Does anyone have experience with X10 control systems/devices? I'm thinking about it for our vacation house.

[For the curious, this is a protocol, or something, that uses radio-frequency signaling across household 110V wiring to turn things on and off. You get a control module that send signals and receiver modules that act on those signals, to switch lights and so forth.]

I'm interested in ease of use, interference issues, flexibility, stability against power outages, etc. Thanks, HPH

 

I have no direct experience with the X10 system, but I know that a number of folks use the X10 stuff to automate their home theaters. You might try the Audio-Visual Science forum avs forum for more info. I believe there's a forum there dedicated to home automation equipment.

 

^^ Thanks, Dean.

It seems that the X10 approach is the oldest, cheapest, and least reliable to take (although there are differences of opinion on this). This resonates with me, as one of my issues has been that running additional signals over the 110V wiring in a house undoubtedly depends on that wiring's being perfectly installed. Based on the houses I've had, well, all I can say is that they haven't burned down somehow.

Two things I got from that AVS forum are interesting:

-- There are alternatives to X10. Something called Z-Wave seems worth looking into.

-- And an awful lot of what I saw there, in the way of automation things, looks like their universal solution might just be The Clapper. HPH

 

I played with X10 about 4 years ago.

I had light switch units, outlet units, a dimmer unit, a motion unit, a universal remote, and the brain (with a PC interface).

It did work in that when you pressed a button or programmed a time, or activated a motion, the relay would fire.

However, some switches would fire by themselves at random times.

Lights would go on and off by themselves pretty much.

This would happen on at least one switch almost nightly.

The software comes with a survey mode to detect other devices that close neighbors might be using to help prevent this.

I never found interfering signal, so I just figured it was random radio traffic or other interference toggling the relays.

Anyhow, after about a month I pulled all the stuff out and threw it in a box as it was kinda lame to have my lights suddenly turn on or off.

 

^^ That behavior would drive me batty, and it's something I wondered about.

It looks as if X10 is essentially an 8-bit system (they talk about controlling as many as 256 devices). This would be just fine in complete isolation, but the possibility of signals from neighbors or other stray sources is just too high.

The alternative appears to be wireless RF signaling, which could have its own set of issues (including expense), but at least they could encode the signals to be less susceptible to interference.

If I try this stuff, I'll post results. HPH

 

I have a century home, where the usage of the rooms has changed through the years. In several rooms, the light switches are now opposite the main entrance to the room. For these cases, I've set up some X10 switches and a multi-button panel in a central location (two of the rooms with light switches on the wrong side of the room have entrances right next to each other), and I use them all the time to not kill myself on Anika's toys when I go in at night.

In another case, I added some ductwork with a booster fan in a crawl space, and I used an X10 switch so that I didn't need to run wires. At the same time, I replaced a bathroom fan with a light/fan/heater combo, and rather than need to go through the wall to wire in 3 switches, I used an X10 3-switch panel. Way easier if you don't want to tear walls open (which you don't want to do with century-old ceramic tile).

I've never had interference problems, though there is one branch of my electrical system that is unreachable (I could fix this with a small accessory, but I don't need that area anyway).

At one point, I was using a motion sensor for an outdoor light, another switch for the garage door (I had an X10 keyfob that I programmed to the garage door switch) which would also turn on the light inside the entryway, but range problems with those thick walls prevented that from being too useful.

I do occasionally have response problems, like having to hit a button several times to get a response, but being a century home, our walls are extra thick, so signals do not travel far (I need a wireless extender to get through more than one structural wall/floor with my network signal, for example).

I'm sure there's a better technology out there now, but it works well for what I need it for, even with the old wiring in my house.

JonasM

 

I reckon that manufacturer quality and installation environment (zone noise, etc.) factor into the success rate.

It's pretty cheap to get a couple of switches to test it out (and fun to play with), then add on if all goes well in your test.