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We put this list together to show many of the things that HomeVision
and HomeVision-Pro can do. We doubt
anyone will do all of these, but you may get a few good ideas. If you have ideas to
contribute to this list, please let us know. Also see our example system diagrams to see what a complete system might look
like.
Do events automatically at preset times:
 | Turn lights on and off. Have lights brighten gradually as it gets dark outside.
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| Control thermostat. |
| Open/close blinds and drapes. |
| Control indoor fans. |
| Control sprinkler system (based on amount of rainfall, soil moisture, time of
year, etc.). |
| Control pool pump. |
| Close the garage door if it was left open. |
| Turn water heater off at night, then back on before morning.
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| Periodically turn off outside lights in case they were accidentally turned on.
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| Shut off the TV and stereo AC outlets in your child’s bedroom to disable
them at night. |
| Depending on the time, day, date, or month, display messages on the TV such as
"take out the trash tonight", "kid's soccer practice tomorrow",
"don't forget the monthly car payment", "Kids, it's way past your
bedtime!", and "Happy birthday honey, I love you !".
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Set up events controlled from an X-10 controller by your bed:
| Arm/disarm security system. |
| Change thermostat temperature (why get out of bed?).
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| Turn on all lights (in case you think you hear a prowler). Use another button to
set the lights back where they were. |
| Control certain lights. |
| Turn stereo on to play music. Use X-10, infrared, or telephone (with
HomeVision-Phone device) commands to change station, volume, etc.
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| Light the way to the kitchen in the middle of the night.
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| Turn off the TV and lights in your child’s bedroom. |
Set up events controlled from an X-10 wall switch (or better yet, from an
in-wall touchscreen like TouchLinc or Companion):
| Set special whole-house lighting scenes for different occasions.
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| Start a special whole-house mode like GoodNight, Away, Home, Party, Nap, etc.
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| Turn stereo on to play music throughout the house. Change station, volume, etc. |
| Sound a chime to call the family to dinner. |
| Temporarily disable chime modules and other audio sources.
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| Arm/disarm security system. |
| Change the current thermostat setpoint. |
| Close the garage door. |
Set up events controlled from an infrared remote (for couch potatoes!):
| Control lights. |
| Run macros to set your entire house into the desired mode. |
| Start home theater system (control A/V equipment, projection screens, lights,
curtains, etc.). |
| Automatically record your favorite TV show (no need to program your VCR!).
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| Start up the CD player in "shuffle" mode with all the audio settings
just the way you like them. |
| Change the current thermostat setpoint. |
| Reprogram the thermostat schedule. |
| Arm/disarm security system (bypassing zones if necessary).
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| View the event log on your TV so you can see what happened today.
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| Change the time a light automatically goes on or off. |
Set up events controlled from a telephone keypad (requires HomeVision-Phone):
| Set special whole-house lighting scenes for different occasions.
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| Start a special whole-house mode like GoodNight, Away, Home, Party, Nap, etc.
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| Turn stereo on to play music throughout the house. Change station, volume, etc. |
| Control HomeVision’s video menu system via the telephone keypad. This
eliminates the need for an infrared distribution system at each television. |
| Change the current thermostat setpoint, mode, etc. |
| Arm/disarm security system, bypassing zones if desired.
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| Close the garage door. |
| Turn off the TV and lights in your child’s bedroom. |
When you leave home, HomeVision can automatically:
| Arm security system. |
| Set thermostat back. |
| Turn off lights (after a delay if it's dark). |
| Turn off TV, stereo, etc. |
| Turn off appliances (coffee pot, curling iron, etc.).
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| Close blinds and drapes. |
| If you're leaving for a long time, turn off water heater.
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| Have HomeVision-Phone or a modem to dial your phone company and enable call
forwarding to your cell phone. |
While you're away:
| Turn lights on and off to make it look like someone's home.
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| Turn TV or stereo on and change channels to really make it look like you're home.
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| Periodically turn ceiling fans on to circulate the air.
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When you return home:
| Turn on lights if it's dark. |
| Disarm security system. |
| Reset thermostat to scheduled temperature. |
| Turn on TV or stereo to your favorite channel based on current time and day of
week. |
| Display status or messages (such as the event log) on your TV.
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| Using a whole-house audio system, play sound files on your computer announcing
messages. |
When the last person goes to bed:
| Turn off lights (but leave a few on for a minute), TV, stereo, etc.
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| Set thermostat to sleeping temperature. |
| Arm security system. |
| Close blinds/drapes in bedroom. |
| Turn on electric blanket to warm bed. |
| Check the garage door and close it if left open. |
| Disable chime modules and other audio devices so you're not disturbed.
