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I've been spending most of my efforts in the past couple of months, since I wrote the first installment in this series, working on the house plans with the architect, getting bids from contractors, and working with the county regulators on the various permits I'll be needing. Most of my home automation and A/V work is back-burnered now. However, my HTI+ training came in very helpful as I was designing the electrical diagrams for my houseplans and in consulting with prospective electrical contractors. A home technology integrator needs to understand much of the electrician's role, so as to work in harmony with him or her.

There was one area that was not covered in any detail in the curriculum that I have been struggling with: automated window shade control. My home will have some lovely views, and some large windows, but I'd like to avoid having the sun streaming into the house during the summer months, and I'd like to keep the bedroom darkened until a reasonable hour, but keep the blinds open during the day. I find that if I darken a room it tends to stay dark, since going around and lifting a bunch of shades by hand is a hassle, so I'd like to have some programmable motorized shades. Though I ran into a few vendors at the Builder's Show that offer them, there doesn't seem to be much consensus in the industry on how to power or how to control motorized shades. I wish I could have learned a bit more during my training. Shades are a niche technology, I guess, and I'm sure other people would have liked to learn more about other niches that weren't covered. If any OSNews readers have any expertise with motorized shades, I'd love to hear about it.

Home security. Though the HTI+ curriculum covered it at length, I got the impression that it only scratched the surface. Our property is isolated from the neighbors, and bafflingly that makes my wife feel uncomfortable. My point of view is that there are less people around to steal your stuff, but she sees it as nobody there to hear your screams for help, I guess. We'll call it a Mars-Venus thing. To help ease her mind, I'm planning on installing some measures to help us keep track of what's going on in our surroundings. In addition to the basic window, door, motion, and glass break sensors tied to a monitorable security system, I'd like to have some other sensors and security features. I plan to install a car sensor that turns on the driveway lights and rings a chime if a car comes up the driveway. I plan to have a few surveillance cameras mounted around, indoor and out. Floodlights will be able to illuminate the exterior, either manually, with a motion sensor, or all at once with a "panic button." And I'd like the whole thing to be accessible and controllable via the web. I'm still not quite sure how I'm going to get this all working the way I want on the kind of shoestring budget I'm preparing, but we'll see how it goes. The HTI+ training gave me a little background, but I still have a long way to go. Especially on the video surveillance end.

Conclusion:
I've found that self-directed internet-based research can bring you up to speed on just about any topic imaginable if you're willing to spend a long time slogging through inappropriate and sometime inaccurate information on the web. But it's all out there somewhere. When I've wanted to learn about Tivo Hacking, research the best type of siding to use on the house, or I suddenly wonder how it was that the US came to take possession of Guantanomo Bay anyhow, it's all out there on the internet. But sometimes there's just no substitute for formalized, authoritative instruction. Though my informal research on the net gave me a great background, I wouldn't have much confidence to really design and implement this system if I had not taken the HTI+ training. I certainly wouldn't feel qualified to start a home automation business or go work for one if I hadn't been certified, but now, I almost do. I would recommend the HTI+ certification for anyone who's serious about becoming a home automation professional. For an enthusiast who's not planning on making a career of it, it may be a bit too expensive, at several hundred dollars for the exams and a couple hundred for the training materials. In that case, you may just want to study some of the HTI+ materials.

The Next Steps: I'm going to be spending the next couple of months trying to get my permits, finalize my plans, select contractors, and start building. I'm sure I'll be spending some time doing research as I put together my requirements list in preparation for a formal system design phase. The next installment in this series will probably cover my attempts to finalize the design of my home automation system and begin purchasing equipment.

Reference:
If you're interested in the HTI+ certification, more information can be found here.

The book that I used to prepare was this one, which was excellent, if a bit pricey:

You may also want to consider these two books, which I have not read, but which cost less and seem to have been well received by the people who have reviewed them at Amazon:

1. "Wired Home, Page 1/2"
2. "Wired Home, Page 2/2"