Description of Tomas's Switch King system

[tomas]

I am one of the two developers of Switch King and this post describes how I am using Switch King.

An Asus Eee PC 1005HA with Windows XP is used as server and is on 24 hours a day. This is actually a netbook, but it has some advantages such as low power consumption (about 15 W) and built-in UPS This computer is also used as a file server and to backup all my computers in the network.

Using Switch King I am controlling about 20 devices and most of them are for lighting (both relays and dimmers). For the lamps I am using the built-in sunrise/sunset function except for a few where I bring in solar insolation in the Goteborg area as a data source and control based on that (described in this guide: http://www.switchking.se/en/use-solar-i ... dusk-relay).

In my bedroom I am using a lamp with a dimmer to simulate the sunrise (described in this guide: http://www.switchking.se/en/simulate-su ... ur-bedroom). I am using one additional lamp with relay to boost light further after I have ramped up the first one to 100%. This has proved really helpful to wake me up in the morning during the dark winters in Sweden In the evening I set the dimmer to 20% which create a nice cosy atmosphere.

I also control my stereo equipment together with Apple Airport Express routers to stream music from the computer. That way I can sit by the computer, turn on all the equipment and then start streaming music from for instance Spotify.

When Tellstick Duo becomes available I am planning to add dusk relays, motion detectors and temperature sensors to the system.

[tomas]

Scenarios in Switch King can be really useful! When inviting guests to our home and it gets late I want to prevent lights from being turned off too early. For this reason I use three scenarios linked together. The first one, Partystarter, will turn on the stereo equipment, but lights will continue to run by schedule. This way I can start the scenario well ahead before the guests arrive without turning on all lights.

At 9 pm the Partystarter scenario ends and is followed by the scenario Party. This scenario will keep lights and stereo turned on until 3 am, except for bedrooms where lights go by schedule all the time. (Note that lights can be turned on before 9 pm since they are all running by schedule before that.)

At 3 am the Party scenario ends and is followed by my Sleep-in scenario. The sleep in scenario will make sure to turn off all lights and prevent them from being turned on in my bedroom early in the morning. The Sleep-in scenario ends at 11 am and after that everything runs by schedule again.

So, from the time I start Partystarter until I wake up the day after I don't really have to touch the system If guests leave early I can always use my iPod Touch and manually stop the Party scenario to turn off lights.

[OliverMarsh]

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