What Are Your Top 3 Favourite “Features” In Your House

[ajd123]

Seems like the Control4 bunch are a pretty savvy group.  What are your top 3 favourite features in your house?  Could be a Control4 integration or anything like: heated snowmelt cables in downspouts, a cool piece of mill work or mill work accessory, soundproofed walls or plumbing, recirc pump, water purifiers, HVAC system, radon remediation system etc.  Nothing is off limit.

[c4toys]

1- snapshot, If I run to the store (short trip) the house restores to the last state when returning home.

2- start shower with alexa and c4 turns on lights and music.

3- red led on all light controls when front or garage door is open

4- geotracking! oh wait cant do that ( so dumb) 10 different ways not natively supported

5- kp up/down tracking that actually works logically

6- music following room to room, multi-room music muting when video is turned on

[ajd123]

#1.  Is this a driver?  Do you arm the system with "snapshot" so when the system is disarmed, it restores everything (lights, blinds, music etc) just as it was at the time of arming?

#2.  What shower trim do you have that allows it to be turned on/off remotely or with Alexa?

#3. This is great.  I currently use push/email/sms notification, but the house glowing red would encourage the wife/kids to close the garage.

#4. Are you talking about geotracking a person within their own house (e.g. so music follows you from room to room)?

#5. key pad up/down tracking?  What do you mean here?

[msgreenf]

1.  Snapshot driver

[c4toys]

38 minutes ago, ajd123 said:

#1.  Is this a driver?  Do you arm the system with "snapshot" so when the system is disarmed, it restores everything (lights, blinds, music etc) just as it was at the time of arming?

snapshot does not have to used with an alarm. you can take and recall a snapshot at anytime.

#2.  What shower trim do you have that allows it to be turned on/off remotely or with Alexa?

U by Moen

#3. This is great.  I currently use push/email/sms notification, but the house glowing red would encourage the wife/kids to close the garage.

 I use just the kp LED's, the house changes color based on house mode/time

#4. Are you talking about geotracking a person within their own house (e.g. so music follows you from room to room)?

I wish we could geotrack by room. just home and away via lutron light switch in the office.

#5. key pad up/down tracking?  What do you mean here?

I run timers when/if light or music is turned on and have the kp up/down based on what is on and when it was turned on. walk into a room and light turns on you expect the up/down to control the lights not audio or vise vs

#1.  Is this a driver?  Do you arm the system with "snapshot" so when the system is disarmed, it restores everything (lights, blinds, music etc) just as it was at the time of arming?

snapshot does not have to used with an alarm. you can take and recall a snapshot at anytime.

#2.  What shower trim do you have that allows it to be turned on/off remotely or with Alexa?

U by Moen

#3. This is great.  I currently use push/email/sms notification, but the house glowing red would encourage the wife/kids to close the garage.

 I use just the kp LED's, the house changes color based on house mode/time

#4. Are you talking about geotracking a person within their own house (e.g. so music follows you from room to room)?

I wish we could geotrack by room. just home and away via lutron light switch in the office.

#5. key pad up/down tracking?  What do you mean here?

I run timers when/if light or music is turned on and have the kp up/down based on what is on and when it was turned on. walk into a room and light turns on you expect the up/down to control the lights not audio or vise vs

[Matt Lowe]

RGB lighting control and automation

Automated window treatments

ability to play music anywhere in the house.

[LollerAgent]

RGBWW accent lighting (DMX)

Simple automations like "Goodbye" and "Goodnight"

Whole-home audio (we love music) combined with keypads and "join the scene" programming

 

[cnicholson]

13 hours ago, c4toys said:

#5. key pad up/down tracking?  What do you mean here?

I run timers when/if light or music is turned on and have the kp up/down based on what is on and when it was turned on. walk into a room and light turns on you expect the up/down to control the lights not audio or vise vs

I have a similar plan, but haven't implemented beyond test case.   How have you done this?  I just use the built-in tracking feature, but force "most recent" by sending a "button release" command to whatever I want to be "most recent."   So if music is playing and you walk in and hit light button, the light button becomes most recent automatically and I start a timer.  When timer expires, if there is an active session, I send a release command to the music button in the room.  That makes the up/down control volume (via tracking button programming).  

