Apress - Smart Home Automation with Linux (2010)- P34:Linux users can now control their homes remotely! Are you a Linux user who has ever wanted to turn on the lights in your house, or open and close the curtains, while away on holiday? Want to be able to play the same music in every room, controlled from your laptop or mobile phone? Do you want to do these things without an expensive off-the-shelf kit | CHAPTER 4 HOME IS HOME Power is always an issue in HA installations because there s never enough where you need it. Unless you are able to self-build you won t have a choice as to where the sockets are or how many you have. You can always cheat the issue by converting any existing sockets into multigang units or by adding a spur from an upstairs light to provide a couple of sockets in the loft. This not only gives you the opportunity of adding a small secure filesystem in the loft but it means you can use the space to store X10 DIN Rail devices where they are out of the way and don t add the heat in NodeO itself. Note Don t pack DIN rails too closely to each other because the heat can induce problems in operation. The recommended minimum separation is 20mm. Additional power conduits are also useful for lighting driveways and powering electric garage doors. In the former case you need only a low-power around 12v supply which can also be used for water fountains flood lights outdoor Christmas trees cameras and PIRs. They can also help power sensors such as the VAL-1 vehicle alerts that indicate when a car is approaching the garage or driveway. You can even install two to correctly determine the direction of travel as we suggested for the Arduino door mat in Chapter 2. Note If your electric garage doors take ten seconds to open for example but your sensor is only in range when you re five seconds away from the door you will need to employ a custom RF gateway circuit to trigger the door earlier. There are also the high-powered devices such as the garage doors and mains sockets in a shed or garage for power tools. These are generally coated in rubber for isolation against the elements. In all cases consult an electrician and the laws of your country before installing electrical equipment outside Note You could also use the driveway sensors to switch on the porch light ready for your arrival. Conclusion There is clearly more to a home network installation than a few .
