newbie advice before i spend too much

[mr_a_daily]

hi, i recently brought a cm15a and 4 plug dimming modules, the cm15 came with activehomepro. all pretty good there. all but a bit expensive.

i have seen the homeasy and bye bye systems are all cheaper. but i have already spent a little on the above items.

i want to have a low level of lighting control and also the ability to turn the heating on and off remotely. dont really want to re-wire my house in the uk. would like text/internet control too.

is there a system to use x10 and homeasy/bye bye ? should i persaveer with x10 or sell and go all out with cheaper make?

read something about a motion sensor being wired into existing thermostat and appliance module for heating?

all comments greatly appreciated, love the forum by the way, have lost many hours reading here :-)
cheers
dylan

[toscal]

As far as I know there is no X10 to bye bye standby gateway.
What sort of lighting control do you want. Low level lighting means many things do you mean dimming control, just outside, just inside or just simulation of occupancy or all of it.
X10 is still quite a good system if done properly. Starting small then enlarging the x10 system is the best way to go. It makes it easier to fault find.
Heating- What is it that you actually want to do here, apart from the remote control. Only have it on when there is someone in the house and when the house is empty it will only come on when the temp drops below a set value, so it doesn't get too cold.
The problem is that while some of it can be done cheaply to be able to text and have internet control means spending some more money.

[MarkHarrison]

As far as I know there is no X10 to bye bye standby gateway.

Harmony used to (and, indeed, I used to use it for exactly that purpose.)

However, since Domia went into liquidation, Harmony (the software) is being developed still (by Rob Iles, who wrote a lot of it, and bought the rights from the liquidators). However, I don't believe that Rob's making the Harmony / ByeBye Standby hardware interface, so unless you can get one second-hand, you're out of luck.

[It's worth noting that the radio interface used by BBSB is actually taken, completely, from the Domia Lite range, and the PC interface was always sold as a Domia Lite one, not a BBSB one.]

To be honest, though, if cost-saving is your intention, Harmony isn't likely to be a good solution for you - since it's over £100, and requires a PC.


I use X-10 for my lighting (yes, still!), and BBSB for it's original purpose - energy saving on the downstairs hifi, and the TV/Amp/DVD in my son's bedroom :-) (Though, in his case, it's also about "bedtime enforcement" as well as energy saving.)

At this stage, I'd recommend you go with X-10...


Disclaimer: I was, some years ago, a Director of Domia, and was involved in the original development of BBSB and some of the design stuff for Harmony 2007. If I were buying X-10 now, I would go to LetsAutomate or Laser, with whom I have no connection, but of which I have high opinions.

[mr_a_daily]

thanks a lot for the speedy replies, maybe i will persaveer with the x10 range then. my cm15a is currently run from a WHS that is on 24/7 (thats the next thing to look at putting low wattage fans/psu in etc)

the cm15a can do rf as well as power line commands, is this same freq as any other product?

i just want to be able to automate :
a nightlight on the landing,
a indoor 'at home' lamp / radio
a outdoor pir lamp
maybe a kitchen coffee pot

and if poss the ability to turn off the heating if ive forgotten and away for the weekend, or on way back and its been off for the weekend (im in military so away a bit-like now!) it currently runs on regular domestic 24h timer.

many thanks indeed

[philw]

so is the general opinion that X10 is still best for electrical app (sockets etc) control then? I would like PC control to ideally.

[mr_a_daily]

guess nobody really knows. no further replies?
think ill try buy a x10 thermostat and get that to sned signals to my cm15a somehow then get a couple of appliance modules plugged into my central heating and hot water instead of my regular ones. that should work.

saw on here something about getting twitter to change settings online too. may look into that?

[Gangsta]

I personally dont like x-10, But all my preffered methods of automation involve a fair amount of re-wiring (unless you still building your house)

Im my house, I attempted to predict what appliences would need switched, and run fresh cables for them - but if I need to switch a socket that I never intended to automate - I have a little adapter that plugs into the socket, and it connects to one of the rj45 outlets (there is a 4:1 ratio of rj45:mains sockets)

The adapter is then switched remotely from node0, under pc control

Basically - what is best really depends on you and your circumstances - you may want to automate without disruption to your home - X10 will probably be really good for you.

If it doesnt bother you dealing with electrics, or channeling every wall in your house then I would highly recommend a fully wired system, as it will have unparralled reliabilty.

but thats just my £0.02

[toscal]

guess nobody really knows. no further replies?
think ill try buy a x10 thermostat and get that to sned signals to my cm15a somehow then get a couple of appliance modules plugged into my central heating and hot water instead of my regular ones. that should work.

saw on here something about getting twitter to change settings online too. may look into that?

won't work. the Digimax doesn't use normal X10 RF but the extended security code signals. The US version does have a plugin available, for the Active Home Pro software,to read the security sensors so this might be able to read the Digimax but when it will be available in Europe I have no idea.

And all of us have normal lives and jobs so please be patient with replies, as it can take several days for someone to reply, we are not all on line 24/7. Remember this is a free and excellent forum so you saying about there being no further replies is a bit quick. If after a week or so then fair enough but after only 2 days..... Many paid for services or tech support can't even respond within 2 days let alone 2 weeks.....

[mr_a_daily]

i feel i must appologise, didnt mean to offend anyone by the comments i made, i gratly appreciate the help that this forum and all forums i subscribe to provide. have taken to reading different forums instead of books most of the time as they are so useful and slightly addictive. i'm currently in camp bastian in afghanistan and the internet is turned off sparadicaly as and when CAT A's happen. so when i finish my duties and get 5 mins to myself i may be a little impatient for new input to keep my mind roaming. home in 2 weeks, got lots of plans .

so getting back to it, don't fancy channelling my walls as don't plan to be in the house for longer than 5 years. are there any other thermostats that can work with x10?

cheers again
Dylan

[toscal]

I know what that's like, I've been stuck in the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden we lost sat coms and then no internet.
The only one really is the Digimax. Unless you want to spend a hundred or so pounds then look here http://www.resconsys.com/products/stats/x10.htm