Curious if you have a better way or tips for any edge cases, etc., that I can incorporate into my plans.

[Southerncentralrain]

4 - Geotracking via IFTTT works pretty good once you get it set up. There is a little delay but it gets the job done for the most part. Of course, that is by location (not by room).

[Neo1738]

So hard to pick 1 thing.

1 ) Most for me is the actual automation, shades based on cloud cover, time of day, if we are awake yet (alarm off or on). Control is cool, but automation makes it so much better. With this is ability to customize to my liking (and imagination!). 

2) Motion sensor lights

3) AV integration/whole home audio

[South Africa C4 user]

Impossible to pick 3 things…

1. Music that chooses each family members playlist and follows one around the house via simple button taps;

2. Automated lighting (e.g. bathrooms, all downstairs and outside lights going off when the alarm is set and certain ones - eg pool - coming back on if the alarm is deactivated and it is night time);

3. Keypads being used to alert on power outages / borehole water in use  etc. (via red / blue backlights);

4. Solar and generator control and Smart Control of inverters to avoid overloading the house;

5. Full visual BMS feedback on power, water and gas use as well as pool heat pumps, HVAC systems, rainfall, temperatures by room, humidity by room etc.

6. Automated control of aircons, underfloor heating, pool heating, jacuzzi heating, chiller chilling etc. alarm on/off times etc. based on various combinations of modes and parameters (e.g. vacation, in residence, weekend etc,).

7. Ability to press one or two buttons on my house system to tell it that I will be away in 10 days for 7 days and press another 1 or 2 buttons on my Beach House system to alert it that I will be there in 10 days for 7 days and know that everything will just work (geysers, pool heating, jacuzzi, alarm times etc.).

7. Voice control of everything from lights, to AV, to blinds and curtains, to jacuzzi cover; and,

8. Announcements over speaker (both automated and typed in on a touchscreen / iPad.

And all of this excludes the basics of AV, lighting, comfort, pool control, security and camera integration.

I am told that I have over 10,000 lines of automation code in my system (which doesn’t really surprise me with over 1,000 drivers and devices) and I love what it does for me.  I get lost when I am away from home as I am so used to “the house” (as my youngest daughter calls it) doing everything for me.

[Southerncentralrain]

@South Africa C4 user On 8, I like this. How are you able to get an input to send in for the Advanced Announcement? I currently do this via text but your method seems like a much better option. 

[booch]

What comes to mind:

Programming

• Dynamic lighting intensity b/o TOD & cloud cover (6 levels/modes across ~200 lights)
• Dynamic IR patio heaters b/o wind chill temp. (initial + 15m updates if in 'auto' mode)
• Whole-home light/sound tornado warnings via NWS API w/ 'inside the polygon' precision
• Home auto-lock/unlock based on presence detection logic, e.g., mobile phones
• 'Wake up call' -- intercom call and camera on TV (in selectable room) when kid wakes, + activates 'morning' routine, e.g., coffee, alarm off, etc.

Other

• Steam showers
• Appliances: Column refrigerators/freezers, drawer refrigerators/freezers, bar glassware dishwasher, in-wall water bottle filler, etc.
• Distributed video/audio w/ in-ceiling speakers/subs across house
• Slatwall (& other organization, e.g., ceiling racks) in garage/workshop
• Patio misters

[ajd123]

7 hours ago, booch said:

What comes to mind:

Programming

• Dynamic lighting intensity b/o TOD & cloud cover (6 levels/modes across ~200 lights)
• Dynamic IR patio heaters b/o wind chill temp. (initial + 15m updates if in 'auto' mode)
• Whole-home light/sound tornado warnings via NWS API w/ 'inside the polygon' precision
• Home auto-lock/unlock based on presence detection logic, e.g., mobile phones
• 'Wake up call' -- intercom call and camera on TV (in selectable room) when kid wakes, + activates 'morning' routine, e.g., coffee, alarm off, etc.

