This is home automation taken to the level it should be taken to. Imagen while unlocking your house with a simple code, the lights turn on, the alarm system disarms, the thermostat goes to high and the entertainment system turns on. Coming home has turned into a real coming home feel.

The system even takes it a step further. What about locking your house from your smart phone. Or receiving a message on your smart phone telling the children just came home. Or what in case of an emergency to be able to unlock all the doors of your house (remote if you need to) with only one command. Features which will make your life easier and saver.

Installing the system is a matter of minutes. The Smart Code Deadbolt runs on 2 AA batteries and no extra wires are needed to install the bolt. Simply remove the current bolt and mount the Smart Code Deadbolt in the door and the job is done. Remember the Z-Wave products are fully incorporated with the X10 Home Automation System. Which runs over existing electrical wires in your house. All in all, no extra wires are needed.

The bolt comes in brass, nickel, bronze, or just a simple black colour.

Next time when locking yourself out of your own house, a simple code lets you get back in.

Home alone and the doorbell rings unexpectedly. What to do, open the door or ignore your visitor? It might be a friend who drops by, it might be that person you wish you hadn’t opened the door for. A little peek through the curtains might give you a view of your visitor.  That is when you are lucky to have a window looking out over your front door. The Video Door System provides you that opportunity to have the safety of your home and still allows you to talk and even see the person who is ringing your doorbell.

With a simple push on your doorbell, your visitor will activate the Video Door System and indoors you will be notified of your visitor by a ringing bell and at the same time the monitor on your indoor console will turn on. By simply picking up the handset you can talk to your visitor and decide to open the door or not.

The system exists out of a video camera which will be mounted outside at your door and an indoor console with a handset and a monitor.

When buying a Video Door System consider the following options:

Remote Door Unlock System
Upon deciding to open the door, wouldn’t it be convenient to do it at the indoor console? An unlock button on your indoor console will give you that option. In this way the console can be located in any spot in your house. Right there in the living room or maybe the kitchen is a better spot.

Night light
When light is fading and it is getting dark, the video camera will not anymore pick up the image of your visitor. An automatic turned on night light will give you the light you need to identify your visitor. There are several possible scenarios for the light to turn on. The light can automatically turn on when it is getting dark or it can be connected to a motion detector so it will only turn on when a visitor enters your property. It can also be setup that is will be activated by pressing the doorbell. This might surprise some visitors though.

Knocking visitors
Not every visitor will always use the doorbell. For whatever reason, there will be always that visitor at your door which prefers to give an old fashion knock on your door. In this case the Video Door System will not turn on. A good feature to look for on your system is a “turn on system” button on the indoor console. In this way you can active the Video Door System from the inside console.

Extra handheld indoor console
Not wanting to walk to the indoor console when the doorbell is ringing, an extra handheld indoor console might be the solution for you. This little device can go with you, wherever you are in your house.

For convenience and personal safety a Video Door System might be the Home Automation System you are looking for.

Your home Audio Video System is beautifully placed in the corner of the living room. Electrical wires, and also the television cable wire are nicely build in the wall. All looks good. Except what about another Audio Video System in the recreation room. Suddenly another Satellite box has to be ordered, another DVR has to be bought, another audio system has to be on the list for the next Christmas. And what about the new wiring, cables rerouted through the house. The simple desire of having a relaxed time in the recreation room, suddenly exploded in a cost and time consuming project.

The solution, an Audio Video Sender / Receiver system.  This little apparatus, the Sender, is able to transmit the signal from your cable box, your television, your VCR, your DVR, your DVD player, your TiVo, your satellite TV, basically from any audio video system with an RCA output and send it out. The signal will go through doors, walls, and floors. From the basement to the kids rooms upstairs, the signal will penetrate every single room in your house for a crisp and clear Audio Video experience.

An Audio Video Receiver will be hooked up to the receiving system, the new system in the recreation room.  The Receiver should be positioned within 100 feet of the Sender, to be able to pick up the signal of the Sender.

