Re: X10 Alternatives

["Andy Laurence" <andy@xxxxxxx>]

Doogie Brodie wrote:
> Andy Laurence wrote:
>> CBus:
>> Seems well regarded, but will require extensive rewiring
considering
>> I only replastered most rooms quite recently.
>
> I really like the Clipsal C-Bus products. Disclosure: I like them so
> much that I've become an integrator, therefore I have commercial
> interest in it. ;-)

Commercial interest or not, I've yet to hear a bad word against it.
People's only reservations seem to be cost and extra cabling.

> C-Bus will require re-wiring, unless you go for either the Clipsal
> Ulti
> range which is RF (but not compatible with C-Bus), or the C-Bus RF
> range which should be out early this year.

Ulti is pricy looking at Mark McCall's link, as far as I'm concerned.  I
like the way that X10 is quite cheap to retro-fit.  Of course, this is just
me being a skinflint!  I should really just fork out for it - I've just had
a rather substantial pay rise.  At just over £100 per light (have I got
this
right?), it isn't that pricy, and will cost me about £750 for the whole
house.

>> DIY:
>> I'm sure I saw a few people having a go at this.  Anyone got
anything
>> working I can put my soldering iron to?
>
> I would be very wary of this from an electrical safety/ insurance if
> your house burns down type angle, as has been mentioned quite a few
> times before. IMHO, building something to occasionally hang of a 12v
> wall wart is a million miles away from 24/7/365 connection to 230-250v

True.  I've had a thought about it, and may see where it takes me.  I
reckon
I could do a non-dimming RF module with no status response for about £20 a
shot.  Cabled could be done with status response for under £10.

>> Others:
>> Is there anything?
>
> Off the top of my head, Lutron, Polaron, Crestron, iLight, Rako,
> Z-Wave

Cheers, will take a look later this week.

>> Personally, my requirements are that the system should not require
>> me to rewire the house, and should be transparent to the user. 
This
>> means that if someone presses a light switch twice because it
didn't
>> work first time, the system is not good enough.  Am I asking too
>> much?  Should I spend my money on replastering again and CBus?
>
> That's totally your call; in a new build or major renovation I'd say
> go
> for a fully wired C-Bus solution.... (but then I would! ;) ). With no
> wall chasing, then C-Bus RF would seem like the obvious solution when
> it
> is available. (Assuming you have deep enough back boxes/ ability to
> extend them) At that point, you would be able to do a proper
> cost/convenience comparison between a full re-wire and a wireless
> solution.

Agreed.  It does sound the best solution.  I just hate spending money on
something I think I could do cheaper.  Fortunately, I ran CAT5 to the floor
by each light switch, so I could probably retro-fit quite easily.  Do I
need
to rewire the lighting in the ceiling too, or are the C-Bus switches all I
need.  I think I'm right in saying I need what is essentially a spur for
each light with C-Bus.

> Another thought with regards to how long you plan to stay there; in
> my 1
> bed cheap as chips flat, I'd either install C-Bus, but leave the
> current standard ring in place to go back to before sale, or install
> the RF kit
> and remove it before sale - I'm waiting for RF to be released due to
> the
> red sandstone walls which I don't much fancy chasing!

Well, I just remortgaged for two years, so that's my minimum time scale. 
No
plans to move, unless I really itch for a garage.  Thanks for the input.

Cheers,
Andy
--
http://ha.andylaurence.co.uk
http://projects.andylaurence.co.uk


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