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In the morning:
| Before it's time to get up, adjust the thermostat and turn on the bathroom
heater. |
| Slowly brighten lights and turn TV or stereo volume slowly up when it's time to
get up. |
| Slowly open the blinds/drapes. |
| Display important messages on your TV. |
If the security system alarm goes off:
| Turn on all the lights. |
| Flash some outside lights to get attention. |
| Sound a "barking dog" alarm. |
| Turn on all the TVs and display the name of the violated zone
overlaid on top of
the video camera picture. |
| Start the VCR recording each of the video cameras (select the camera to record
based on motion sensors or the zone which was violated, or cycle through them recording a
few seconds of each). |
| Make voice announcements through the computer. If you really want to get carried
away, if you're away from home, record a sound file saying "Quick, grab your gun,
I've got mine loaded" and play it through a speaker in one room, then turn on the
light a few seconds later! |
| Use HomeVision-Phone or a modem and have HomeVision dial one or more pagers to
alert you. Don't call immediately, but wait a minute to see if the alarm gets reset (you
don't want to call if a family member accidentally trips the alarm).
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| After some time, turn the lights off (there's no sense leaving the lights on for
a week if you're on vacation). |
| Leave an outside light on continually so that if you are away, when you return
you'll know that an alarm occurred. Periodically turn this light on to ensure it's on when
you get there. |
If a smoke detector goes off:
| Turn on all the lights. |
| Shut off the heating and cooling system fans, as well as any ceiling fans.
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| Open skylights to allow smoke to escape. |
| Turn on all the TVs and display a warning. |
| Make a voice announcement through the computer. |
Use digital inputs and connect to detectors for:
| Flooding from a broken water pipe, water heater, washer, etc.
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| Flooding in the basement. |
| Smoke, heat, radon, carbon monoxide, etc. |
| Furnace failure or overheating. |
| Rain sensors (turn off sprinklers and close skylights when it rains).
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Use outdoor motion sensors, and when motion is detected:
| Turn on outside light if it's dark. |
| Sound chime so you know someone's there even before they ring the doorbell
(unless you’re in the SLEEP mode, in which case you’ll probably disable the
chime). |
| Display a video camera picture of the visitor on all the TVs in the house.
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| Record the video camera with your VCR. |
| Play a sound file announcing "Someone's coming" on your computer and
tie it into a whole-house audio system. |
| If you're not at home, wait 30 seconds, then turn an inside light on (so they'll
think someone's home). To be even more convincing, turn a TV on for a few minutes.
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| Sound a "barking dog" alarm. |
| Use a variable to count how often the motion sensor goes off or a use flag to
indicate whether it went off while you were away. |
| While you're away, if an outdoor motion sensor in a private area (like your
backyard) triggers, turn on the sprinkler system for a few minutes. This will help drive
off prowlers or animals. |
| NOTE: You probably don't want some of these things to happen if you're going out
the door and trigger the motion sensor, but only when people arrive. Tie the door to a
digital input and start a 20 second timer each time it opens. Then, when the motion sensor
goes off, you'll know that someone's probably leaving the house, so you don't sound the
chime or start the VCR. |
Hook up a driveway sensor and use it to:
| Turn on outside light after dark. |
| Sound a chime module. |
| Play a message over a whole-house audio system. |
| Display a video camera picture of the vehicle on all the TVs in the house.
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| Record the event in the TV log so you can later tell when you had visitors.
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Use indoor motion detectors, floor sensors, door sensors, etc. to control
lights, stereo, etc. as you move around the house:
| Turn the light on when you enter a room. This requires careful planning because
there will probably be times you don't want the light to come on (like when someone's
asleep in the bedroom, or you're watching TV in the family room with the lights out). This
works best for places like the garage, laundry room, closet, etc.
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| Dimly light your way as you move around the house at night. Night lights plugged
into X-10 outlets work well because it's OK for them to go on to full brightness (you
wouldn't want your main lights going on full brightness, then dimming).
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| Have your stereo automatically turn on the speakers in whatever room you're in.
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Use the multifunction expansion board
or HomeVision-Pro with analog or
digital temperature sensors to:
| Measure the outdoor temperature and display it on your TV.
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| Track daily/weekly/monthly high and low temperatures. Create a custom TV screen
to display the data. |
| Warn you when the outdoor temperature goes outside a certain range.
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| If the temperature drops below freezing, disable the sprinkler system and similar
devices. |
| Automatically switch your thermostat between heating and cooling modes based on
the outdoor temperature. |
| Control ceiling fans and attic ventilation systems based on indoor and outdoor
temperatures. |
| Use an indoor sensor to detect a heating system failure. Use HomeVision-Phone or
a modem to send a message to your pager if you’re away from home. |
| Monitor freezer and refrigerator temperatures. |
After a power failure:
| Set lights and appliances back where they should be (turn back on the TV that you
were watching!). |
| Track how long power was out for. If longer than a certain limit, adjust your
schedule accordingly (for example, immediately turn on sprinkler if power was out for more
than 5 days). |
Use the built-in TV screens and your infrared remote to:
| Change the times of scheduled events or disable/enable them.
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| View the status of all X-10 devices and control them when necessary.
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| Scroll through a list of macros and perform whichever ones you want.