And thats it. Home Entertainment throughout the house, with no extra wiring and for just a low cost. Systems on the market at the moment range from $350 to as low as 50$.

Something to note when looking for the perfect system for your house:

Systems come with and without the possibility to transmit an Audio signal. Shop around for the best available system, suiting your needs.

The audio signal can be transmitted in Mono or Stereo. Only when you are on a low budget, the Mono Audio system would be something to consider. Otherwise, Stereo it is.

Some systems come with a remote control included in the price, and by simply pointing at the Receiver, the Audio Video System in the living room can be controlled. It is just not feasible to walk up every time to the other room to change a channel. Look for the extra components coming with the system.

Some systems can be easily expanded by adding an extra Receiver.  Because why only installing a extra Audio Video System in the recreation room, while there can also be easily an other Television installed in the bedroom.

Most systems are easy plug and play installments. It will only takes 5 minutes to set up your new system. No drilling needed, no new cabling, no contractor hassle, no nothing.

It is all about the wind. Wind farms are the most profitable, the most effective with a steady strong wind coming from one direction. But wind strength is variable and unpredictable. And how good the construction spot is chosen, the average operating level is on average only about 30% of its maximum yearly capacity.

Off-shore wind farms
In the middle of the ocean would be ideal, wind wise. And so Off-shore wind farms are being built at least 5 miles from shore. But obvious problems are appearing quickly from around the corner with this configuration. The construction costs are high so far out in the ocean, and maintenance costs are also considerable due to the remote location and the salty water will corrode away structures continuously.

The largest off-shore wind farm is Thanet, located 7 miles off the coast of the United Kingdom. The farm covers an area of 13.5 square miles and its 100 turbines have a total installed capacity of 300 MW.

The farm is located in the English Channel. With wind tunneling through between Continental Europe and the British Island, this area is a high wind area year round.

On-shore wind farms
An easier location is the construct the wind farm on land. Here access is no problem, but discontinues winds and winds from different directions are. Each wind turbine needs to have the ability to direct itself towards the wind. Land wind farms are created in high wind areas like passes and gorges.

Land wind
The largest on-shore wind farm is the Roscoe Wind farm in Texas, USA. The farm covers an area of 155 square miles and its 627 turbines have a total installed capacity of 780 MW.

Sea wind
Another on-shore wind farm is the Biglow Canyon Wind Farm near Portland, USA. This farm covers an area of 40 square miles and its 217 turbines have a capacity together of 450 MW.

The farm is located just in front of the Columbia River Gorge, the place where the Columbia River cuts through the Cascades Mountains.  The average wind speed in the Columbia River Gorge, where the steep walls can act as a funnel, is 10 miles per hour. The place is also known as “one of the best kitesurfing and windsurfing mecca of the world”.

The world
The leading country when it comes to wind energy is Denmark, producing 21% of its stationary electricity via wind power. More than 70 countries have operating wind farms and total worldwide installed capacity is a soaring 194 GW.  Currently humans use about 7 TW from all sources globally, so there is still a way to go. But wind farms are hot, and the USA and China are moving forward fast. The USA with the Alta Wind Energy center, an on-shore wind farm under construction, with an installed capacity of 800 MW. And China with the proposed off-shore Gansu Wind Farm, with an installed capacity of 20 GW. One day the world will be switched over to renewable power with conventional energy only as a back up.

The simplest way to start Home Automation is to start controlling lights. Here 3 light switches discussed.

X10 PLW01 In-Wall Light Switch
The switch can carry loads ranging from 60 Watts to 500 Watts. Take care, because this switch can only handle incandescent bulbs.

The switch can be controlled directly at the panel by simply pushing the button. This will cause the connected light to turn On or Off. The trick sits behind the panel, where 2 dials are located. Here the home code and unit code of the switch is set, to allow the X10 controller access to the dimmer. Be aware, the dimming function can only be controlled via the X10 controller, and not directly at the panel. Below the main button a small button is located for direct total power turn off, for save bulb replacement.

