I work as a full time control systems specifier and programmer, with a focus on lighting in my current role. I work daily with Lutron and Crestron systems, though these days Crestron projects are more of a rare treat. I also run Crestron in my own home. That was true, at least, until I stumbled upon openHAB.
The custom install / A/V / professional home automation market is dominated by the big players. Crestron and Lutron being what many would consider the big two.
The fact that people are able to achieve sophisticated home automation to rival the big two with the hardware investment of a single board computer is, to me, nothing short of amazing.
Now, I am not going to tell people to throw out your Crestron processors and get your systems integrator to buy you a raspberry pi. If you have Crestron in place I am sure you are loving it and if you can afford it then why not! Crestron is, after all, an amazing product that just wont quit. The up time on those things is just staggering. Crestron is, however, closed source by design. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it does make it susceptible to major mark ups and a touch of elitism. If you are an end user that can see your needs changing in the future, then openHAB is for you. If you are a property developer with deep pockets and fancy prestige to bring in the big bucks, you already know what to do.
If you aren't exactly the most technical individual, what can you do? OpenHAB, after all is not exactly beginner friendly. Hopefully I can help you with that with a getting started tutorial to get you controlling at least one device from the openHAB app. From there, adding devices into your system should be quick and easy.
Watch This Space.
The custom install / A/V / professional home automation market is dominated by the big players. Crestron and Lutron being what many would consider the big two.
The fact that people are able to achieve sophisticated home automation to rival the big two with the hardware investment of a single board computer is, to me, nothing short of amazing.
Now, I am not going to tell people to throw out your Crestron processors and get your systems integrator to buy you a raspberry pi. If you have Crestron in place I am sure you are loving it and if you can afford it then why not! Crestron is, after all, an amazing product that just wont quit. The up time on those things is just staggering. Crestron is, however, closed source by design. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it does make it susceptible to major mark ups and a touch of elitism. If you are an end user that can see your needs changing in the future, then openHAB is for you. If you are a property developer with deep pockets and fancy prestige to bring in the big bucks, you already know what to do.
If you aren't exactly the most technical individual, what can you do? OpenHAB, after all is not exactly beginner friendly. Hopefully I can help you with that with a getting started tutorial to get you controlling at least one device from the openHAB app. From there, adding devices into your system should be quick and easy.
Watch This Space.
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