X10 Newbie Help

[Gordon Christie <homeautomation@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi folks,

I decided that today I would test the collective patience of you all and
the reputation of the group as being newbie friendly (despite me being
here for a couple years now) and ask a few beginner's questions..

I've finally gotten into a place where I can install a variety of X10
devices to control pretty much anything I like. There are a number of
things that I'd like to do gradually over time, but for now I have a
couple of questions.

(All answers should bear in mind my requirement for overall cheapness - I
can upgrade later, right now I'd like a basic solution. Having said that,
I'd rather spend an extra tenner here and there if it means getting
modules that I don't have to upgrade later..)

1. I'd like to provide control for the main lighting in the house. I've
seen a number of products that'll let me do this (LM10U Light Switch,
LM12W wired lamp module, LM12U plug-in module, LD11 DIN mounted module),
but I am a bit confused about which I need.

I already have a LM12U, but the behaviour of this is strange, in that when
you provide a command for altering the brightness, it starts from 100% and
dims down to the level you specify. One of the things I'd like to do is
mount a PIR movement sensor to have the bathroom/hallway light come on at
a low brightness when it detects movement after dark, but if it starts at
100%, it'd kinda defeat the purpose of lights coming on dimly.

Does this mean I'd need a LD11 to do this kind of thing, or do the other
units have different behaviour?

2. If it comes to mounting DIN modules, what exactly is required to do
this (wiring, switches, etc)? Is there a handy tutorial page or somewhere
which explains exactly what is required?

3. About RF X10 stuff - what would be the best transmitter/receiver module
to use?

3a. And what are people's recommendations on controllers (especially ones
which do X10/IR for TV/DVD/X10 scene setting)?

4. Software - what recommended software meets the following criteria:

- External web access
- Flexible event/macro scripting
- Is free

(this may change because I may plump for a dedicated HA system eventually.
For now, any software is going to use my Windows Server 2003 box with a
CM12U computer control module)

5. What do I need to know about my heating system to automate this? At the
moment, I know I have a gas back boiler on a timer for the central heating
in my house, which also provides hot water.

This email is getting rather long, so I'll end it here. Any help, ideas,
suggestions or recommendations will be gratefully received. I'm looking
forward to having a play about with this stuff. :)

~Gordon Christie
homeautomation@xxxxxxx