Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[dhouston]

... wish I could figure out what's giving a strong enough signal to turn it on when it feels like it

X10's designs are rather flaky. Random events can be caused by spikes (I suspect this is how smartmeters affect some switches) and/or dips (brownouts) on the powerline. They are difficult to troubleshoot. You can possibly cure it by using an X10 capable Smarthome or Leviton switch instead of ones made by X10. A couple of people experiencing random events caused by smartmeters found Smarthome modules/switches set to the same addresses were immune.

• http://www.x10.com/support/x10trou.htm#on

[Dan Lawrence]

I found another way.  I called  Baltimore Gas & Electric and had my account flagged for no smart meters, either electric or gas.   Remember one thing about smart meters: they are NOT for the user, they are for the company.

[dhouston]

I found another way.  I called  Baltimore Gas & Electric and had my account flagged for no smart meters, either electric or gas. 

Except the OP says he has no smartmeter.

[Dan Lawrence]

Agreed, but I suspect electric companies the entire country will be installing smart meters, since smart meters are for the companies, not the users.

[dhouston]

The issues we saw reported here were mostly with one particular meter and it only caused problems in one area of the country (SW Ohio). I suspect they used a different implementation there. I have the same meter (our area was where they initially tested the meters) and have had no X10 issues and I live just across the Ohio River from the region that had problems.

[Noam]

Agreed, but I suspect electric companies the entire country will be installing smart meters, since smart meters are for the companies, not the users.

The issues we saw reported here were mostly with one particular meter and it only caused problems in one area of the country (SW Ohio). I suspect they used a different implementation there. I have the same meter (our area was where they initially tested the meters) and have had no X10 issues and I live just across the Ohio River from the region that had problems.

I agree with Dave's report. I also have a SmartMeter, and have had no issues with my X10 system as a result.
Also, while it is true that the SmartMeters benefit the utility (it saves money in meter reading, and capacity management), I certainly see the benefit to the consumer, as well.
I live in an area that (unfortunately) has been prone to more frequent and long power outages in the past few years than in the 30 years before that. With the implementation of SmartMeters, the utility will get automatic reporting of outages, and will be able to better respond, based on the number of customers affected.
The SmartMeter will also allow the customer to monitor their power consumption more closely.

[sandy16]

Noam - Thanks; those are two things I've not yet tried.  I'm going to guess changing the house code on the CM15A and all the lights won't help but that's probably because I've become so pessimistic.  Not sure why I didn't think of that.  Also, I'll check the log.