Re: Ceiling Lights & Local Control

["Paul Gordon" <paul_gordon@xxxxxxx>]

Is this a "Eureka moment" ?

A quick thought occurs to me regarding getting status reporting back to a
controller when fitting LD11's...

I've used one of the current sensors that Comfort sell, and I'd thought
about using one of these per controlled light fitting, but thats daftly
expensive as the sensors are about £12 a pop.

But, could you not add a cheap mains transformer (e.g. M**lins part
YN12N)on
the cable between the LD11 & the light fitting, in parallel with the
light,
then run the secondary (which can be 3/6/9/12/15V) back to an input on
HV/Comfort whatever? - then whenever the light is on, the transformer is
on,
and the input to said controller has the chosen voltage applied to it...

Keith, feel free to jump in here and embarass me by telling us all why this
is a very bad idea and couldn't possibly work!!!


The M**lins part is £3.49 for 1-off quantities, with reductions for 10+,
but
we all know that they are not the cheapest place in the world, so I'm sure
it ought to be possible to bulk buy suitable transformers for no more that
a
couple of quid each. They can be really very small (much smaller than the
LD11 itself), so the additional bulk shouldn't be an issue...

Not quite as easy as X10 status reporting, and you *do* obviously have an
additional wire to run between the light and N0, but if you're already
doing
that....

Just a thought....

Paul G.

>From: "Kenneth Watt" <kennwatt@xxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>To: "UKHA_D" <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
>Subject: [ukha_d] Ceiling Lights & Local Control
>Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 15:37:56 -0000
>
>You know with all this talk of ceiling lights and local control it got
>me thinking :-)
>
>This seems to be a *major* stumbling block for, particularly newcomers,
>to the X10 gig and the socket rocket and AW10U are just not cutting it
>at all, so here's a thought for you guys.
>
>Why not build a small housing to take an LD11 and fix a ceiling fitting
>directly to the case. The case could be partially recessed into the
>Gyproc for the ceiling giving a reasonable finish; the only technical
>bit is getting the casing so it can be painted to match the
>surroundings. Then you would end up with a wart on the ceiling I hear
>you cry, but then WTF is a socket rocket except a typical X10 eyesore?
>
>The LD11 is really physically quite compact and if it weren't for those
>pesky batons that most sparkies secure fittings too you could almost
>sink the thing right into the ceiling, totally. I'm sure that there has
>to something that can be done!
>
>You could even whap a hole in the ceiling, install the module then put
a
>decorative rose over (high WAF?), paint and no-one would know the
>difference. The only problem with that, that I can see anyway, is
>getting access should the fuse or the module need swapped out, to be
>fair on that count though I have had a couple of old LD10's running for
>over two years and never swapped a fuse and they work perfectly every
>time.
>
>As for wiring, well if you are going to use an LD11 you need momentary
>contact at the switch anyway so just use the existing switch wire to
the
>fitting and change the configuration accordingly.
>
>Still no status response, but hey, that's an X10 problem not an
>installation one!
>
>This is something I was going to look at in the one room I just cannot
>get access to the space above the ceiling rose in, but I was thinking
on
>the new tiny A10 lamp module to solve the problem, but at a cost almost
>double the cost of an LD11 IIRC.
>
>Now how's that for a sticky plaster solution :-)
>
>K., @ Work, should be working! ;-)
>
>
>




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