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| View the thermostat status (including current temperature and setpoint) and
control it. |
| Reprogram your thermostat's time/temperature schedule.
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| View the security system status (including each zone, by name) and control it.
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| Scroll through the event log to see exactly what happened and when (including the
names and phone numbers of callers). |
Create custom TV screens to display:
| A "Welcome" screen showing your family's name. System installers can
create a screen with their company's name, phone number, etc. |
| Weather information (from temperature sensors or a remote weather station).
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| Power failure information (how many, how long, when the last one was, etc.).
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| Notes of what happened while you were away (whether any alarm went off, number of
phone calls, how many times each outdoor motion sensor went off, minimum and maximum
temperatures, etc.). |
| "Help" information to guide the user through the system.
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| Display the caller's name and number on all your TVs (display it on a solid
background or overlay onto the channel you're watching). |
| When a call comes in, mute the TV and stereo (and if you have an in-wall vacuum
cleaning system, shut it off). |
| Flash a light to alert you to the call. |
| Use a variable to count the number of calls while you're away. When you return
home, let HomeVision automatically display the event log on your TV so you can see who
called. |
If you have kids you want to keep better control of:
| Slowly dim the lights in their room when it's their bed time.
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| Control their lights from elsewhere in the house. |
| Plug their TV and stereo into an X-10 outlet and shut them off when they're not
allowed to be using them (but make sure the outlet is behind a heavy dresser so they can't
easily move the plug!). |
| Automatically turn their lights on in the morning when it's time for school (make
this happen only on school days, not holidays). |
Use different code numbers and you can look at your pager and immediately tell
when:
| The security system alarm goes off. |
| The security system gets armed or disarmed (know immediately when your kids get
home from school!). |
| An emergency condition occurs (fire, flood, etc.). |
| The temperature goes outside a defined range (have HomeVision report the
temperature so it appears on your pager!). |
| With an alphanumeric pager, you can even display messages!
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| Setup a button on an X-10 controller or RF remote to dial a pager with a preset
message. Then your kids can easily page you long before they learn to dial a phone! Also,
someone who's injured and can't reach the phone can still call for help.
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Run the HomeVision software with built-in web server
on your PC:
You can control HomeVision from any web browser inside or outside your
home. Anything described on this page can be done from your browser. You can also view
complete status of your home!
From anywhere in the world you can dial in and:
| Disarm the security system to let a neighbor or repairman in. With an electric
door strike, you can even unlock the door for them! |
| Arm the security system. |
| Turn off the lights in case you left something on (of course, this won't be
necessary if you had HomeVision turn them off before you left!).
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| Change the thermostat setting so the temperature's just right when you get home.
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| Start the hot tub. |
Set up whole-house audio:
| Keep HomeVision connected to your computer and you can play wave (sound) files.
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| Distribute the audio output from the computer:
 | Input the audio into the same modulator you're using for HomeVision's video
channel. Whenever you're viewing the HomeVision screen, you can have audio as well!
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| Input into an auxiliary input on your whole-house stereo system. Use your stereo
to broadcast messages by switching to this input. |
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Use the built-in and add-on serial ports to
control other devices:
| Thermostats (such as RCS RS232/485 serial thermostats). |
| Security system (such as GE (CADDX) NetworX RS232 systems). |
| Pool control systems (such as Jandy). |
| LCD screens (write text or graphics to the screen). |
| Other automation systems with a serial port (such as JDS StarGate, AMX, Crestron,
etc.) |
| Video projectors and screens. |
| Audio/video receivers (such as Denon). |
| Digital and analog input/output devices. |
Miscellaneous things:
| Use Home Voice, HAL2000,
HomeSeer, or other voice recognition
programs to control your entire home by voice. |
| Synchronize your bathroom lights and exhaust fan. Have a wall switch turn the
lights out immediately, then wait 5 minutes and turn the fan off. This gives the fan time
to do it's job. |
| Write to the TV event log each time the security system is armed or disarmed. You
can later review the log. |
| Have an indoor night light come on while the garage door is open.
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| Tie the doorbell into the system. Count the number of visitors and record the
time of each. |
| Program a specific doorbell pattern to open the garage door. For example, if you
forgot your keys, five quick presses, followed by a 3-6 second gap, followed by three
presses, could let you in the garage. |
| Automate your Christmas lights so you don't have to crawl under the tree to plug
them in. |
| Automate Halloween lights and sounds using motion sensors to create an eerie
effect. |
| Automate your fish tank. |
| Add an electric door strike and allow visitors to enter without going to the door
yourself. |
| If you have an X-10 baby monitor, plug the transmitter and receiver into
appliance modules so you can turn the system on and off. |
| Tie a digital input into a washing machine or clothes dryer (through a relay).
When the machine stops running, sound a chime module or turn on a light. That way you can
tell when it's done even if you're elsewhere in the house. |
| Control everything from your computer with the included software, a web browser,
or other software. |
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