Newbie

[Skier76]

I like the ability to lock and unlock the door remotely. That would be great paired with a camera or two for letting service contractors in the house when I'm at work.

But that monthly fee is somewhat of a turnoff. I'm sure some day, they'll be a service that just requires a software purchase without a monthly fee.

 

[Rupp]

I like the ability to lock and unlock the door remotely. That would be great paired with a camera or two for letting service contractors in the house when I'm at work.

But that monthly fee is somewhat of a turnoff. I'm sure some day, they'll be a service that just requires a software purchase without a monthly fee.

You can use these door locks and any other Z-Wave devices with HomeSeer without a monthly fee.

 

[intozwave]

I like the ability to lock and unlock the door remotely. That would be great paired with a camera or two for letting service contractors in the house when I'm at work.

But that monthly fee is somewhat of a turnoff. I'm sure some day, they'll be a service that just requires a software purchase without a monthly fee.

The Schlage Link System gives you flexibility without the outlay for Software or Hardware to get started with the automation as you were talking about earlier. If you add cameras no problem If you like what you can do with it and want to upgrade at some point to Homeseer or Vera or something else - all devices you have can be utilized including the cameras.

At this point I would get out a pad of paper and pencil and look at what you want to automate today and in the future – build your wish list, then go back review the options again. At this point you'll probably have more questions and we will be here to help - Look forward to your next questions.

 

[tmbrown97]

Also, many people started out with X10 back in the day - but it's not a reliable technology; you might have an easy enough house, but these days there is just too much interference and the signal isn't very strong. We had it all over when I was growing up, but the handful of times I've tried it in my last 5 or so houses I could never get it to work - at all! CFL's, UPS's, fluorescents, and so many other things interfere.

Of course you can try it - starter kits are very cheap; but you really should be realistic - the more you want/expect out of X10, the more it'll continually frustrate you, waste your time, and let you down.

The reality is this is an expensive hobby... if you really want to get into it, you need to be able to spend a little bit of money on it.

 

[Skier76]

Yeah, I'm starting to see the light. This may be one of those "Do it right first...or don't do it at all' type of setups.