Re: X10 Alternatives

[Doogie Brodie <ukhad@xxxxxxx>]

Andy Laurence wrote:

> 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.

Yep, a combination of that and fear of the unknown ;)

> 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.

Yes that's right, assuming you were able to use 2 gang 5A switches....
depending on your wiring etc you will probably have to use some 1 gang
10A which, on those site's prices, are £200 per channel. With Ulti, you
can get scene setting units and remote controls, but no
"automation" as
such - ie you can't set timed switch ons etc.... to do that, without
rewiring, will require the not-yet-launched C-Bus RF, (or possible
future upgrades to Ulti, not sure if that's all Ulti products out or if
there's anything in the works), or a non-Clipsal solution.

> 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.

Cool, good luck! :)

> 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.

Excellent about the cat5 :) For C-Bus (not Ulti), you will require to
re-wire the lights into a home-run configuration, all back to your
central wiring point, just like with the X10 din rail modules.

> 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.

Cool, no probs, always happy to help!

Cheers

--
Doogie

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