x10 stair lighting and x10 PIR

[Stephen <yahoo@xxxxxxx>]

Hello,

I have been using x10 wall switches to control lights in my rooms.
These are good as they automate but there is also a switch for
technophobes to use!

Now I would like to automate the lights on my stairs, however these
wall switches seem to be one way and obviously for stairs I would need
two way switches: one at the top and one at the bottom. How could I do
this?

When these wall switches are pressed manually, do they just override
the x10 circuitry or do they transmit the on/off code? I was thinking
it is probably the former, but if the latter did apply, you could
obviously have a wired switch at the top and a switch without a load
set to the same code at the bottom of the stairs. However I doubt this
would work. Am I right? 

I think I have seen rf switches at lestautomate, so I guess I could
use these at the top and bottom of the stairs for people who insist on
buttons! How do your visitors cope with your automated houses?

I would also like to use PIR to trigger lights as someone approaches,
although if they stand still, the lights could go off on them! Is
there only the battery powered PIR available? I would prefer something
with a hardwired power supply, rather than find one day the lights
don't come on because the batteries have gone! How long do the
batteries tend to last?

Finally, can you use rechargeable batteries in the x10 controllers?

Thanks for your patience with all my newbie questions!

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