Dennis C. Brewer - Home Automation Made Easy : Do It Yourself Know How Using UPB, Insteon, X10 and Z-Wave in PDF, EPUB, DOC
9780789751249 English 0789751240 "Absolutely no experience needed "Make your home smarter, safer, and more fun--and save money, too Home automation is finally practical, useful, and easy Now, you can control your home exactly the way you want to, without paying monthly fees. This book shows how to do it all yourself, with today's simpler, more reliable, less expensive technologies. Dennis C. Brewer first makes sure you're comfortable with wiring basics and safety, and then guides you through installing, setting up, and using today's best home automation software. Next, he walks you through several great DIY projects you can complete in just hours. Before you know it, you'll be controlling appliances, lighting, devices, home security, energy consumption, heating/cooling, and even your home entertainment center. Brewer covers phone interfaces, opportunities to expand, and even offerings from your phone and Internet service providers. When it comes to home automation, the future is here--"and it works "" "- Pick the right products and services, without overspending- Control your home from anywhere, with Android, iPhone, iPad, or your computer- Go green, save energy, all year long- Make your home safer, more secure, and more comfortable- Overcome personal mobility challenges- Get more fun out of your TV and music system, A new day is dawning in home automation. Using new technologies that are often controllable via smartphone, home automation has become far easier... and with multi-million-dollar marketing boosts from giant cable and telecom firms, it's finally going mainstream. You don't need to settle for "off-the-rack" solutions, though. You can customize the control of your own castle without paying monthly fees -- and you can do more than your service providers might be ready to offer. Home Automation Made Easy is thefirst truly easy project guide to today's breakthrough home automation solutions. Unlike older books (which are obsolete and far from easy), this primer guides you step by step through using today's easier technologies -- and if you can handle pliers, a screwdriver, and a computer, you already have all the skills you'll need. Dennis Brewer first makes sure you're comfortable with wiring basics and safety, and then guides you through installing, setting up, and using automation control software. Next, he walks you through several great DIY projects you can complete in a weekend (or less)! Before yo know it, you'll be controlling appliances, lighting, devices, home security, energy consumption, heating/cooling, and even your home entertainment center. Brewer covers phone interfaces, opportunities to expand, and even offerings from telecom and broadband providers. Home automation has never been this easy, this useful, or this much fun!, Absolutely no experience needed! Make your home smarter, safer, and more fun--and save money, too! Home automation is finally practical, useful, and easy! Now, you can control your home exactly the way you want to, without paying monthly fees. This book shows how to do it all yourself, with today's simpler, more reliable, less expensive technologies. Dennis C. Brewer first makes sure you're comfortable with wiring basics and safety, and then guides you through installing, setting up, and using today's best home automation software. Next, he walks you through several great DIY projects you can complete in just hours. Before you know it, you'll be controlling appliances, lighting, devices, home security, energy consumption, heating/cooling, and even your home entertainment center. Brewer covers phone interfaces, opportunities to expand, and even offerings from your phone and Internet service providers. When it comes to home automation, the future is here-- and it works! � Pick the right products and services, without overspending � Control your home from anywhere, with Android, iPhone, iPad, or your computer � Go green, save energy, all year long � Make your home safer, more secure, and more comfortable � Overcome personal mobility challenges � Get more fun out of your TV and music system, For decades it has been possible - even easy - to control lights, thermostats, and appliances and other electronics with single, non-integrated automatic controls. On one hand, early home automation devices were work and energy savers: on the other hand, they were pains in the proverbial rear because even modest adjustments were problematic and inconvenient, requiring the homeowner to possess a lot of background knowledge on both the item being controlled as well as the home automation technology itself. Often, this led to frustration and often the homeowner simply chucked the home automation idea altogether. However, a new day has dawned in the home automation world as home automation is no longer the province of the pocket protector nation. Using new technologies that are often controllable via a smartphone, home automation has not only become far easier, it's daring to go mainstream. The cable giants (Comcast, Brighthouse and others) are now offering proprietary home automation systems of their own at a monthly fee. This book, however, is for those users who eschew the off-the-rack approach and who want to customize the control of their castles without paying a monthly few to have