New girl - First Impressions

[LadySapphy]

I am new to HG and wanted to say "Hello" as well as share my first impressions, but first a little about me.  I am an IT pro with too many years of Microsoft experience for it to be healthy. My current gig is AD and MS Exchange for a University. I also code in .NET but in recent years that has been a very small part of what I do.  With that background, I am trowing it all out the door and playing with HG on Raspberry Pi.   

I have spent the last few days looking at and playing with different options for home automation for the pi and think HG is a good place to spend some time. Now with all the background out of the way, on to the bullet points of what my first impressions were.

• I will start with the website: Clean and well done.
• I had some issues with the install on pi.  I am sure most of it was because I am new to the "nix" world, but it was confusing none the less.
• The first time I installed it I had issues with it talking to the zwave controller.  Nothing on the screen said there was an issue, but it could not find my test device.  I suspected the issue was another package I had tested grabbed the zstick first and that is HG could not talk to it, but a message on the screen would have been nice. As a note, I was right after re installing Raspberry pi and then only adding HG, it worked right the first try.
• The weather underground gadget is awesome, and influenced me picking HG.  Would be nice if you could tap it and get the 3, 5, or 10 day outlook.
• Would be nice if there was a URL or the default was the control screen and not the home menu.  Seems to me that after you install it most the time you will want to go to the control screen
• I like the Mirage project,  That is part of my end goal, but bigger, maybe a 5.5" screen
• I might have missed this but is there an option to poll the network for a list of MACs and if none are present to assume we have left and set the alarm and turn off the light?
• Would like to see an iPhone app
• Hope to see lock support some day
• Would like to poll my nest information.  I am guessing Google has the on lock down, but one can hope.

I hope that once I spend some time with HG, I can contribute.

Thanks

[RoChess]

I have Schlage deadbolts and Nest thermostat as well. For the time being I switched to a Vera3 controller to control them as I needed support 'now', but I much prefer the way HomeGenie works so will do my best in getting both functional.

Waiting on a ton of Pi and Arduino parts to arrive via slow boat from China, but then plan to get busy. Feel more comfortable in Windows with C# development, but prefer the low-power nature of the dedicated Linux hardware. At least with HomeGenie it is easy to mix if needed.

If you want a larger touchscreen interface for HomeGenie, have a look at: http://ameridroid.com/products/odroid-vu

[LadySapphy]

It is good to hear that I am not the only one wanting the Locks and the Nest.  For me, there is less of a rush.  I hope over the course of the coming year to replace light switches a little at a time.  After that I will look at locks and other things that would benefit from it. 

[RoChess]

Fair warning, that was my original plan as well.

I still have a grin on my face when I walk into a room and the lights go on automatic (my XAP800 should arrive soon to add always-on voice control; for now I rely on motion sensors).

Thought for sure that would get old quick, as is usually the case with 'new' stuff for me. The only thing that is slowing me down is that I have a certain vision on how I want full home automation, and not everything is available yet (Aeon-Labs window film for example).

It is already saving me money. Granted my Z-Wave network is adding up quick in the amount of power it consumes in idle mode (over 40 modules now), but it made me quickly discover my Canon AIO was consuming 14Watt idle, Onkyo receiver 53Watt, and XBox One 17Watt. Even small ones such as Microwave (3 Watt), Keurig K-Cup (2 Watt), Gas oven clock (2 Watt), etc. It all adds up, and is more then what all my Z-Wave modules are consuming.

[nolio]

Hi,

I had some issues with the install on pi.  I am sure most of it was because I am new to the "nix" world, but it was confusing none the less.
The first time I installed it I had issues with it talking to the zwave controller.  Nothing on the screen said there was an issue, but it could not find my test device.  I suspected the issue was another package I had tested grabbed the zstick first and that is HG could not talk to it, but a message on the screen would have been nice. As a note, I was right after re installing Raspberry pi and then only adding HG, it worked right the first try.

I think a good documentation (or video) on how to install and first step with some devices could be very interesting for new user. So if you have time with your freshness on the projet, it could be interesting

The weather underground gadget is awesome, and influenced me picking HG.  Would be nice if you could tap it and get the 3, 5, or 10 day outlook.
Would be nice if there was a URL or the default was the control screen and not the home menu.  Seems to me that after you install it most the time you will want to go to the control screen
I might have missed this but is there an option to poll the network for a list of MACs and if none are present to assume we have left and set the alarm and turn off the light?
Would like to see an iPhone app

You can add feature you want here : https://github.com/genielabs/HomeGenie/issues

For auto-activation of alarm system, it can be dangerous is your device are off, no ?!
(perhaps you already know) For auto-deactivation of alarm system, there is already the "ping me at home" script builtin (where you can specify the IP address to ping).

Bye