reliability X10

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  • mjmj
    Automated Home Lurker
    • Jul 2007
    • 1

    reliability X10

    Hi, I am new here, and I hope you can help me with a basic question.
    I am refurbishing a house and want to put a number of X10 devices in the mains, for lights and appliances. It is located in a rural area in NW England.
    Can anybody give me an idea what the reliability is of this X10 system?
    Will it operate smooth and what kind of failuers can I expect?
    (I went through quite a lot of threads but could not find a clear answer)

    For cost reasons I thinking to use the DIN rail units and skip a number of switsches. I this wise to do, or should I go for the modules, so if the system does not work I can always go to the traditional wiring?

    I am thinking to buy the marmitek stuff together with an alarm system. However I prefer hard wired sensors. Is this possible?
    What are experiences of marmitek?

    What would be a good address to buy the stuf? I came across intellihome.be. Is that a good supplier?

    Thanks,
    mjmj
  • wywywywy
    Automated Home Sr Member
    • Dec 2005
    • 86

    #2
    If you are asking these questions I think you must have heard that X10 devices are not very reliable And it is true too.

    But I personally found Kevin Lo's X10^2 modules (all of them) and the DIN rail modules very reliable (mind you my experience with DIN rail modules are quite limited).

    The problem is however the annoyance of 1 to 2 second delay on some devices, particularly when dimming.

    For general automation stuff, I like to use SimplyAutomate.co.uk and LetsAutomate.co.uk. SimplyAutomate occassionally have 10% off everything in stock, once every quarter or so. For Kevin Lo's modules, try http://x10-hk.com and don't forget SimplyAutomate also sell them and they badge the modules as "Domia Ten".

    I have Marmitek's SC9000 alarm system, and to be honest it is like a toy. I would recommend spending a bit extra on a Visonic or Comfort system.

    If you are re-wiring anyway, I recommend do it in a star, instead of the normal way. Because there is a high possibility you will want to upgrade to something fancy in the future Consider putting Cat5e cables everywhere (including inside the light switches) too.

    Comment

    • toscal
      Moderator
      • Oct 2005
      • 2061

      #3
      When installing X10 systems, I always recommend fitting an X10 filter at the fuse box. This will prevent any X10 signals entering or leaving the house, and it also filters out any noise on the powerline.
      Reliability comes in 2 forms. Module reliability and system reliability.
      True some modules are more reliable than others and breakdown less.
      System reliability can be hard to achieve, but not impossible. Fit the filter and if you are still getting reliability issues with modules not urning on or off, or coming on by themselves then this is usually caused by noise generated inside the house. Usual culprits are washing machines, fridges/freezers and the compact energy saver bulbs have all been known to cause problems. Inline or plug-in filters normally solve this.
      I install X10 systems, and have it in my house. Its been very reliable, and normally the problems I have encountered are either due to bad programming, (setting the time for 7pm instead of 7am) or finger trouble with the remote.
      I think the X10 2 modules do seem to have a marked improvement over the older generation X10 modules, and I know that most people are very happy with them.
      IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.
      Renovation Spain Blog

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