RE: Newbie - controlling lights and creating scenes (Ocelot?)

["Kevin Hawkins" <lists@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Helen -welcome to the list !



There are two big issues with X10 - one is the actual technology
which is rather long in the tooth now. Whilst it is easy to retrofit
because
it uses your existing mains wiring it is fairly slow and prone to being
unreliable. The second issue is the range of products available in the UK -
they are not cosmetically attractive and offer limited functionality at a
much higher price than the US (bargain eh !). We have very few two way
modules (which allow the status of a device to be read) nor two way light
switches for example. The issues you raise below are real issues that I had
expected to be resolved years ago by any sensible company wanting to drive
a
growth market for X10.  Most people who are concerned over the cosmetics
have gone for the partial rewiring needed to support X10 DIN rail modules
(the ones that mount in your consumer unit) - and these are functionally a
lot more capable. There are a few alternative 'higher end' systems around
like Clipsal's C-Bus and Polaron but they require a small connector cable
to
be run between all the switches etc.

Ian on this list is working on an alternative to X10 that again
uses the mains wiring for communication but is much faster and reliable in
that it supports two way communications (status). However it's a few months
off being available yet and may still require some partial rewiring in your
scenario.

Re the scene issues - although X10 is relatively slow it is not
unworkable for scenes although the sequential switching is quite evident -
some dim sequences can take a few seconds to action  - you can incorporate
several modules all set to the same housecode and unit code which means
that
they will respond together to get around this - in addition some modules
support a preset dim command which allows them to be set directly to a
level
with one command (rather than a sequence of dim/bright commands). If you do
use basic devices then there is no way around having to set each level in
turn and an Ocelot, HomeVision or whatever will produce the same result.
They are both intelligent to the extent that if a device is already on at
say 50% and you have to move it to 60% they send the 10% difference changes
rather than switching the lamp to full brightness and then dimming 40%.

Lastly - just a comment - if you do go the route of some 'micro
modules' that sit behind sockets then you must ensure that they are wired
in
a way that complies with regulations and can switch whatever rated load
COULD be plugged into the socket. Really if you switch a 13A socket then
you
should be able to handle 13A+ although fusing at lower currents is a way
around this. If you use dimmer modules then change the sockets to be the
smaller 3A/5A style commonly used for table lamps - this way no one can
plug
the vacuum cleaner into your dimmer. You are right to be concerned with
accessibility for fuses which blow quite regularly in all the generally
available X10 lamp modules - when the bulb goes most times the fuse does
too
(true of the wall switches too) - this does not ingratiate you with others
in the house.



Kevin



-----Original Message-----
From: hholohan2000 [mailto:helen@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 31 May 2003 10:57
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: [ukha_d] Newbie - controlling lights and creating scenes (Ocelot?)



Hi all

Please excuse me for asking what must be a very basic question.

I want to be able to dim/brighten and switch on/off most of the
lights in my 6 year old home using an X10 system. I've being doing
lots of research but still can't figure out something which must be
very simple:

1) Main room lights
Some rooms have low-voltage recessed lights in the ceiling and some
others have basic pendant lights. I want to be able to control all of
these without installing ugly X10 dimmer switches. Isn't there a
dimmable micromodule receiver that I can hide behind existing
switches?

2) Plug-in table/standard lamps
I already have a couple of plug-in lamp modules and these work fine
to dim/brighten the lights. I've also read about the socket rocket to
which the bulb can be plugged in directly. However, isn't there
something I can put in the wall socket itself to control these
lights? The lamp modules are fairly big and ugly.

I've read also about intelligent controllers, like the Ocelot, which
sound great but if I still have to use clunky lamp modules and have
no way of controlling the ceiling lights other than by installing X10
dimmer switches everywhere then what's the point? I've seen receivers
(LM12W) which can be installed at the ceiling rose but they have
fuses in them which would subsequently be very difficult to get at.
So, if I get an Ocelot, isn't there a nice neat fairly unintrusive
way of controlling all my lights from it?

At the end of the day, my goal is to have scene control. Even if I
get the Ocelot, will I be able to control multiple lights in a scene
simultaneously or will there be a delay while each light command is
sent out sequentially?

Many thanks
Helen (in Ireland)