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Author Topic: Recommendation other than x10?  (Read 2642 times)

tony_f

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Recommendation other than x10?
« on: September 06, 2008, 02:15:01 PM »

I have used x10 in other homes with very happy results and no real issues. Moved into a new home and added some water features outside so I purchased and wired x10 modules to control fountain and lights. On my smoke test all worked well, with everything plugged into same outlet/circuit, until I turned the outside low voltage lights came on (same circuit) then it stopped working. I also couldn't get it to work when the controller was plugged into any other circuit in the house.
Obviously I have lots of noise issues going on in this house. Lots of computers, UPS's, electronics, etc. that are probably all culprits. Therefore my options are spending an entire day or more narrowing down all of the noise sources and then spending potentially several hundred more $ on a meter and filters, or look for another remote control option out there? Any suggestions? Something that uses RF?

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Dan Lawrence

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Re: Recommendation other than x10?
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2008, 02:41:04 PM »

If it's noise from Computers, Cell Phone Chargers, your only recourse is plug-in filters.   Try turning off and unplugging the mentioned items and checking from there.  If the problem persists, then there are other noise producers in your house.
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I don't SELL this stuff... BUT I sure do ENJOY using it!!!

Boiler

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Re: Recommendation other than x10?
« Reply #2 on: September 07, 2008, 11:26:43 AM »

Tony_F,

Welcome to the forum. 

To directly answer your question, current competing technologies include:

1) Insteon (backward compatible with X10) - Mixed powerline/RF communication protocol.  Each Insteon module acts as a repeater to maintain signal level across the powerline.  RF is used for coupling phases (unit to unit communication is via powerline).
2) Zwave - RF communication network
3) UPB - Powerline communication protocol - 40V signal level and lower frequency (high bit rate) improves signal to noise ration.

The above are arranged in the order of increasing price.  Typical Insteon wall dimmers go for around $40.  Z wave dimmers are around the same price but you'll need additional support hardware to program them.  I've seen UPB dimmers for $50 to $70 each.  Sorry, I don't know much about the support hardware for these.

Of the above, I have both Insteon and X10 units in my home.  The Insteon protocol is far faster than the old X10 and offers many nice new features.  It is be no means immune to noise.  I use the same X10 filters and troubleshooting tools that I used with X10 20 years ago.

Smarthome put out a whitepaper a couple of years ago comparing the technologies.  In general I'd say the comparison is valid.  I'd take some of the conclusions with a grain of salt...  The paper is located here:
Smarthome Insteon Whitepaper

So, to sum things up, we can provide alternate technologies, but we cannot provide a recommendation until we understand your requirements and price point.  Any of the above technologies will likely cost you far more in dollars and time than fixing the noise in your existing X10 system.  Add the fact that there really aren't any troubleshooting tools for the new systems and you may be better off with the system that you know and have worked with for years (at least in the near term).

I'm not trying to talk you out of anything, just trying to understand the end goal.

Boiler
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