W
WPCentral Question
I need a home automation solution for my house.
My important needs are as follows:
-Need to be able to turn on/off lights remotely.
-need to monitor if doors and windows are open or closed
-cameras with pan/tilt ability (zoom is a bonus), recording ability or record motion then send to email or SkyDrive (ahem, I mean OneDrive)
-of course, compatible / integrated with WP8 and W8
Optional:
-fire alarm sensor, water leak sensor, thermostat (though I do have a Nest already, and using a third party app to control it/the website)
I saw an article one time about Insteon having an app for windows phone 8 and windows 8. I'm looking at their technology and it seems good, but I worry about the ecosystem (seems like they are the only ones making hardware) and the price (a little bit pricier than z-wave or zigbee devices).
Does anyone have a suggestion on how I can go about this? I am a newbie in home automation, I have a limited amount of funds, but I want a good starting foundation technologically (so I can expand it in the future), so longevity is a must as well. Is there a one solution to this, or am I going to be using multiple devices from multiple companies.
My important needs are as follows:
-Need to be able to turn on/off lights remotely.
-need to monitor if doors and windows are open or closed
-cameras with pan/tilt ability (zoom is a bonus), recording ability or record motion then send to email or SkyDrive (ahem, I mean OneDrive)
-of course, compatible / integrated with WP8 and W8
Optional:
-fire alarm sensor, water leak sensor, thermostat (though I do have a Nest already, and using a third party app to control it/the website)
I saw an article one time about Insteon having an app for windows phone 8 and windows 8. I'm looking at their technology and it seems good, but I worry about the ecosystem (seems like they are the only ones making hardware) and the price (a little bit pricier than z-wave or zigbee devices).
Does anyone have a suggestion on how I can go about this? I am a newbie in home automation, I have a limited amount of funds, but I want a good starting foundation technologically (so I can expand it in the future), so longevity is a must as well. Is there a one solution to this, or am I going to be using multiple devices from multiple companies.