I still think using some kind of software designed for Home Automation makes sense. If you are using VC anyway, then I would consider using whatever is the easiest, best solution that either runs on Windows, or runs standalone. In my case I use a Vera and some Hue lights, and although the Vera has some issues it works fine for us. VC does crash sometimes especially since we are always testing out new betas and crazy test commands for users so it's nice that the home automation stuff keeps on ticking until I restart VC.
Also, although my HTPC does not use a lot of electricity, I do like being able to turn it off at night so again the standalone solutions for home automation (assuming they are energy efficient themselves) are attractive.
DomoticZ looks interesting to me but I don't own any hardware that would really make using DomoticZ a good choice for me personally.
Obviously I'm always happy to hear about new ways that people are using VC though and the more you can integrate it with everything the better!