X10 PLW02 Three Way Master and Slave Switch Set
This is a so called Three-Way system. A term used for a light that can be controlled by 2 separate switches. These systems are most commonly used to control a hallway light which is connected by stairs to another level. To replace the Three-Way system with a Home Automation Three-Way switch set, a master and a slave switch has to be installed. The master switch is the unit where the home code and unit code can be set. The slave switch doesn’t need a code, as it follows the master code. More than one slave switches can be connected to one system.

Also this switch can carry loads from 40 Watts up to 500 Watts and also here only incandescent bulbs can be connected. Both the master and the slave unit have a single button for turning the connected light On or Off. The dimming function is also here only possible by the X10 controller. The master switch has a second local total power off button, to be able to replace the connected bulb.

X10 XPD03 Decorated Dimmer Switch
The switch can carry a load up to 500 Watts and as low as 40 Watts. Connecting the switch to a lower load then 40 Watts, a flickering light might be the result. Take care, because this switch can only handle incandescent bulbs.

By setting the home code and unit code, located behind the panel, the Dimmer Switch can be controlled via the X10 controller. But for the quick dimming, the switch can also be controlled directly and that is different from the PLW01 In-Wall Light Switch. A short paddle stroke will turn the connected light On in 3 seconds, in which it fades up from Off to On. Another short paddle stroke fades the light Off in again 3 seconds. By holding the paddle down and releasing it at the desired fading/dimming mode, the light is set to an intermediate light level. The switch has a second button for a total power Off mode, to be able to replace the connected light bulb safely.

How can you be prepared for a cloudy day? Wind mills or wind turbines are the answer. When already having installed a solar panel system, the investment for a wind powered energy source as a backup system is very low. The wind turbine can in this case be simply be hooked up to the existing power inverter and battery pack.

The wind-wheel of the Greek engineer Heron of Alexandria in the 1st century is the first windmill ever recorded. Having advantaged via old fashion windmills, the current commercial windmills are very effective and deliver power for about 10 million households. But what can you do at home, what about personal windmills?

Old windmills
Windmills were back in the days used for pumping water and grinding wheat. Now most of these old windmills are out of commission and converted into living spaces or for recreational purposes. But some are still in use, and some are converted into modern power suppliers. For example the currently rebuild windmill “de Kameel” in Schiedam is planned to be connected to the electrical net and will supply 15 Mega Watt of free energy.

Three Personal windmills
We all have seen the fields of commercial windmills. But what about personal windmills. It turns out there are many on the market and for a reasonable price.

The Air-Breeze
The Air-Breeze wind turbine claims to be the most sold small wind generator on the market. For an average wind speed of 12 mph, the system can deliver up to 38 kWh/month.

The Air-Breeze system however looks like a view invasive system. Suddenly a large windmill is situated near your house. Luckily there are other smaller systems on the market.

The Eddy
Urban Green Energy has several beautiful looking wind turbines on the market. The in step model is the Eddy. This turbine delivers for an average wind speed of 12 mph an output power of 80 kWh/month. A lot more than the Air-Breeze system.  The system can be installed on a pole but also straight on the roof is an option.

The Eco 1200
Another interesting system is the Eco 1200 from WindTerra. The blades of the windmill are fixed vertical, making it an omni-wind directional system. This turbine delivers for an average wind speed of 12 mph an output power of 164 kWh/month.

Home use
The power output of these systems is depending on the wind availability in the area. Check the internet for local wind info and start calculating the saving a wind turbine can provide you.

With average North American household consumes 750 to 1000 kWh /month these systems are not enough to deliver enough energy. But when your investment is paid back, all the energy they deliver is renewable and for free. Not a bad deal in the end.

In 1974 the International Energy Agency was formed, a forum of 28 advanced economies. Their key areas are: Energy Security, Environmental Protection, Economic Growth, Engagement Worldwide.

Within the Environmental Protection area the ECES Implementing Agreement was established in 1978. The full name of the ECES is: Implementing Agreement for a Program of Research and Development on Energy Conservation through Energy Storage.

