Re: Insteon or Zwave?

[Mitch <sumoldguy@xxxxxxxxxx>]

jmj1492@xxxxxxx wrote:
> Hi Robert,
>
> I'm installing a M1G in my new (rebuilt) home now.  I have been
> tinkering with it on the bench for about a month and feel the 500 rules
> are going to be a bit short for HA.  When you consider that every "text
> message" definition and every AND in a rule is counted a a rule - you
> run out quickly.  I think I'll still be using my Homevision to
> supplement the shortcomings of the M1G.
>
> I'll be very interested to hear about your experiences with z-wave.  My
> installation is relatively simple, and so I'm putting back a bunch of
> my PCS dimmers and using Lamplincs for table lamps.  Being on my own
> power company transformer I always enjoyed 99+% reliability with x10.
>
> The built-in temp sensors in the M1 keypads are a nice touch....too bad
> the keypads can't talk as well.  All in all the M1G looks like a
> winner.
>
> John
> SW Missouri
>
>
>
I've got an Elk M1-G and about 80 X10 devices in my house.  I also use
Homeseer and various scripts.

In addition, I've done numerous other X10 installations and a couple of
Insteon installations (no Z-wave yet).

I share the concern about Insteon's long term viability.  However, with
chips becoming available, we'll see if other mfr's support it or not.

The downside risk is small though for your average buyer since there are
no new wires, it's x-10 "compatible", etc.

As far as the M1-Gold goes... it's very advanced compared to other
"burglar alarms" but can't hold a candle to a "computer" in terms of
programming.  It's nice but its automation abilities are limited:

    - You can't say do x, y and z then wait 10 minutes and do a, b and c
    - There isn't any way to "manage" rules which becomes an issue once
      you start getting a lot of them or want to do things to groups of
      rules.
    - You can't programatically enable/disable rules on the fly.
    - You can't say if((a or b) or (c and d))... just "and..."

If you're doing simple scenes and basic daytime-off/nighttime-on kinds
of functions, the M1 is fine.  But complex automation needs a more
comprehensive programming ability than the M1 has.

Right now, I've got a PC connected to the M1 via the serial port and
will probably replace that with an Ethernet connection (once I find out
all the limitations of the $150+ add-on to the M1).

This gives me the ability to do what I want/can on the M1 and use the PC
to handle the heavy lifting.

IT would be awesome to have one box that did it all, but I haven't seen
one yet that I could afford.