So has anyone around here hacked their homes? I'm talking about any sort of thing like controlling all lights, air conditioners and other devices wirelessly from a central console ? Or just setting up your own custom anti-theft system.
Any hacks would be awesome to hear about.
Ask HN: Has anyone hacked their homes?
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Re: Ask HN: Has anyone hacked their homes?
#2I haven't hacked my own, but this guy has: http://www.bwired.nl/
He's the most extreme example that I've come across and he even describes how he did it/what tech he uses. If you are looking for inspiration on what to hack, you can't go far wrong using his house as a start!
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone hacked their homes?
#3I hacked my lights and some power outlets. I can turn them on by flipping a simple switch. I also hacked a lock onto my door and hacked some layers of paint on the ceiling. Then I paid some people to install a temperature control hack so that air conditioning can be controlled based on a heat sensor. And some other people came in and hacked some wires to different ports near the floor. They put a box in the alcove where you can turn off power to entire sections of the house. These people were all Mexicans, so I guess they must have some leet hacking schools where they come from.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone hacked their homes?
#4I hacked my lights and some power outlets. I can turn them on by flipping a simple switch. I also hacked a lock onto my door and hacked some layers of paint on the ceiling. Then I paid some people to install a temperature control hack so that air conditioning can be controlled based on a heat sensor. And some other people came in and hacked some wires to different ports near the floor. They put a box in the alcove wh…
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Re: Ask HN: Has anyone hacked their homes?
#5I haven't hacked my own, but this guy has: http://www.bwired.nl/ He's the most extreme example that I've come across and he even describes how he did it/what tech he uses. If you are looking for inspiration on what to hack, you can't go far wrong using his house as a start!
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Re: Ask HN: Has anyone hacked their homes?
#6I played around with X10 networking (device control using the in-house power wiring as a message bus) years ago, for home automation. Fun stuff, and usable even today.
Recently, I've started working on an Arduino-driven thermostat replacement using XBees to get around the problem of running wiring in a house without any conduits (and not wanting to run plenum-rated cabling in the heating ducts). It's actually pretty simple stuff, with off-the-shelf ICs (and I'm no hardware guy) and a little programming. The biggest challenge was figuring out the existing thermostat and HVAC wiring; I knew practically nothing about this stuff previously.
Some folks have gone quite far with this kind of thing: http://diy-zoning.sourceforge.net/Advanced/faq.html
(I particularly like the idea of using R/C servos to provide rudimentary zone control.)
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone hacked their homes?
#7I moved the kitchen and removed some walls.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone hacked their homes?
#8I haven't hacked my own, but this guy has: http://www.bwired.nl/ He's the most extreme example that I've come across and he even describes how he did it/what tech he uses. If you are looking for inspiration on what to hack, you can't go far wrong using his house as a start!
You guessed it right. I was looking for inspiration when I started this thread. Thanks for the pointer.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone hacked their homes?
#9[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone hacked their homes?
#10I played around with X10 networking (device control using the in-house power wiring as a message bus) years ago, for home automation. Fun stuff, and usable even today. Recently, I've started working on an Arduino-driven thermostat replacement using XBees to get around the problem of running wiring in a house without any conduits (and not wanting to run plenum-rated cabling in the heating ducts). It's actually pretty…
I submitted my simple arduino thermostat a while back to hack-a-day and it got a lot of good feedback. Extending it has been on my todo list, but then again, that list is evergrowing.
Link to my blog documenting the very simple thermostat : http://undiscoveredfeatures.blogspot.com/2010/08/thermostat....