The most frequently used storage technology is the Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage technology. The term Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) reference to the temporary storage of heat or cold in underground layers. These layers can be sand, sandstone, clay, chalk which all consist ground water. In combination with a heat pump and a heat exchanger, buildings but also whole neighborhoods can be heated or cooled.

The technology
At a depth of 250 to 600 feet two storage wells are created, a warm site and a cold site near each other. A heat pump and an plate heat exchanger are installed and connected to the wells.

In the winter
In the winter warm water with a temperature between 60F and 70F is pumped to the surface with a heat pump from the warm well. Energy from this water is transferred to the local water circuit, and the 40F to 50F left over cold water is re-injected back into the ground into the cold well. The warm water in the local water circuit can now be used inside buildings for heating or straight as warm tap water.

In the summer
In the summer cold water is pumped up from the cold well. Via a plate heat exchanger, heat from the house is transferred to the cold water. In this way energy from the house is extracted and the house is cooled. The warm water is re-injected into the warm well and stored for uses again in the winter.

Savings
The initial investment in the system is earned back over a period of 5 years. After that period a saving of about 75% on the electricity bill is not unheard of for people who use their air-conditioning system in the summer. The availability of ATES is dependent of a suitable geologic formation underneath the area of the building.

Example
With hundreds of systems installed, here is one example. The data of a complex existing besides a cruise ship terminal, out of office buildings, a hotel, an art center and apartments.

Key data Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage System (project fully operational):

More and more you see people reading a book on their eReader. The two most popular eReaders in the USA are the Kindle, from Amazon, and the Nook, from Barnes & Noble. Of course you can read a book on an iPad or Notebook, but their displays are based on LCD technology and that is considered not very relaxing on the eyes. An eReader’s display is based on electronic paper and that has major advantages. The main player in the ePaper display business is EInk, which developed and marketed together with Philips the electrophoretic display.

ePaper, or e-ink, as it was known at the start, was developed to mimic the appearance of real paper. A major drive in the development was the ability to display an image/text without needing additional energy input, after the page was loaded.

LCD display
Although it is not obvious, LCD displays refresh (even static images) many times a second and this can become a nuisance for the observer. This also means that power is continuously needed to run the display, with low battery life as a consequence.  Because of the back-light, achieving good contrast of an LCD display is a constant struggle for developers all over the world.

Electrophoretic display
The basis of an ePaper is based on a simple implementation of an electrophoretic display. This display consists out of little capsules, 10 to 100 micrometer thick and about 40 micrometer across, representing the pixels. The capsules are filled with a hydrocarbon oil, a dark coloured dye and a charging agent. Floating in the oil are tiny 1 micrometer titanium dioxide particles, which have a slightly positive charge due to the charging agent. The particles are designed to have a high refractive index and will reflect light back when exposed to sunlight. The capsules are placed between two parallel conductive plates, with the rear plate divided into pixels corresponding with the position of the capsules and the front plate being transparent.

When a voltage is applied across the plates, the titanium dioxide particles will migrate through the oil to the negative plate. When this is the viewing side of the display, the pixel appears to be white, because of the reflection of sunlight from the particles back to the viewer. When the particles are arranging themselves against the backside plate, all the light is absorbed by the coloured dye in the capsule and the pixel appears black. In this way a display is created with reflecting and absorbing regions of sunlight and with a very high contrast.

At the moment a new page is loaded, no extra energy is needed to keep the image on the display. A good feature when using ePaper as the display in an eReader.

Colour ePaper
Colour ePaper is the next step. Qualcomm with their Mirasol display based on Interferometric Modulator (IMOD) (a technology developed by Iridigm), and Samsung with their Electrowetting display (developed by Liquavista) are making it happen as we speak.

Not only in the USA does Home Automation becomes popular, also in Europe this phenomenon is taking shape. Here Home Automation is called Domotica. Derived from the word Domus which means home, and the word Telematica, the term used for the fusion of telecommunication and informatica (information technology).

