myhometheaterpc.com

Welcome to my site. It's not just Home Theater, it's not just Home Automation, it's Home Theater AND automation.

I'll show you how I used a single PC, CQC Home Automation Software, SageTV media software and extenders, VladStudio.com art, and some random bits/bytes to build out a comprehensive but easy to use and visually pleasing control system.

 
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Level of Effort

My system may have a lot of power, but it certainly wasn't easy to setup. Plus, I find myself constantly tweaking with it.

This is what the rough level of effort was to accomplish each task. The difficulty level varied based on whether wiring was new or not, and how hard it was to get to that particular section of my house.  My house happens to be easy to run wiring, as I have direct access to both the subfloor via the basement, and ceiling via the attic.

Area
Manhours
Comments
Wiring
250
Very hard. I’ll have ~125 runs or so, avg of 2 hours per run
Initial GUI Setup
10-100
If I were to start now, I’d take someone else’s screens, customize to suit. Could be low or high, based on degree of modifications desired
Initial Elk Setup
50
I didn’t know anything about physical hardware, wiring, etc, so it took me some time to setup. Attending webinars like this would cut this.
Initial Training
50
Not just software, also hardware, learning what a capacitor was for my HA speakers, etc. I had a lot to learn. Webinars can cut this.
Rules / Automation 
50-100
This is where the value-add happens. Could take more, based on desires.
SubTotal
410-550
If a pro came in, this would be the bare minimum of hours I’d expect
General Inefficiencies
75% at least = 
I’ve gone down the wrong path quite deep, only to turn around and redo items. Preventing others from wasting time or $$ in this is why I do webinars.
305 – 410
Total
715-960
You could easily surpass this by spending time tweaking things daily.

Sounds like a lot, but if you contract out the wiring, generally use someone else’s screens, and attend the CQC webinars, you could be up & running with a complete entry level smart home in 125-200 man-hours.