Buying into a smart system

[ians]

I have been doing a lot of reserch into smart homes and various options avaialble ...

Do you buy into a hub type systems and become "fenced in" ... restricitng you from using other devices or platforms.

Do you get a system intergrator to install and manage the system (if you can afford it why not)

Do you install home asssistant and spend the rest of your life trying to manage it yourslef ... wasting hours trying to figue it out.

Do you just add devices and apps to make the stuff work ... then open and close apps as needed.

But most important ... are all these devices "approved" in SA ... I didnt mention SANS ...because it seems there is no longer SANS approval ... there a re other approvals required.

Can you get an electrician in to rewire your house to your requirements ... then just add devices ... lights .. .switches ... hubs etc.

What I did for a customer a while back ... i rewired the entire house .. but didnt fit any plugs lights or switches ... instead I left wago connectors at each point for ease of connection ... every wire was clearly labeled and has a push connector.

I am busy with a couple other properties ... a similar setup ... but the cusotmer will supply all the "smart" devices and I will connect them.

I looked into the hager coviva platform ... but havent followed up.

I have been scratching around in the schneider products ... they seem to be going places ... in fact I am hoping to get a rep out to one of the facotries to look into power/energy monitoring ... they have a current device which fits directly below the circui breaker.

The problem with all these new nice to have products ... support ... if there is one thing I have learnt about technology ... eveyone knows ho to sell it ... trying to find a someone who knows how to fix a problem when it is not a sa simple as a press of the button ... like I have just experienced with CBI.

Then you have to consider cloud base or local network ... this is another challenge ... cloud storage is an option ... but add in load shedding ... power cuts ... cable theft ... weak coverage and all the other challenges ... local network control is certainly the way to go.

[ians]

It all starts with the power supply and backup ... as I mentioned to a dentist who spent hundreds of thousands on equipment for his room ... yet only R800 was spent on his UPS ... big deal ...yes t is ... unstable ower destroys electronic components ... the sytem is useless unless is has power ... then there ther eis the cable theft ... a neutral loss will destroy the entire system in a couple of seconds ... you can literally watch it go up in smoke .

No power ... no control.