Since the industrial revolution people are seeking for more automated machinery and Domotica is seen as the next step in this trend. After automating factories, house appliances took over the domestic work and now Domotica is automating these same house appliances and connects them together. It’s the next step in a world where life become more convenient and automation frees up time for leisure and pleasure.

In a Domotica house, communication, relaxation and caring tasks are made easier by electrical apparatus and information networks.

A definition used nowadays for Domotica is:
Domotica includes all the apparatus and infrastructure in and around a house, which uses electronic information to measure, program and drive functions for the benefit of its inhabitants.

In this way Domotica adds value to the daily life by contributing in an effective way to pleasure and the value and sustainability of living.

Europe defines 7 categories in its Domotica domain:

Caring,
This can be done by turning on and off lights automatically.

Communication,
With remote control of appliances from a smart phone or an remote internet connection.

Working,
In the form of teleworking or tele shopping.

Relaxation,
With on demand audiovisual systems in each room at each time of the day.

Comfort,
With automated heating systems for the perfect temperature every moment of the day.

Energy saving,
By use night electricity and closing or opening curtains when external heating has to enter or kept out of the house.

Buildings,
In the form of safety and alarm systems to give a worry free life.

That some people in Europe take Domotica serious is clearly observed on the bwired website. Here you can not only monitor the house’s water consumption or energy use. But this family gives you a peak trough their security camera, let you monitor their answer machine and even shows you the data collected on their personal scale.

On a more serious note, this family runs their washing machine at 10 pm to make full use of the night / weekend rate available in their country. On a less serious note, they drink their last coffee at 9 pm according to customs….

Of course you don’t have to go to this extend to automate your house. And of course there is no reason to share all this information with the world. It is however nice to see that Home Automation is not just confined to the USA, but is also spreading in the form of Domotica in the rest of the world.

Sun sun sun. Using the free energy of the sun is not a bad idea. Many states offer good rebate programs when installing solar panels on your roof. But what are solar panels actually, how do they work.

A solar panel is a packaged interconnected assembly of solar cells and to understand the working of a solar panel, man has to understand the working of an individual solar cell.

Another name for a solar cell is a photovoltaic cell (PV-cell), with photo meaning light and voltaic meaning electricity. The name points to the capability of the cell to convert light directly into electricity.

The main material of a PV-cell is doped silicon.

An atom of silicon has 14 electrons, two in the inner shell, eight in the middle shell, and 4 in the outer shell. The outer shell has 4 places left empty, which in the crystalline form are filled with electrons shared with four neighbor atoms. This means there are no free electrons in crystalline silicon, making it a very poor conductor. If the silicon is doped with for example phosphorous, which has 5 electrons, one free electron is introduced in the system. A little energy from the sun is needed to knock this “extra” electron free, and a free carrier is created.

Silicon doped with phosphorous is called N-type silicon, because of the extra free electron. Silicon doped with boron, which has 3 electrons in its outer shell, is called P-type silicon for its extra free opening. When putting the P-type and the N-type silicon structures together things get interesting. A free electron on the N-side will try to fill an empty hole on the P-side. As more holes will be filled crossing the junction will become harder for the free electron and eventually equilibrium will be reached. In other words, a diode is created with a voltage across its junction.

Sunlight photons will disrupt this equilibrium by breaking apart electron-hole pairs. The extra freed electrons will start traveling across the diode junction and create an electrical current. With an electrical voltage and an electrical current across the junction, we now have electrical power.

Adding metal conductors on both sides of the diode, a solar cell is created. Connecting several solar cells together and cover them with a glass plate finish up the design for a solar panel. Power now can be drawn from the system to be used in your house.

To calculate the amount of solar panel area needed to power your house, takes several variables into account. The amount of energy needed, the insolation in your area, your roof angle and orientation and the efficiency of the solar panels you are looking at. A good rule of thumb is to calculate your average daily usage of electricity and multiply it my 0.25. This number gives you a rough estimation of the number and size of solar panels you need in kWh.

With prices dropping still every day, solar panels should take over our energy resources soon.