The simple fact is that doing what you're suggesting, while it may be effective, is also extremely dangerous. If your insurance company found out about it, they'd surely be unhappy, and possibly wouldn't cover the resulting fire and loss of life and/or property if things went wrong. Installing a phase coupler in the breaker box is not really rocket science, and as long as you get a UL-listed one, you can feel a lot better about the robustness and safety of the solution.

Here's how to install a phase coupler in your breaker box:

1. Figure out what type of breakers fit in your box and buy two at Home Depot (or equivalent store)
2. *Turn off the main power on the breaker box*
3. Hook the neutral (white) wire of the phase coupler to a free screw terminal on the neutral block. You'll see other white wires hooked up to the other screws.
4. For each of the two black wires on the coupler, hook the wire to the screw on one of the new breakers.
5. Plug the breakers into the box such that they're in adjacent slots. You want one on one phase and the other on the other phase.
6. Mount the phase coupler somewhere outside of the breaker box.
7. Flip the main switch and enjoy your newly improved X-10 performance.

I'm no electrician and even I did this in my last house. It's relatively safe and easy as long as you're careful.

Hope that helps,
Rob

This message was edited by colemanr on 09/03/03 17:51.