someone else do the heavy lifting. These new home automation controls have been featured on The Oprah Show, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, The Dave Chalk Show, The History Channel, TLC, HGTV, iTV and more. Sadly, despite the mainstream media attention, there exists a misnomer that home automation is still highly difficult. While automating your home does require a moderate level of comfort tinkering with electronics, it is NOT anymore difficult than setting up a home network, installing a garage door opener or any other task that today's do-it-yourselfer attacks on a regular basis. Anyone who can handle a pair of pliers and a screw driver, operate a computer keyboard, and can follow directions will be able to easily implement this technology in their homes, apartments, or offices. Once installed, today's home automation systems can be voice-, computer- and smartphone-controlled (in addition to being control from a centralized control unit). This book begins with a chapter on wiring basics and safety, which provides a simplified view of the fundamentals of the technology involved that make these devices work. From there, we cover installation, setup, and use of the automation control platform software. The rest of the book is dedicated to DIY home automation projects that the homeowner can complete in a weekend (or less)! One chapter is entirely devoted to the gadgets and widgets for phone interfaces, while another chapter will help you continue improving an evolving your home automation system. The last chapter takes look at product and related services offered by telecom and broadband providers. The six main flavors of home automation technology covered in this book are: INSTEON - Developed by SmartLabs, INSTEON is the bestselling - and arguably most reliable - home automation standard on the market today. It uses pre-existing power line and radio-frequencies to remotely control lighting, appliances, security systems, home sensors, access control (door locks, etc.), heating and cooling, A/V and more. INSTEON is backward compatible with X10. X10 - This is one of the original home automation control technologies and is still in wide use today, though new installations generally use newer technologies. X10 uses the existing power line in the home to control all manner of home automation devices. X10 has been in use for more than 30 years and is believed to used in more than 10 million U.S. homes. X10 has a limited addressing scheme (256 max addresses) so crosstalk between nearby X10 networks is common. X10 was considered so frustrating by many home automation early adopters, that they gave up on home automation altogether. UPB - UPD (Universal Powerline Bus) was developed by Powerline Control Systems (PCS).
9780789751249 English 0789751240 "Absolutely no experience needed "Make your home smarter, safer, and more fun--and save money, too Home automation is finally practical, useful, and easy Now, you can control your home exactly the way you want to, without paying monthly fees. This book shows how to do it all yourself, with today's simpler, more reliable, less expensive technologies. Dennis C. Brewer first makes sure you're comfortable with wiring basics and safety, and then guides you through installing, setting up, and using today's best home automation software. Next, he walks you through several great DIY projects you can complete in just hours. Before you know it, you'll be controlling appliances, lighting, devices, home security, energy consumption, heating/cooling, and even your home entertainment center. Brewer covers phone interfaces, opportunities to expand, and even offerings from your phone and Internet service providers. When it comes to home automation, the future is here--"and it works "" "- Pick the right products and services, without overspending- Control your home from anywhere, with Android, iPhone, iPad, or your computer- Go green, save energy, all year long- Make your home safer, more secure, and more comfortable- Overcome personal mobility challenges- Get more fun out of your TV and music system, A new day is dawning in home automation. Using new technologies that are often controllable via smartphone, home automation has become far easier... and with multi-million-dollar marketing boosts from giant cable and telecom firms, it's finally going mainstream. You don't need to settle for "off-the-rack" solutions, though. You can customize the control of your own castle without paying monthly fees -- and you can do more than your service providers might be ready to offer. Home Automation Made Easy is thefirst truly easy project guide to today's breakthrough home automation solutions. Unlike older books (which are obsolete and far from easy), this primer guides you step by step through using today's easier technologies -- and if you can handle pliers, a screwdriver, and a computer, you already have all the skills you'll need. Dennis Brewer first makes sure you're comfortable with wiring basics and safety, and then guides you through installing, setting up, and using automation control software. Next, he walks you through several great DIY projects you can complete in a weekend (or less)! Before yo know it, you'll be controlling appliances, lighting, devices, home security, energy consumption, heating/cooling, and even your home entertainment center. Brewer covers phone interfaces, opportunities