New to this. I gather that X10 is normally mono-directional (i.e. the modules just get told what to do). However, I sawe devices mentioned with bi-directional capabilities. This sounds a bit more exciting from a developer's point of view. Can anyone tell me what devices can be found other than thermostats and what the backward compatibility will be with "normal" X10 devices?
Many non-X-10 brand switches are available and are fully X-10 compatible. I got mine from smarthome.com. They sell a few lines of switches but I prefer their Togglelincs that look like a regular toggle but are dimmable, remotely controllable and have a status LED. They are scene compatible so when you turn them on or off, they send out an X-10 signal. Other scene compatible switches can hear this and then respond which makes this a 2-way setup. A HA server can also hear the transmission and can be programmed to respond.
I find programming scenes through the switch too complicated but use a HA server instead. For example, I use one switch to engage a security mode when I am leaving the house. If I switch the light off it sends the off command which the HA PC hears and responds by setting the away mode lighting scene.
In my opinion they are quite expensive at say 40-50 per switch, but they work well. They are fully X-10 compatible but very nice build quality.
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