Re: No more X10 at Radio Shack?

[Marc_F_Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 29 Nov 2006 15:39:22 GMT, "Kurt Delaney"
<kurt_dot_delaney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
<KQhbh.2954$ad7.2358@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

>
>"Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>news:XuudnZ-osJyEHPHYnZ2dnUVZ_oGdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> While I'd love to have the reliability of Centralite or Lutron's RF
>> system,
>> I don't think I'd ever be able to recover the cost when selling the
house.
>
>Having X10 switches installed actually *reduces* the value of the house --
>the average home buyer sees this stuff as an unknown, and most home
>inspectors will flag it as a liability.  Which, IMHO, is correct.  If a X10
>switch quits working (which is quite common, unless you are using very high
>quality stuff like PCS), how will a new homeowner who knows nothing about
>X10 be able to fix it?  Most likely, they would have to call an electrician
>(read: $$$) and they would most likely just replace the X10 w/ a regular
>switch.
>
>When you come to sell the place, don't be suprised if you will have to swap
>out all of your X10 switches with regular switches.

This was my experience in the last house I rebuilt and sold eight years ago.
Poor tactile feel of X-10 switches and ambiguity of position compared to 79
cent toggle switches was by itself sufficient reason to remove.

The local electrician hired by the new owner also cut off the CAT5 jacks and
daisy-chained the wire together jist like he was taught in the 1960's. He
thought he was doing me a favor by sending me the gruesomely chopped jacks
with wire still attached like heads on a platter. (I would rather not have
known ...)

... Marc
Marc_F_Hult
www.ECOntrol.org