Irrigation Control

Disaster strikes: drip irrigation flood. I've been using an opensource program called KEL for the last 6 years to control my K8000:

http://www.sourcefiles.org/Home_and_Education/Automation/kel-2.0.tar.gz.shtml

I finally got around to running some drip line and adding a sprinkler solenoid to my system, so I could water some potted plants in the backyard. I modified the KEL script to turn the solenoid on and off and thought everything was working. To my chagrin, I woke up this morning to drowning Sago Palms and an overflowing wine barrel pot. My new script could turn on the water, but I missed bug that did not turn it off.

I love the flexibility of using linux and scripts for my HA project, but the complexity sometimes causes a bit of pain. My next project is to integrate my 1-wire moisture meter readings with the sprinkler, so I can conserve water. This will be more important for the rest of the yard than a few potted plants. Ideally, I would like to look at wind readings too and only water when its calm.

Heat Control

I've had my HVAC connected to my K8000 for years now. I've been able to save a ton of money on my heating bills because I no longer just let the programmable thermostat call for heat when I'm not home. I simply pull up my home automation webpage on my blackberry and turn on the heat 15 minutes before I arrive home. The gas portion of my PG&E bill has gone from about $100/month down to $25/month. Granted I also wear a sweater more often and the house rarely warms up to 68 degrees, but its working for me.

To automate this I simply put opto 22 relay between the normal thermostat connection and the HVAC. Here is a nice wiring diagram site:

http://www.hometech.com/kb/questions.php?questionid=53

Some day I might add some zone dampers to the system. I set the thermostat to 68, just in case my handy work goes awry.

Lighting Control

I've recently upgraded my home automation project with lighting control. I'm using a K8000 kit from Velleman connected to a parallel port on my Ubuntu laptop. The kit includes 6 DAC outputs that can be directly connected to relays for controlling the lights. I've chosen the opto 22 Model 240D10 which I picked up on ebay for $5 each.

I was holding out for a wireless solution, but just could not find a cost effective solution and finally decided to run control wire. One possible glitch is keeping the 110v insulated after connecting to the opto 22 relay. I've wrapped the relay with electrical tape, but suspect this might not meet local wiring codes.