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[Nate2]

Please make this a sticky.
I post this so that single people out there will have a happy, x10-compatible family life (when/if the time comes).

When choosing a mate/spouse, make sure they are X10-compatible.
If the person does not like automation and thinks people should get up and walk to turn things on/off, this is bad news for you.
If the person can't even replace batteries correctly in simple devices, this is bad news for you.

If the person likes to change things everyday, and does not like the "set it and leave it, so that it can do the work for you automatically" philosophy, this is bad news for you.

But if the person is too good at x10 stuff, and knows how to download the AHP SDK and do things AHP can't do out of the box, it could be bad news for you, because you will not have control over your own x10 devices anymore.
(But if that person can build a better AHP that 3.236, please let them apply for a job at X10, to fix the problem(s) with v3.236)

[Dan Lawrence]

My wife LOVES X10.  We've had it since the DOS/CP290 days, and she loves it during the school year (She's a teacher) and is up at 6:15 AM weekday mornings, so X10 turns on lights in the Bedroom, Bathroom, Living Room, Breakfast Room and Kitchen.  A second timer turns off certain lights at 7:20 AM.   I take care of our grandchildren (I'm retired) so I leave around 7:35 AM, so a keypress Macro turns off lights on 5 different housecodes.

In the evening, timers turn on lights Outside, the Living Room and the Breakfast Room.   Winter or Summer, we never come home to a dark house.

[HA Dave]

WAF... or Wife Appreciation Factor (AKA: Wife Approval Factor) has been a big and important part of the progression of my X10 setup. My wife doesn't need to appreciate or enjoy (or even know about) every part of my setup... but I do make efforts to have projects designed with her in mind.

I think everyone enjoys at least parts of what automation has to offer. My wife really likes my perimeter detection setup. She likes the fact that it costs near nothing to run.... while some neighbors burn lights all night long. The motion detector lights in the laundry and garage (where it seems she always has her arms full)... makes life easier. And the decorative lights that come on for a few hours in the evening... is a big favorite of hers.

[Knightrider]

In my experience, the secret to a good marriage is to make it a 50/50 partnership.

While my wife does like some of the features of x10, she has to tolerate others.

Every new piece of equipment I buy is augmented my adding to one of her hobbies (see her post on the kitchenaid mixer for example [search user mrs.knightrider]) 

To keep the wife happy, I've incorporated x10 into the lighting for her sewing area, music control in the kitchen and using the George Clooney faceset with the BVC on her computer.

Every new project I design around x10 is discussed with her and has to meet her approval.  Hence, the x10 toilet flusher did not get installed in our bathroom.

[Dan Lawrence]

I agree, with one exception: The only way to make a marriage work is each partner give 100%.

[Knightrider]

Good point, Dan.

[bitman]

Hmm.

It's good also to have discernment when you might be going to far with it. And it's easy to do with any technology.

On another note, initially, I neatly labeled my living room lamp controllers in my ICON remote based on their location forgetting, (silly me) that my wife likes to "decorate" by rearranging what she has. And that includes the lamps of course.

So I renamed the lamps: One, Two, Three clockwise around the square room. That fixed it. We just leave the lamp controllers where they are and move everything else.




After it happened once, I renamed the

[HA Dave]

........ you might be going to far with it. And it's easy to do with any technology.

Bite your tongue. (offered in humor)

I agree that X10 can be addictive... and as with any addictive behavior it impacts the family first and most. But X10 is pretty harmless stuff. Even in Mrs. Knightrider's post her complaints were minor:

I live in a house that doesn't listen to me...
I have lights that turn on and off when I don't want them to...
I can't even bump the thermostat up to get warmer without it telling Knightrider that I did that....

And I really think Mrs. Knightrider is as proud of their X10 setup... as my wife is of ours... and Dan Lawrence's wife is with theirs. The occasional Home Automation mishap adds a little fun to our daily lives. All domestic relationships require attention... and a percentage of devotion (I am hoping Dan Lawrence's 100 percent estimate is high). But... this X10 technology is all good.

[hawk1]

Yesterday I was working on BVC and my movie time macro, which dims the livingroom lights and other things.  I could see the lights from my office so I started.  The lights would dim but then they would brighten to full again.  I told "Cristina" it was movie time again, same thing dim then brighten to full.  So I rewrote the macro with a couple of delays and different options and tried again.  dim then brighten to full.

By this time I'm going crazy!  I wondered to the livingroom and there is my wife with remote in hand looking up at me and saying " This thing is going crazy, it keeps dimmin the lights and i keep turning them up!" " What the heck is wrong with this thing?"  I just walked back into the office.  Family Life is Fun!        

