Home Automation Devices
by Russ Knize on Aug.05, 2003, under Home Automation
My intent here is to cover the basics of some of the available home automation devices that I have used, X10 and otherwise.
X10 by X10
X10 (the company) is probably better known on the Internet for their obscene uses of banner and pop-up advertising, which is why I don’t have any direct hyperlinks to their website (http://www.x10.com). That aside, they do offer a wide range of products, mostly based on the original X10 device designs. In addition, most of their products are quite cheap, especially when bought in quanity. Here are my thoughts and experiences on some of their offerings:
Lamp Modules: These modules have the major disadvantage of only being able to control incandescent bulbs. Anyone using fluorescent or low voltage halogen bulbs will have to use appliance modules or buy from a different vendor. The 2-way LM14A module can remember its dim setting, will soft-start the lamp while powering up, and can report its status. The other lamp modules can only receive commands and do not allow you to dim the lamp from the off state. The lamp must be turned on and then dimmed down to the desired level.
Applicance Modules: These are simple on-off modules that are pretty much universal. They come in a few variants, depending on whether you have an appliance with a grounded plug and how much current the appliance needs. The non-heavy duty versions can be turned on and off by toggling the power switch on the appliance, which is handy if you don’t have a controller nearby. There is also a 2-way version of the 2-prong appliance module (AM14A), which can report its status.
Switches and Sockets: The lamp and appliance modules are also available as wall switches and wall outlets, respectively. They are installed in the electrical boxes, in place of the conventional switches and outlets. This makes for a cleaner installation. The wall switches leave a few things to be desired, but they are functional. For starters, like the lamp modules, they can only switch incandescent bulbs. Also, the interface is a single, odd-looking, cheap-feeling button. Momentarily pressing it toggles the light on and off. Holding it down (after turning it on) will cause it to dim down and up until the button is released. The “decorator” switches look much better from the outside, but they are the same mechanism behind the nice bezel. They can be a pain when you are in a hurry because you have to hit them “just right” to get them to come on. There are several other vendors that make superior switches. The wall outlet is equivalent to the AM466-HA appliance module (15A grounded). The top outlet is controlled while the bottom is always on. As with the appliance module, you can turn it on by toggling the power switch on the appliance.
Wired Controllers: There are a number of controllers that plug directly into your outlet to send X10 commands. These range from simple banks of switches to computer interfaces. If you don’t intend to put your home automation system under computer control, then you can use X10’s time (MT10A-HA) or light (SD533-HA) driven controllers to manage your devices.
Wireless Controllers: There is an even larger number of wireless controller available for X10 systems. There are keychain and wall-mounted remotes that can control a small range of unit codes. The slim wall-mounted controllers (like SS13A) are handy for implementing a 3-way switch where there is none without cutting holes in the wall. There are also wireless motion sensors that can be placed throughout the home to illuminate hallways at night, etc. The MS14A/MS16A motion sensors actually send two unit codes. It sends an “ON” event when motion is detected and will also send another “ON” event on the next unit code if it is dark. It will then send an “OFF” command on both codes after a specified delay.
Wireless Transceivers: If you are going to use any of the wireless controllers, you will need one or more transceivers. There are two available from X10, both of which also function as 2 prong (ungrounded) appliance modules. The appliance module portion of the TM module can be set to unit code 1 or 9 and can be queried for status. The other module (TM751) uses unit code 1 only. These transceivers can only “represent” one house code, so you would need one for each house code that you need to receive wireless commands on (note also that many of the controllers can only send on one house code as well). Also, the receiver’s sensitivity is rather poor, resulting disappointing range with the controllers.
WGL & Associates
Wireless Receiver: WGL offers a few products to address some of the problems with other X10 products. Their W800 series receivers are many times more sensitive than the X10 transceivers. The RF32 versions will also receive extended commands for all X10 house and unit codes, so you only need one. The disadvantage is that it does not interface to your house wiring. Instead, the commands are sent over a serial port to a computer. The idea is that the computer provides the wired X10 interface (via CM11A, etc) and it will relay the codes revceived by the W800 to the X10 devices. Since the receiver talks to the computer directly, the time it takes for the X10 device to respond is cut in half. I am using the W800RF32A, which has the external whip antenna that I mounted in a closet at the center of the house. It can receive signals from anywhere on my property!
SmartHome
SwitchLinc Switches: I picked up a half-dozen of their refurbished 2-way switches (model 2380) on clearence for about half price. These are the older design, which apparently can have thermal problems when powering heavy loads. The newer design supposedly takes care of this.  Compared to the X10 dimmers, these switches are far superior in quality, “feel”, ease of use, and intelligence.  Since they are 2-way (in terms of X10 commands), they can transmit their code and status which is handy for intelligent control via a computer.  They also support preset dim and programmable dim rates for pleasant scene control (and no blaring bright lights coming on at night when you just want low lighting).  There are non 2-way switches as well that are less expensive, have the same nice feel and dimming capability, but can’t transmit X10 codes.
Others
There are other vendors available that I have not used. These include PCS, Leviton, and Home Pro.