Other

• Steam showers
• Appliances: Column refrigerators/freezers, drawer refrigerators/freezers, bar glassware dishwasher, in-wall water bottle filler, etc.
• Distributed video/audio w/ in-ceiling speakers/subs across house
• Slatwall (& other organization, e.g., ceiling racks) in garage/workshop
• Patio misters

Is your dynamic lighting manually programmed or via a driver that simplifies the process?  No need for Tornado warnings here in Ontario, but this pretty cool.  

How does "auto unlock" work?  The doors unlock when you get home or lock when you leave based on smart phone?

First post to actually include some "other" stuff.  Thanks!

What is a "bar glassware dishwasher"?  Do you mean a dishwasher located in a bar area, or a dishwasher specifically for glassware (like at a restaurant) where it is on a type of conveyor belt?

In wall/ceiling subs.  I am a big fan of in ceiling speakers, but wonder if in ceiling subwoofer is the best placement?  I would be concerned about the low frequency travelling to the rooms above.  I personally prefer my subs place on the floor or in a wall close to the floor.

Let me contribute a few of my favorite "non control4" features:

1. Dedicated cupboard to hold vacuum sealer with flip up appliance lift from rev-a-shelf: https://rev-a-shelf.com/16775

2. Kitchen drawer inserts for knives/accessories (https://rev-a-shelf.com/16661) & spices (https://rev-a-shelf.com/2449)

3. Whole house recirculation pump for hot water. There is a caveat to this: if you don't insulate the water lines, then the cold water comes out warm until the water in the lines is purged.  It is the opposite of waiting for hot water, you have to wait for cold water.  

4. Paneled walls to hide doors into closets or rooms.

5. Furnace Room: drain standpipes strategically located around the perimeter of the room to receive all the condensate and drain lines from equipment so there is not 10 hoses snaking into the floor drain across the floor.

6. Radiant heated floor in garage and epoxy floor coating.

7. Aria registers (https://ariavent.com/) for heat runs in hardwood/tile/millwork and drywall returns.  These are so beautiful and also eliminate the amount of dust that collects on traditional metal grills.  I only need to clean them once a year.

8. August lock for office which door which is panelized, which is only visible from the inside of the room.  

9. Alexa's located throughout tied to Control4 voice scenes.  By programming in natural phrases to trigger events, voice control for the house is next level.  I also like the "announce" feature: Alexa "announce dinner is ready" and it rings a dinner style triangle bell followed by my voice saying "dinner is ready" through all the echos.  It's also great when walking around and kids leave TV's on: just say "Alexa turn off family room" and its done.

10. Heated cables for downspouts/gutters.  Here in Canada we have crazy winters now where the temperature can go above zero and drop below zero multiple times per season and often the same day/night.  Often this results in huge ice backup in the downspouts.  Heated cables eliminates this issue.

11. Wall mounted toilets and floating vanities.  Not only does this look good, but it allows for super easy cleaning below the toilets and vanities.

12. LED accent lighting above / below cabinetry, in walls along staircases and under treads hidden in the projection of the bullnose.

13. Utility sink in garage for kids to wash up after playing outside, fill up water bottles, or for dad to wash up after working in garage.

14. Hot / Cold frost free hose bibs for exterior of house.

15. Dedicated cupboard in kitchen with electrical outlet to hold Dyson vacuum for easy access in this high use area.

[LollerAgent]

2 hours ago, ajd123 said:

12. LED accent lighting above / below cabinetry, in walls along staircases and under treads hidden in the projection of the bullnose.

Do you have any pictures of the stairs and bullnose lighting?

[South Africa C4 user]

19 hours ago, Southerncentralrain said:

@South Africa C4 user On 8, I like this. How are you able to get an input to send in for the Advanced Announcement? I currently do this via text but your method seems like a much better option. 

I use @Shivam Paw’s text to speech driver which is available on Driver Central.  It has some cool features.

[ajd123]

31 minutes ago, LollerAgent said:

Do you have any pictures of the stairs and bullnose lighting?

See attached pictures.  The key to this installation was using a 45 degree extrusion (https://www.richelieu.com/ca/en/category/lighting-solutions-and-accessories/led-lighting-and-profiles/led-profiles-and-accessories/led-profiles/45-corner-profile-for-led-tape-light/1169955/sku-30142010) screwed into the underside of the bullnose.  This provided a clean and consistent location for the LED tape to be installed.

