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Been looking to automate my home electricity usage. Would love to...

  1. Walk into my house with my iPhone (+ Bluetooth))...
  2. ... and a server that controls lighting + air-conditioning + appliances (e.g TV) switches on/off things according to configurations by different schedules (e.g weekday vs weekend)
  3. Able to control this home electricity automation preferably via a web browser access page. for example, I would like to turn on my electric kettle while in my room surfing, so 15 minutes up (enough for 1 answer on SuperUser!), and I can step out knowing I've got boiling water for a nice cup of Darjeeling.
  4. Before I sleep, to set a sleep timer on my stereo + living room lighting (via that same web browser) that after 30 minutes, the electricity can be cut off, along with the electricity to other things else.
  5. Just before I wake up, according to schedule the TV automatically comes on (the channel is already preset to the local news), and the kettle starts warming up too...
  6. Get ready for work, and as I step out, my Bluetooth leaves the proximity of the BT sensor on the server... and it switches on/off (according to scheduled configuration) all unneeded lighting + appliances.
  7. And since it is web-based, I can login from work and manually switch on/off electrical stuff and at the same time monitor which socket currently have power running to them too).

It's like the Jetsons v0.1 - are there are any home automation kits that can allow me to do that now? If yes, any issues to watch out for, and what are the costs of deploying this system like?

EDIT : Good point by Grant - BT might be too short-range. Possible solutions could be IR, or any others.

fixer1234
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caliban
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  • Dupe? http://superuser.com/questions/15828/how-can-i-use-my-computer-to-control-my-house – Troggy Sep 14 '09 at 18:43
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    Bluetooth sensors have a very short range. The technology is made to handle communications between two sides of a person, not two sides of a house. You would need a sensor at the main doorway and something to tell it which direction you are going. – Grant Sep 14 '09 at 18:50
  • I think this question is a lot more specific than the other one, but anyway, you can vote to close this, i hope it can stay open so someone can advise a better integrated solution. The answers for the other question seems... disjointed. – caliban Sep 14 '09 at 18:50
  • Thanks, Grant, for pointing out that BT is not necessarily a good trigger. – caliban Sep 14 '09 at 18:51
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    Yah, I agree yours is more detailed and thats why I wasn't sure if that gave you the info you wanted. – Troggy Sep 14 '09 at 19:54
  • @Troggy: it seems like no one even attempted to give an answer to this - it's probably about 5 to 10 years before its time. :( – caliban Sep 15 '09 at 02:15
  • Very cool idea, even though maybe a bit of a dream at the moment :) – alex Oct 01 '09 at 11:08

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One of my coworkers does electronics as a hobby, and he really likes Arduino. I haven't used this, but it's worth looking into.

bedwyr
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  • Wow! Finally an answer after so long! Thank you so much, will look into Arduino. – caliban Oct 01 '09 at 04:23
  • Just checked Arduino's pricing with Singapore's distributor, it is really affordable and probably can get me started. Great recommendation +1. – caliban Oct 01 '09 at 04:25
  • Heck, I'll just accept your answer as best, since it looks like no one else has any knowledge on this. – caliban Oct 01 '09 at 04:25
  • lol, glad this helped. I'm thinking of using Arduinos for some home projects as well -- sounds like they're pretty easy to use. – bedwyr Oct 01 '09 at 19:39