Home automation getting started

After following the blog of Robert Hekkers for almost a year now, and reading a few other blogs on the subject of home-automation, I’ve decided to start building a home-automation system myself. I’ve come up with a rather long list of things I would like to automate/monitor:

1. Monitor temperature in all rooms
2. Monitor humidity in all rooms
3. Monitor windows/doors opening/closing
4. Monitor movement in all rooms
5. Monitor energy/water/gas usages
6. Control radiator valves in all rooms
7. Control central-heating-installation (using OpenTherm)
8. Control motor floor-heating installation
9. Control central-air-refreshment fan
10. Monitor doorbell presses (and make audible throughout the house)
11. Monitor CO2 and CO in all rooms
12. Add webcams
13. Monitor outside temperature/barometric pressure/wind/rain
14. Monitor refrigerator/icebox temperature
15. Monitor dishwasher and washing-machine progress
16. Control lights in and around the house (first are the light in the garden and front-door)
17. Control curtains/rolling window-shutters
18. Control windows opening/closing using motorized arms
19. Control a sliding-door into the backyard to let our cats in and out
20. Control front-door lock using RFID

I know this is an ambitious list, and I know this is going to take quite some time. But that’s perfectly oké, it isn’t the destination that matters, it’s the journey that leads you there! Doing this will teach me more about electronics and micro-controllers, give me an opportunity to learn and use new programming languages and use new (software-) libraries. I’ve been a software developer for 13 years now and have always loved the combination of hardware and software. Let’s see where this project takes me.