[LollerAgent]

Looks good.  I use the 45deg channels for some of my toe-kick lighting as well.  Makes installation a breeze.

[booch]

2 hours ago, ajd123 said:

Is your dynamic lighting manually programmed or via a driver that simplifies the process?  No need for Tornado warnings here in Ontario, but this pretty cool. 

Manually programmed -- basically, it's:

1. 10 numeric variables each corresponding to a light group, e.g., 'Group B'=##
2. Scheduler times offset or equal to sunrise/sunset, e.g., 'Sunrise-30m'
3. Programming at those times to check cloud cover (three levels of additional time shift) and then set one of 6 'Timeclock Mode' variables, if applicable
4. Programming when 'Timeclock Mode' changes to set each light group variable to a particular brightness, e.g., IF('Early Evening', set 'Group B'=20)
5. A macro that updates every light's preset level according to its assigned light group, and if that light is on, ramps to the new preset over 60s
6. For lighting scenes such as 'All On,' entries for each 'Timeclock Mode' which are selected programmatically when invoked
7. A manually-activated 'Night' mode, custom Navigator icon that can cycle/set/reset modes, etc.

Also use these modes to set certain other functionality, e.g., no sounds at 'Night'

3 hours ago, ajd123 said:

How does "auto unlock" work?  The doors unlock when you get home or lock when you leave based on smart phone?

Yeah -- that and alarm, lights, etc. It's based on a few factors:

• Our phones (left/joined, home/not home)
• Whole home motion sensing, e.g., an unoccupied timer
• Valid (i.e., not forced) garage door and lock commands from cars, Navigator, etc.
• Keypad buttons and Navigator icons

If you haven't messed with occupancy sensing, it's nice for other reasons too, e.g., whether or not you want a push alert for camera motion

3 hours ago, ajd123 said:

First post to actually include some "other" stuff.  Thanks!

Welcome! You've got some cool stuff too and reminded me of some things I have that I'm taking for granted, ha.

3 hours ago, ajd123 said:

What is a "bar glassware dishwasher"?  Do you mean a dishwasher located in a bar area, or a dishwasher specifically for glassware (like at a restaurant) where it is on a type of conveyor belt?

Both. https://www.thermador.com/us/experience/glass-care-center

3 hours ago, ajd123 said:

In wall/ceiling subs.  I am a big fan of in ceiling speakers, but wonder if in ceiling subwoofer is the best placement?  I would be concerned about the low frequency travelling to the rooms above.  I personally prefer my subs place on the floor or in a wall close to the floor.

I've got 12 subs in the ceiling and it's not bad. If have the volume in a zone way up there can be a little vibration transfer, but it's better than I would have expected. Only soundproofing I have is insulated interior walls in rooms with AV. Kind of like ceiling speakers, it's a trade off for a convenient form factor. And while I don't claim my system is audiophile quality, it's good enough for me (and better than a lot of homes I've heard). My ceiling speakers are all 8" and I can't imagine them without the subs -- would sound like an elevator, ha.

3 hours ago, ajd123 said:

4. Paneled walls to hide doors into closets or rooms.

This sounds cool -- got a pic/example?

[LollerAgent]

5 minutes ago, booch said:

I've got 12 subs in the ceiling and it's not bad. If have the volume in a zone way up there can be a little vibration transfer, but it's better than I would have expected. Only soundproofing I have is insulated interior walls in rooms with AV. Kind of like ceiling speakers, it's a trade off for a convenient form factor. And while I don't claim my system is audiophile quality, it's good enough for me (and better than a lot of homes I've heard). My ceiling speakers are all 8" and I can't imagine them without the subs -- would sound like an elevator, ha.

Which subs are you using?

[booch]

42 minutes ago, LollerAgent said:

Which subs are you using?

Klipsch PRO-800SWs

[ajd123]

2 hours ago, booch said:

Manually programmed -- basically, it's:

This is pretty cool.  I would imagine 90% of C4 users don't utilize their lighting to this degree (including myself).  Sadly I think a lot of integrators just don't know how to do this, or don't want to bake the cost of such programming into their price.  I also understand from an installer side, the more complex the system, the more potential for things to go wrong which would require additional service calls.

