Looking for some feedback from the community.
I invested in UPB big about 25 years ago. I left most of it behind in one house in 2008, but took some of my extra hardware with me. In a new house since 2010 and did not intend on doing HA again. But I have used most of old my carried over UPB hardware to add new functions to my new house. The intent was not to automate the home, but mainly add new functionality easily where I needed it without having to do major wiring.
The original reasoning for going with UPB was reliability, simplicity, and having a system that was not dependent on a centralized controller. I really like being able to add a light or switch anywhere in my house and "the system" just works, and if something happens to me it will be there down the road without depending on some controller that might fail. (yes I know hardware could fail one day and someone would have to fix it and that's no simple task) My only gripe with UPB is the slight delay, but we have learned to live with it.
Other than my current small expansion of UPB devices in my home, I also have some motorized blinds that are Z-Wave. I also got into Home Assistant a few year back for fun, and have loved geeking out on that! I now have my everything I can in my home tied into HA. The DSC alarm, the UPB, the blinds, my solar system, several wireless tags, and such. I really like the abilities to automate and manage everything from HA. The HA system is only "a nice to have" and nothing is really dependent on it. Again, so if I get hit by a bus my wife can still carry on without it.
So, fast forward to today. I'm out of UPB devices and want to do more home wiring additions. The availability of UPB devices is scarce and expensive to say the least. I'm now contemplating adding in a newer technology. I will not go the route of WiFi devices ever due to the reliance on the home network being up. I already have Z-Wave blinds and back in 2019 I purchased a Zooz 500 series USB controller (pre 700 series) for the HA to manage the blinds.
So I'm thinking Z-Wave might be the way to go? I already have it in the house, so for simplicity why add another tech? I could upgrade the Zooz to a new 800 series and go the Z-Wave route for future add-ons.
Can someone talk me out of this strategy and why? I think I would now be dependent on a Z-Wave controller that's attached to the HA system for operations. I don't like that fact, as stated above, but I don't know what other options I would have? Opinions? Ideas? Blast away!
Thanks - George
I invested in UPB big about 25 years ago. I left most of it behind in one house in 2008, but took some of my extra hardware with me. In a new house since 2010 and did not intend on doing HA again. But I have used most of old my carried over UPB hardware to add new functions to my new house. The intent was not to automate the home, but mainly add new functionality easily where I needed it without having to do major wiring.
The original reasoning for going with UPB was reliability, simplicity, and having a system that was not dependent on a centralized controller. I really like being able to add a light or switch anywhere in my house and "the system" just works, and if something happens to me it will be there down the road without depending on some controller that might fail. (yes I know hardware could fail one day and someone would have to fix it and that's no simple task) My only gripe with UPB is the slight delay, but we have learned to live with it.
Other than my current small expansion of UPB devices in my home, I also have some motorized blinds that are Z-Wave. I also got into Home Assistant a few year back for fun, and have loved geeking out on that! I now have my everything I can in my home tied into HA. The DSC alarm, the UPB, the blinds, my solar system, several wireless tags, and such. I really like the abilities to automate and manage everything from HA. The HA system is only "a nice to have" and nothing is really dependent on it. Again, so if I get hit by a bus my wife can still carry on without it.
So, fast forward to today. I'm out of UPB devices and want to do more home wiring additions. The availability of UPB devices is scarce and expensive to say the least. I'm now contemplating adding in a newer technology. I will not go the route of WiFi devices ever due to the reliance on the home network being up. I already have Z-Wave blinds and back in 2019 I purchased a Zooz 500 series USB controller (pre 700 series) for the HA to manage the blinds.
So I'm thinking Z-Wave might be the way to go? I already have it in the house, so for simplicity why add another tech? I could upgrade the Zooz to a new 800 series and go the Z-Wave route for future add-ons.
Can someone talk me out of this strategy and why? I think I would now be dependent on a Z-Wave controller that's attached to the HA system for operations. I don't like that fact, as stated above, but I don't know what other options I would have? Opinions? Ideas? Blast away!
Thanks - George