Newbie Trying to sort it all out...

Hello,

I've been lurking for a few days, and I'm looking for some (mainly) lighting control advice. I've got over 20 years electronics experience and have done my own home wiring, but never dealt with X10 or any of the other lighting control technologies (except switches!)

Of course, every vendor site offers the best thing since sliced bread, and I'm looking to sort out who makes what, and what's interoperable with what, etc.

I want to be able to shut off all lights from one place, to turn on/off the exterior lights singly or in groups, to adjust lighting for TV/movie watching in the family room and rec room, control decorative lighting (my wife decided we had to have the candle lamps in the windows on the front of the house).

I'd also like to be able to control the family room and rec room lighting via wireless remote, perhaps one of the home theater programmable, universal types - I'd like to control AV equipment (via IR) and lighting (via IR or RF, don't care.)

Thanks,

Mike

Reply to
randomnoise
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Dave,

Thanks for the advice - I'll continue to lurk & pick up on the experience here.

I am looking to retrofit an existing house - The house is about 8 years old, we've been in it about 2½ months. I'm not looking for bottom dollar solutions - those often end up costing so much in time, repairs & replacements, but I'm not looking to go top-end either. For now, I'm really only looking at lighting control - I haven't even thought about much else, except perhaps thermoststs.

I'll order the SmartHome catalog today. I am will> You should lurk for a few more weeks.

Reply to
randomnoise

You should lurk for a few more weeks.

You don't provide much in the way of specifics but it sounds like you want to add automation features to an existing house rather than to one being constructed. You also don't say how much you want to spend.

X-10 is probably still the best choice for low budget retrofits but it does require that you understand its quirks and weaknesses. There are several manufacturers that use X-10 technology but they do not always make that clear in their marketing. Get a copy of SmartHome's print catalog. They usually note when devices are X-10 compatible. (Note that I do not, however, recommend using their own *Linc brand devices.)

How much do you plan to spend >Hello,

Reply to
Dave Houston

Actually you can get very full featured remotes at Radio Shack and WalMart. Just look for the OneForAll remotes that have the JP1 connector. Start here:

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. Using the contributions of the JP1 group a "tinkering inclined" person can do just about any IR (or RF if you are so inclined) thing with a $20 remote.

As for SmartHome "linc" products; I have had my share of problems with some of their products but currently I have over 60 ToggleLinc devices running in three houses with good success. Only one failed device. Hopefully they are getting their act together in regards to their "house brand".

Reply to
Lewis Gardner

Dave:

I hope you are not disappointed. If you find problems please let me know.

Most of the units I have in use are the ToggleLinc PLC dimmer and PLC switch. There are a few of the 2-way units thrown in to solve "3-way" problems in places that needed 3-way control but didn't have the wiring. I did one house with the Plus line so scenes could be implemented and it seems to work well. I have only had one person in my house that could not figure out how to turn on the lights in the bathroom. I noticed that they used the facility by the light of a IR heatlamp on a standard switch.

Previously I had only used the Leviton DHC scene enabled products with AGC and the green LEDs (4288?,4291?). The ToggleLinc products seem to be comparable in reliability and durability so far.

I live in a fairly traditional area and decora style devices look weird so the ToggleLincs are a great thing from the acceptance factor perspective.

Reply to
Lewis Gardner

What would you recommend over the switchlinc and lamplinc units? Thanks in advance.

Reply to
Reg

Lewis:

Your input on the ToggleLinc devices is appreciated as I know you are knowledgeable. My experience with PowerLinc and LampLinc devices has not been good so I'm reluctant to try the newer devices. And I've seen recent reports that others still see the problems I've seen. I did order one ToggleLinc (after one of your earlier posts) but haven't installed it yet.

Reply to
Dave Houston

I've created a web page that's more DIY oriented than most.

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You might consider a PDA as your programmable remote. There are 3-4 software packages that allow this. You get an excellent color touchscreen for far less than the dedicated color touchscreen remotes. You do need to be aware that IR range depends on the model of PDA.

The more specific you can be >Dave,

Reply to
Dave Houston

Leviton.

However, I have been seeing more and more good reports about the *Linc devices and they do have a nice feature set. YMMV.

Reply to
Dave Houston

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