Customer Reviews

Latest Technology in Automated Home Control: System Design Manual

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really like this book because it actually taught me how to design my automated system and it has lots of drawings and pictures to explain things easily. It taught me how to automate my lighting, air conditioning, whole house audio and video system, garage door, water heater, security system and pool/spa. It was easier to automate these things than I thought it would be. I think it was the example home shown in this book that helped me apply design preocedures and installation methods to my own automation system design. I also bought the book How To Automate Both New & Existing Homes by the same author and also found it to be an excellant resource. Thank you Mr Bucceri for the information I needed.

Having a book center around a fully illustrated example house is a great idea because it made it easy for me to automate my home. I just followed the examples for the devices I wanted to automate and applied the information to develop my home automation system. The book even told me what control components I needed to use to automate my lighting, ceiling fans, air conditioning, pool equipment, vertical blinds and my audio video equipment. I also plan to integrate my security system in with my automation system.

What is cool about my automated home is that I can push one button when I leave to control devices on/off or open/close. Another cool control is pushing a button on the transmitter in my car that starts the arriving home mode. This mode turns on lighting inside and outside my home only when it is dark out. It also opens my garage door, turns on the garage lights, changes the temperature set points on my air conditioner to lower my electric bills and opens my verticals. When I integrate my security system, the modes will also arm and disarm the security system. I have other modes like the morning mode, good night mode and entertainment mode right now but I plan to add more modes. This book is great because it provides detailed information on how to automate your house. If you like convenience, security and entertainment, I highly recommend this book to you.

Anyone who wants to automate their home MUST have this book!! No other book on the market gives you a step by step working model upon which to learn the fundamentals of home automation. After reading this book I automated all the lights in my home and I am now working on installing a leak detection system and a CCTV monitoring system for my front door.

I am writing this review because this book was one of Amazon's recommendations when I looked for "Structured Wiring". The only information about structured wiring in this book are a couple of references to his other book on structured wiring, which is not particularly well reviewed.

While I was not interested in an X-10 system when I bought this book, I found that it had a lot of interesting ideas for controlling a home beyond the usual opening and closing drapes, turning lights on and off with a remote control. My own personal bias is that controlling such functions from a remote instead of a switch is not much of an automation improvement. For me the more interesting subjects were topics such as: Interfacing a home controller to an alarm system to integrate their functions; controlling electrical loads such as your electrical water heater, HVAC, and attic fan to save energy, controlling sprinklers, etc.; using a single button to turn off all of the lights in you house before going to bed, etc.

The book is intended to be read from cover to cover. It is a step by step description of how to fully automate an example home. While I haven't implemented such a system, the examples appear to me to be more than adequate to come up with your own implementation.

I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 for several reasons: The layout/format/typeface makes the book a bit harder to read than most books. It could also use some editing (spelling and grammar errors that sometimes have you scratching your head for a few seconds).

Would I buy the book again? Absolutely: I just wish that they had done a better job producing it.

Home/Office automation is growing so fast that few printed books could keep up. This book gets basic wiring principles and organization worked out right away, and then proceeds to X-10 coverage and programming. I will use the basic principles laid out for years to come, but it may be better to skip the X-10 stuff and the specific cable types it recommends (Cat5e should be replaced with Cat6, etc). The book also focuses on Internet in the Home/Office based on a stand-alone PC that acts as a server. Routers with firewalls are now the way to go. The programming code does however hold basic structure and logic that is carried over into newer technologies, so it's worth going over. The illustrations could also be updated, but that's already been said. Overall, it was worth the money, and I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to get a good comprehensive coverage of home automation.

This is just an excellent book! Even if your are new to home automation this book covers all you need to know about equipment, wiring & programing in setting a home automation system. Great illustrations and samples. A must have for a home automation enthusiast.

I got this book before starting my DIY home automation project. While it has some sections that are good for any time, I think it is quite outdated for the latest technologies available. X10 is way out of date. I would have preferred some commentary on wireless technologies like zigbee or zwave.

I've ordered both books from the author and I must say they were quite an eye opener. I've been browsing through the internet for various sources and unfortunately these two books are some of the very few in existance. Both books are more like an technical implementation manual intended for x10 system integrators and are packed with details, suggestions and walkthroughs. Both books focuses mainly on wiring and logical setup. But they go in details of how to actualy do things right. There are numerous examples, floorplans, blueprints for everyone's taste or occasion.
These books are not for everyone, they are too tecnical and way too specific although they do contain some general information. I gave 4 stars due to the way knowledge is presented (sometimes quite difficult to read) and becouse of the lack of information on computer software controlled systems. Otherwise splendid work.

I purchased this book because I was interested in smart wiring my home for some basic automation. Although I'm familiar with electrical wiring diagrams this book is not for a person looking to make a couple of cool updates to his/her house or apartment.

Personally I was disappointed with the content of this book.

I work in the industry of home automation and am frequently providing wiring specs for window treatments (high and low voltage). I have never come across a do it yourself integrator; typically it is a team of people - and together the combined experience and knowledge makes the job go smoothly. The book was helpful but a very small population is going to be able to grasp it. Go to web: www.automatedshading.com for more information for our small piecce of the puzzle.