X10 Community Forum
🔌General Home Automation => Automating Your House => Topic started by: Marines24 on September 20, 2010, 11:49:07 PM
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I am new to Home Automation as a whole. I am really looking forward to starting. Can anyone help me out with this process. Would love any kind of help or tips. I also have so many questions about different products and which ones i should use. Thanks
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I am new to Home Automation as a whole. I am really looking forward to starting. Can anyone help me out with this process. Would love any kind of help or tips. I also have so many questions about different products and which ones i should use. Thanks
Decide on an automation system: X10 is least expensive and oldest technology. It uses PLC (powerline carrier) signals to control lights and appliances. Other systems are Z-Wave, UPB, Insteon. All are between 2 and 10 times X10's cost. But X10, being the oldest technology, needs effort to get it working reliably in your home. You might look at the trouble shooting information here http://jvde.us/ and look at the troubleshooting tab which provides an excellent overview of possible difficulties.
If you decide on X10, go to X10.com and Smarthome.com. You can learn a lot just from looking at the products available.
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I recommend a book called Smart Home Hacks, which planted a lot of ideas in my head :)%
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Which ever automation system you decide on; make sure you visit their forum if they have one. There you will find all the challenges and trouble users like yourself are having with that particular system. Then you can decide if you want to go through the trouble or look for a different system.
Also, Google is your friend! Google the system your looking at and start reading up on it.
Be prepared to purchase extra equipment to get it to work right. (phase coupler, amplifier, noise filters)
If you have any kind of metal siding, then you probably would want to go to a wired system. As wireless has a hard time going through metal with an RF signal. Unless everything is going to be inside. (make sure you don't have metal walls) LOL
There are many home automation systems out there, each with it's pro's and con's. But only you can select the best one to suit your needs.
But if you do happen to purchase an x10 system you can always come here to get the best help available.
My 2 cents anyway. :)
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If you're into WiFi (computer), and leave it running all the time - you can "almost" give up on doing video for security or monitoring.
It will work, but quality will be somewhere between spotty, crappy, or just downright a 'fail'.
If you do decide to go X10, make sure you poke around eBay for items (new).
I've found a large number of sellers there that I've bought stuff from that are WAY cheaper than going to X10 itself.
(what was that? did you hear that? it sounded like an admin looking up the 'user delete' function! rofl )
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This is a spreadsheet of some automation protocols.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pq2S8fvu2JXEv1Ne9TIQhdA&hl=en#gid=0
There is also a generic automation forum where all typical protocols are discussed.
http://www.cocoontech.com/forums/
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I am now an "almost" new user. I've been messing around with x10 for some months now but not an expert like lots of others. From my newbie experience, I had the most trouble with line noise coming from all the electronic devices plugged in all the time. My other main problem was the pesky phase issue. My bathroom lights wouldn't work when my transmitter was plugged into the living room but it would work if plugged into the hallway. Then my living room devices wouldn't work when it was plugged into the hallway. You get the picture. My personal suggestion is buy just a few items cheap and play. Find out what works and where with some non expensive "toys". When you are ready to get a little more serious, drop the cash into the phase coupler. I'm no expert on electricity but I hooked up mine in the breaker box pretty easily. (disclaimer---- BE CAREFULL! Get help if you don't know what your are doing!) Once I got that installed and a half dozen line filters my system work a whole lot better. Now I am slowly adding to my system with much less headaches.
I pick up great deals on ebay. I've picked up items in "lots" that I never would have bought outright and have had fun playing with them. If it doesn't work for me then I basically got it for free with the stuff I actually wanted.
Final suggestion. Take your time, google the item and read the manuals first, ask questions here (they are awsome at helping out) and look for deals. X10 has good deals at times but read the fine print and make sure you are getting the item you really want. I love the UR74A learning remote. The best 10 dollar remote that actually works and programs very specific codes for me. I got a package deal from x10 and didn't read the fine print and got the UR73A which is not a learning remote. It is a paper weight for me. I guess you will eventually find it on ebay in a "lot" sale of all the stuff I don't want anymore. Good luck and have fun.
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I will say this.
If you are like others of us, you have plenty of devices that run on little wall wart or lump in the line switching transformers. These generate a good bit of noise and can cause your x10 to stop working where it did before.
If you have trouble like this unplug the little buggers before you do anything else.
Be also aware of the two phases in most homes. It can cause x10 to work in some plugs of your house and not others. There is a way around this with devices called phase couplers.
Aside from these things x10 is barrel of monkeys fun!
>!