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

Yesterday I was working on BVC and my movie time macro, which dims the livingroom lights and other things.  I could see the lights from my office so I started.  The lights would dim but then they would brighten to full again.  I told "Cristina" it was movie time again, same thing dim then brighten to full.  So I rewrote the macro with a couple of delays and different options and tried again.  dim then brighten to full.

By this time I'm going crazy!  I wondered to the livingroom and there is my wife with remote in hand looking up at me and saying " This thing is going crazy, it keeps dimmin the lights and i keep turning them up!" " What the heck is wrong with this thing?"  I just walked back into the office.  Family Life is Fun!        

Wives, children and pets are favorite hosts for Murphey! 


          

[Jsnlong]

I think most of the people who have posted here so far has wives that go along with it. For me my wife thinks X10 is about "dumb"!!  now she does put up with me on it (50/50 thing) but when it comes to investing more money into it she shy away from the 50/50.  And she always gets me with the "that money could be used for doing something with the kids" or some other guilt trip.....    Its a lifestyle to some but in my world of family with kids it more of a Hobby.  FUN all the same

PS my setups works good. So she is really just against the money investment into it and not the normal X10 function mishaps

[fromnaija]

Yesterday I was working on BVC and my movie time macro, which dims the livingroom lights and other things.  I could see the lights from my office so I started.  The lights would dim but then they would brighten to full again.  I told "Cristina" it was movie time again, same thing dim then brighten to full.  So I rewrote the macro with a couple of delays and different options and tried again.  dim then brighten to full.

By this time I'm going crazy!  I wondered to the livingroom and there is my wife with remote in hand looking up at me and saying " This thing is going crazy, it keeps dimmin the lights and i keep turning them up!" " What the heck is wrong with this thing?"  I just walked back into the office.  Family Life is Fun!        

That really cracked me up... I am still ROFL!!!!

[HA Dave]

....... my setups works good. So she is really just against the money investment into it and not the normal X10 function mishaps

There will always be limits to money. I am on a fixed income now... but even before I retired my wife would sometimes ask about how much I was spending. The neighbor lady asked me once... in front of my wife ... how much would it cost for her to get a similar setup. I had to tell her I couldn't answer that.

I once explained to my wife... that I deserved a hobby. And if she preferred... I could just as easily switch to horse riding (of course I would need to board a horse). Or... I could buy a Harley and only need to insure and maintain it. Or... maybe a nice boat would be a hobby I could share with the whole family.

But for me.... X10 (and BVC) really is perfect. As a hobby... AND as a way of life. I love the automation.. which is the way of life part. And I love the puzzle (hobby) part... figuring out how to make something work... and conceiling any wiring and such. I sometime am saddened when I finish a X10 project if I don't have another one planned.

[dave w]

I think most of the people who have posted here so far has wives that go along with it. For me my wife thinks X10 is about "dumb"!!  now she does put up with me on it (50/50 thing) but when it comes to investing more money into it she shy away from the 50/50.  And she always gets me with the "that money could be used for doing something with the kids" or some other guilt trip.....    Its a lifestyle to some but in my world of family with kids it more of a Hobby.  FUN all the same

When we first truly automated back in 1987 my controller was an Enerlogic 1400. The "schedule" was written in a "sort of" Basic, then compiled, and then uploaded to the Enerlogic. Simple changes in the schedule would take hours to get working. There were no "wizards" to help put the Basic statements in proper syntax, context, command order, etc. So for the first year of automating the system was fraught with problems. At least once a week my wife would hiss, "take it out!". Periodically tossing in an expletive to make sure I knew how she felt.  Multiple times our neighbors asked why our house was blinking....sigh. That first year was really bad.

Then to make matters worse, one day I was "hacking" the Enerlogic controller to add a hardware reset switch, when I accidentally floated a ground and blew the Dallas clock chip in the controller. The controller was toast for two weeks waiting on the new chip.

AND DURING THAT TIME IT HAPPENED, one day my wife asked, "When is that part for the home control going to get here? I'm tired of turning on and off all these lights and the house is so hot when we get home", followed by "you should have had it Fedexed" ... and then I knew...I wasn't the only one addicted.

Test this theory by shutting down your system for a week and see if she doesn't ask when you will get it working again. The dave w axiom is: The WAF has to be weighted, the perceived WAF is usually lower than the actual WAF.

[HA Dave]

The dave w axiom is: The WAF has to be weighted, the perceived WAF is usually lower than the actual WAF.

You are so right, oh wise one!