 

2 hours ago, booch said:

If you haven't messed with occupancy sensing, it's nice for other reasons too, e.g., whether or not you want a push alert for camera motion

Cool idea.  Do you think this could be simplified just based on alarm armed status.  If the house is armed away, it knows nobody is home etc.

 

2 hours ago, booch said:

Both. https://www.thermador.com/us/experience/glass-care-center

This is cool, have not seen it before.  Basically it is just a dishwasher designed to hold a greater quantity of glasses and fragile stemware.  I personally prefer a regular dish washer in the servery / bar area since it provides functionality to receive regular dishes as well which is good for entertaining.

 

2 hours ago, booch said:

I've got 12 subs in the ceiling and it's not bad. If have the volume in a zone way up there can be a little vibration transfer, but it's better than I would have expected. Only soundproofing I have is insulated interior walls in rooms with AV. Kind of like ceiling speakers, it's a trade off for a convenient form factor. And while I don't claim my system is audiophile quality, it's good enough for me (and better than a lot of homes I've heard). My ceiling speakers are all 8" and I can't imagine them without the subs -- would sound like an elevator, ha.

I have subs in any rooms with surround sound.  Since there is one surround setup on each floor, it works well because I can add that room to the music session which puts a little bass into it on each floor.

 

2 hours ago, booch said:

This sounds cool -- got a pic/example?

See attached.  This ties in with my previous comment about the August Smart lock only visible on one side.  I can lock the office when not in there and if someone leans against the door it just feels like a wall.  Only issue with this setup is if the lock ever fails when engaged, I am going to have to use my sawzall to cut the deadbolt.  In the pictures attached you can also catch a glimpse of the Aria floor registers with two types of material (porcelain / hardwood) used to make it disappear into the floor.

[booch]

9 hours ago, ajd123 said:

This is pretty cool.  I would imagine 90% of C4 users don't utilize their lighting to this degree (including myself).  Sadly I think a lot of integrators just don't know how to do this, or don't want to bake the cost of such programming into their price.  I also understand from an installer side, the more complex the system, the more potential for things to go wrong which would require additional service calls.

Thanks, man. And yeah, wouldn't make sense for most users or integrators, most likely. Building stuff and (self-taught) coding is my downtime/relax hobby, which as I tell my wife, results in something tangible beyond my enjoyment occasionally, ha.

That said, given my level of investment in HA, I'd also be pretty disappointed if I couldn't do stuff like this. I think C4 is on the right track with features they're adding, e.g., the circadian and preset stuff, so I'm just glad the platform has the flexibility for me to fill the gap in the meantime.

9 hours ago, ajd123 said:

See attached.  This ties in with my previous comment about the August Smart lock only visible on one side.  I can lock the office when not in there and if someone leans against the door it just feels like a wall.  Only issue with this setup is if the lock ever fails when engaged, I am going to have to use my sawzall to cut the deadbolt.  In the pictures attached you can also catch a glimpse of the Aria floor registers with two types of material (porcelain / hardwood) used to make it disappear into the floor.

This is super cool -- did you design your house or add this? (See you have some other creative/designed kit based on the posts above.)

[Cyknight]

9 hours ago, ajd123 said:

See attached.  This ties in with my previous comment about the August Smart lock only visible on one side.  I can lock the office when not in there and if someone leans against the door it just feels like a wall.  Only issue with this setup is if the lock ever fails when engaged, I am going to have to use my sawzall to cut the deadbolt

Looks cool - nice version. We just choose to use mag locks for this sort of stuff: no saws-all needed, just a hidden override switch.

[ajd123]

4 minutes ago, Cyknight said:

Looks cool - nice version. We just choose to use mag locks for this sort of stuff: no saws-all needed, just a hidden override switch.

Mag locks work good for single doors but not double doors.  I would have preferred a mag lock.  I tried to source something that would have worked but I couldn’t find anything.  Do you have any suggestions?

Another small detail I added was a vertical strip of burlap to the door on the inside of the room.  This prevents light from the office bleeding through and making it more obvious there is another room there.