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Home Automation company or DIY?

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  • May 13th, 2014 11:49 pm
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Newbie
Jul 1, 2013
71 posts
4 upvotes
Toronto

Home Automation company or DIY?

I was thinking of having some home automation in my home such as:

-lock/unlock door remotely from a smart phone
-set temperature remotely from a smart phone
-motion detection in home and then send a photo/msg to me
-and any other home automation function that may be useful

Any recommended company in the GTA that can do this? Or should I find a product and do it myself? If so, which brand is good?

Thanks!
13 replies
Deal Addict
Mar 12, 2009
1833 posts
48 upvotes
Ottawa
chrischen377 wrote: I was thinking of having some home automation in my home such as:

-lock/unlock door remotely from a smart phone
-set temperature remotely from a smart phone
-motion detection in home and then send a photo/msg to me
-and any other home automation function that may be useful

Any recommended company in the GTA that can do this? Or should I find a product and do it myself? If so, which brand is good?

Thanks!
Im sure there are other brands but I know Crestron does this. From what I have heard, its pretty expensive tho.
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Sr. Member
Mar 18, 2010
586 posts
62 upvotes
Ottawa
chrischen377 wrote: I was thinking of having some home automation in my home such as:

-lock/unlock door remotely from a smart phone
-set temperature remotely from a smart phone
-motion detection in home and then send a photo/msg to me
-and any other home automation function that may be useful

Any recommended company in the GTA that can do this? Or should I find a product and do it myself? If so, which brand is good?

Thanks!
- Can't really help for the door...
- Thermostat, I would recommend Nest, I've had mine for a year and half, and it's great (And I honestly don't think much will change after Google just bought them... but some people are obviously boycotting it now). To add to this, I added 2 Nest Protects which work very well in conjunction with the thermostat.
- I'm looking for this as well, and so far, there's two products that look promising, the Canary (release Summer 2014) and Piper (release end of January 2014 I think).
Deal Guru
User avatar
Mar 1, 2004
12861 posts
1485 upvotes
Pickering
c613m wrote: - Can't really help for the door...
- Thermostat, I would recommend Nest, I've had mine for a year and half, and it's great (And I honestly don't think much will change after Google just bought them... but some people are obviously boycotting it now). To add to this, I added 2 Nest Protects which work very well in conjunction with the thermostat.
- I'm looking for this as well, and so far, there's two products that look promising, the Canary (release Summer 2014) and Piper (release end of January 2014 I think).
Out of the two of these the Piper looks way better. The problem with these things is if you use their equipment, it is usually substandard. Going with a more robust home automation system means access to superior products from multiple vendors, but the installation an programming is beyond the average consumer's ability and there can be a greater cost, but flexibility is top notch.

I use two Yale door locks that I can lock and unlock remotely, a Trane Thermostat with remote access and some motions. Camera recording can be trigger by events or activities.
Sr. Member
Aug 11, 2008
637 posts
222 upvotes
chrischen377 wrote: I was thinking of having some home automation in my home such as:

-lock/unlock door remotely from a smart phone
-set temperature remotely from a smart phone
-motion detection in home and then send a photo/msg to me
-and any other home automation function that may be useful

Any recommended company in the GTA that can do this? Or should I find a product and do it myself? If so, which brand is good?

Thanks!
- For the door, why not just get a keypad lock. You can set multiple codes usually. About $120 at Home Depot.
- Nest thermostat (not sure about the price, I find a regular programmable one is fine)
- Lots of cameras available. I got one made by TrendNet for $30 in a Dell sale. It emails me a photo or uploads it to a server when it detects motion.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Mar 1, 2004
12861 posts
1485 upvotes
Pickering
mtedford wrote: http://www.aartech.ca/product/00/VERALI ... -Lock-Kit-

I use this, works great. You can also add light switches, dimmers, cameras, motion detectors, etc
The numbers on the Kwikset wear off the keypad too easily and if someone knows what they are doing, they can enter their own master key code if they have 30 seconds of access to the inside of the doorlock. The new master key code is undetectable by the Vera...
Deal Addict
Mar 21, 2006
4478 posts
478 upvotes
Burlington, Ontario
chadjustine wrote: Im sure there are other brands but I know Crestron does this. From what I have heard, its pretty expensive tho.
Yes, we do all this with Crestron. Can it be expensive? Really depends. Crestron controls everything, and when you control everything, the costs get flattened out.
Audio, locks, security, cameras, shades, lighting, home theatre, everything tied in together with Crestron. So when you spread it out, it probably doesn't cost that much.
Audio - Video - Data - Security - This is what I do
Deal Addict
User avatar
Feb 15, 2009
1191 posts
112 upvotes
Stoney Creek
chrischen377 wrote: I was thinking of having some home automation in my home such as:

-lock/unlock door remotely from a smart phone
-set temperature remotely from a smart phone
-motion detection in home and then send a photo/msg to me
-and any other home automation function that may be useful

Any recommended company in the GTA that can do this? Or should I find a product and do it myself? If so, which brand is good?

Thanks!
Creston is a very well known for their home automation. After MUCH research I went with Élan G and used a company called Sounds Good from Burlington. The owner Rob was awesome to work with and I found the pricing with the Élan G system to be a little less then Creston. Don't get me wrong though Creston is great stuff just that Élan G fit more into my budget.

Could not be happier with the system or the installer.

I recommend getting a system that is expandable since home automation and technology changes so much.
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
Newbie
Jul 1, 2013
71 posts
4 upvotes
Toronto
Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll give all the suggestions a try. :D
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User avatar
Jun 2, 2009
2738 posts
181 upvotes
Toronto
I will not suggest the keypad locks, bought one for my door and one day my 3 yr old ran up to the door typed in some nonsense and the damn lock opened. I couldn't believe it....the lock was on for 3 weeks too....took that crap right back to the store. The thing with electronics is they're cool and come in handy, but they fail, and when they do, you're screwed. If you're actually looking for security, i would go with the good old fashioned bolts for the doors. I would save the fancy techy stuff for a thermostat or the other interior things in the home IMO.
Idle hands are the devils playthings
Deal Expert
User avatar
Dec 26, 2005
17068 posts
1830 upvotes
Thornhill
Great thread, lots of info. I was thinking of doing something similar, but more of a DIY approach as a hobby because of my background. I had seen these guys mentioned on RFD (although it may have been self-advertising), but they seem to be a Chinese-based DIY manufacturer: http://www.icstation.com/

bjl
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Newbie
Oct 31, 2012
58 posts
20 upvotes
NEWCASTLE
I know this is old but I was poking around. The newest series of Kwikset now require a master code to make any changes to PINs, rather than just needing access to the back of the lock. Yale has been this way from the beginning...
aartech.ca Employee

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