Anyone worry they are going over the top?

[MN]

If I were to pop it – Mrs MN would be in deep trouble keeping the house working.
It would be fine until something went wrong.  Things like the light switch in the hall is wired to an X10 controller in the  loft that turns outside lights on plugged into a controller in the basement.   Or the way the AV system is all controlled.

I’m wondering if I need a ‘revert to normal’ manual for use in emergency situations

MN

[rhys]

Best write a user manual - but not in you best Japanese.

[AndyB]

I have so much of my house controed by a Industrial PLC my wife and children hate it so i have had to install and emergency over ride button and set a master timer to revert to no control the days i work nights, just in case!!!

[MN]

Glad it is not just me then

[paul149]

a timeclock, roomstat and a pir (mounted in the hall to detect that people are still in the house-linked to a 20 minute run timer) all have to be satisfied before the gas guzzling Vailiant kicks in, throws my wife every time I am on nightshift!!!!!

[wyleu]

It's a big problem, very little offers the reliability of a good solid on off switch, The control should be in the appliances really but so many protocols such  costs.

[hiccup]

Hi all

One of the first home automation projects for me was to install electric curtain tracks. That was nearly 10 years ago and apart from a few minor running repairs over the years the WAF has been overwhelmingly positive. They open and close when they should and keep the house looking occupied even when we do occaisionally escape. Not only that but the lack of manual handling dratically reduces the need to have them cleaned! Not cheap though - decent tracks will cost £400 plus per window!

The key to getting it right is making it intuitive so that there is no need for a manual. That includes manual overides for the odd occaisons when the automatic logic is different to the immediate requirements. Like this morning I was up before normal sunday opening time and wanted to see what I was doing.

Hic!