to expand, and even offerings from telecom and broadband providers. Home automation has never been this easy, this useful, or this much fun!, Absolutely no experience needed! Make your home smarter, safer, and more fun--and save money, too! Home automation is finally practical, useful, and easy! Now, you can control your home exactly the way you want to, without paying monthly fees. This book shows how to do it all yourself, with today's simpler, more reliable, less expensive technologies. Dennis C. Brewer first makes sure you're comfortable with wiring basics and safety, and then guides you through installing, setting up, and using today's best home automation software. Next, he walks you through several great DIY projects you can complete in just hours. Before you know it, you'll be controlling appliances, lighting, devices, home security, energy consumption, heating/cooling, and even your home entertainment center. Brewer covers phone interfaces, opportunities to expand, and even offerings from your phone and Internet service providers. When it comes to home automation, the future is here-- and it works! � Pick the right products and services, without overspending � Control your home from anywhere, with Android, iPhone, iPad, or your computer � Go green, save energy, all year long � Make your home safer, more secure, and more comfortable � Overcome personal mobility challenges � Get more fun out of your TV and music system, For decades it has been possible - even easy - to control lights, thermostats, and appliances and other electronics with single, non-integrated automatic controls. On one hand, early home automation devices were work and energy savers: on the other hand, they were pains in the proverbial rear because even modest adjustments were problematic and inconvenient, requiring the homeowner to possess a lot of background knowledge on both the item being controlled as well as the home automation technology itself. Often, this led to frustration and often the homeowner simply chucked the home automation idea altogether. However, a new day has dawned in the home automation world as home automation is no longer the province of the pocket protector nation. Using new technologies that are often controllable via a smartphone, home automation has not only become far easier, it's daring to go mainstream. The cable giants (Comcast, Brighthouse and others) are now offering proprietary home automation systems of their own at a monthly fee. This book, however, is for those users who eschew the off-the-rack approach and who want to customize the control of their castles without paying a monthly few to have someone else do the heavy lifting. These new home automation controls have been featured on The Oprah Show, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, The Dave Chalk Show, The History Channel, TLC, HGTV, iTV and more. Sadly, despite the mainstream media attention, there exists a misnomer that home automation is still highly difficult. While automating your home does require a moderate level of comfort tinkering with electronics, it is NOT anymore difficult than setting up a home network, installing a garage door opener or any other task that today's do-it-yourselfer attacks on a regular basis. Anyone who can handle a pair of pliers and a screw driver, operate a computer keyboard, and can follow directions will be able to easily implement this technology in their homes, apartments, or offices. Once installed, today's home automation systems can be voice-, computer- and smartphone-controlled (in addition to being control from a centralized control unit). This book begins with a chapter on wiring basics and safety, which provides a simplified view of the fundamentals of the technology involved that make these devices work. From there, we cover installation, setup, and use of the automation control platform software. The rest of the book is dedicated to DIY home automation projects that the homeowner can complete in a weekend (or less)! One chapter is entirely devoted to the gadgets and widgets for phone interfaces, while another chapter will help you continue improving an evolving your home automation system. The last chapter takes look at product and related services offered by telecom and broadband providers. The six main flavors of home automation technology covered in this book are: INSTEON - Developed by SmartLabs, INSTEON is the bestselling - and arguably most reliable - home automation standard on the market today. It uses pre-existing power line and radio-frequencies to remotely control lighting, appliances, security systems, home sensors, access control (door locks, etc.), heating and cooling, A/V and more. INSTEON is backward compatible with X10. X10 - This is one of the original home automation control technologies and is still in wide use today, though new installations generally use newer technologies. X10 uses the existing power line in the home to control all manner of home automation devices. X10 has been in use for more than 30 years and is believed to used in more than 10 million U.S. homes. X10 has a limited addressing scheme (256 max addresses) so crosstalk between nearby X10 networks is common. X10 was considered so frustrating by many home automation early adopters, that they gave up on home automation altogether. UPB - UPD (Universal Powerline Bus) was developed by Powerline Control Systems (PCS).