Pierre's Lab

Now that we have the hardware environment for our home automation system – see home automation software part 1, let’s buy so software to manage our system. Not so fast, as usual with me we will start doing some research and work a bit on paper first by answering a few questions:

• What is the core technology do you use for your home automation system?
  • Insteon
  • X10
  • UPB
  • zWave
  • HAI
  • HomeSeer
  • A mix of several technologies?

Home automation software are not all equal in front of the technology you use. PowerHome is excellent with X10, Insteon and UPB but lacks features with zWave.

• Is your home automation DIY or did you use a professional?
  If you used the services of a home automation professional, you’ll have to go though that company. All home automation pro are not like me and some just lock down your system so you can’t use anything but their products.
• Do you have Insteon, HAI, X10… thermostats?
  Some home automation software do not handle specific technology of thermostat. I had to replace my HAI thermostats when I switch from Cortexa to PowerHome, an unfortunate additional cost of $200+ per unit when you have a multi-zones HVAC system, it can be an expensive deal.
• Do you have an irrigation system? The same situation exists as for the thermostats.
• Are you Mac, Linux? Many home automation software do not run on Mac or on Linux or worse have limited functionalities.
• Do you have an audio or video distribution system? Some home automation software are more focused on Audio/Video than others. I realized that for some home automation system, the automation part is just an accessory of the audio/video distribution software thus bring limited home automation features.
• Do you have a home security system? These can be tough to handle and manage. If your security system comes from a service provider like ADT you might not be able to manage it. If you build it yourself, you’ll have to look for software that can manage it. Very few do a good job at handling home security systems. The best one being HAI but it’s an expensive route to take as HAI runs on its own dedicated box.
• Are you a geek? If your family is patient that a fun cheaper rout to take. Mine gave up after few months but I had lots of fun. My favorite ones is MisterHouse  this software is written in Perl and is quite easy to adapt to your needs.
• Which type of access do you want? Just on your home computer? From the web anywhere? On your iPhone, Android phone, BlackBerry, on wall touchscreen? Many software do not support BlackBerry, iPhone or Android smartphones, other plan to support and a few do support it.

Let’s now talk about my case based on my own answers. First I wanted access from the web, my smartphone, and touch screen around the house. We have an HVAC with multi-zone, no audio distribution, a home built security system, mainly Insteon products and a few X10 modules.

My big mistake was not to answer all the questions and that was a costly one. I pick a new company Cortexa which came with a web and touch screen system. The Cortexa system was based on a Linux box they provided for $2300 for the 7200VS. Very quickly I realized that the box was under powered to do everything (internet router with firewall, audio/distribution distribution, etc…). I had to modify my network to avoid the internet routing system of the Cortexa unit but now I couldn’t access my audio files. Then I realized that Cortexa was issuing a new beta version almost everyday and wasn’t 100% supporting the Insteon products or the HAI thermostats as they claimed. Cortexa is a very good system but is focusing too much on Audio and Video. I blew a fuse when Cortexa moved to a different Linux obliging owner to keep as is their now obsolete system. The upgrade of my 6months old Cortexa box would have cost me $1300 and could be factory upgrade only. That was the best $2300 I ever wasted – I’m sure you understand why doing some research is very important.

I switched to PowerHome as it was what I was looking for but the lack of updates and the lack of development on the Android side made me move to a different home automation software. Nevertheless if you don’t need a smartphone access to your home automation system, go for it. It easy to manage and setup, it’s very powerful and the community is very active and helping. For a $99 price tag the PowerHome home automation software is most definitively a buy.