I'm looking for constructive feed back on which X10 devices are the most reliable. I've got a client who wants some simple lighting controls and wants to control a number of different devices. One of my distributors swears by Leviton and at X10, however I've seen some people complain about leviton reliability. I could keep reciting all of the claims by the many different vendors, however I'm looking for constructive real world feedback.

The important thing is that I don't want to be called back to the client's home after 1 or 2 years to be replacing parts. Therefore, if you were going to build the ultimate X10 system want products would you choose for:

Light switches (dimming, on/off)
Receptacles
Filters
Couplers
Wall warts
Controllers (I kinda like the ocelot because it's standalone and not PC based)
Relays (the only way I can control exterior receptacles such as pool pump)

Cheers

I would not go with Leviton, they used to be OK other than they had proprietary scene communications. They’re new in house products I hear are not performing all that reliably. I know their HC series of couplers have made our sales of ACT couplers (to HC owners) very good.

If you want reliability, use PCS or SwitchLinc switches with the PCS having a slight edge on the linc's. Always use a couple repeater at least an CR230, or the better CR234. Also do a noise survey and filter all noise sources and check for and record signal strength on all circuits before leaving the house. We do this on our installs and do some very high-end homes with only a very rare call back. For all your filter and coupler needs you really can't beat ACT. For plug in modules, there really aren’t any outstanding ones, but most are acceptable in reliability. The Ocelot is a very good choice for a reliable stand-alone controller. The CM11A is also not that bad for limited use.

Don't be afraid of X10, it works extremely well as a reasonable cost lighting control system.

Bill
www.homeautomationnet.com

The most reliable system that I'm aware of is the Lightolier Compose PLC system, along with the appropriate number of "firewalls."

Of course, nothing beats the reliability of a hard-wired lighting system.

CJ

I have never found X-10/Plug-n-power devices to be unreliable. I have however found that once one becomes an X-10 user that it becomes an addiction.

agree, not 100% reliable, but if you spend a little extra money phase coupler/repeater) and program for problems (all lights off in the morning for missed transmissions etc), then it's really pretty damn good for the price. if you live in an electrical area with extreme electrical noise, I can see how it would be a nightmare, radio shack or the high priced stuff. I've heard there's a newer x-10 power line carrier system that solves a lot of the transmission problems. anybody know anything about it? is the lightolier compose' system x10 or a newer protocol. thx

This message was edited by jrx10 on 08/04/03 16:16.

The Lightolier Compose system can be used with X10 or its own proprietary system.

CJ

Lightoler is definitely the high end of X10 and like systems. However, from what I've heard they do a very good job with the firewall approach, but the firewalls aren't cheap.

The Lightolier system does address some of the shortcomings of X10 and is a fine system but it does so at the expense of the beauty of X10. That is, X10 is reasonably inexpensive and it's universal on all power lines in you home. The Lightolier system couples each individual circuit and acts to prevent signal collisions, unfortunately you have to add it to every circuit in your system and it does nothing for the circuits not on it. By using a good coupler repeater and filtering noise (which you still need to pay attention to with compose) you can get close to the reliability at a fraction of the cost or wiring hassles. I just don’t see the point when X10 can be made extremely reliable by just taking care of the basics, signal strength, noise, not sending two signals at the same time, and quality receivers.

Bill
www.homeautomationnet.com

The Lightolier Compose system has disadvantages too: no individual control of loads. You can only set up scenes which all the lights in a room react to.

Of course, you can use Compose switches in X10-compatibility mode. But then, it would be more expensive than using PCS or Switchlinc switches yet less capable.

Personally, I use PCS keypads and SwitchLinc switches. The combination looks _exactly_ like the Compose system, but was much cheaper to set up. I have an ACT CR230 repeater and my installation is rock-solid.

I've used virtually all Smarthome products in my house and have been very pleased. I was concerned about reliability as my wife would be very upset if she started using things and it didn't work properly given the investment we made (about $5k). They've worked great. And in the limited occasions where I've had problems (either a switch was bad, or in fact for some items, I've damaged them on installation), Smarthome took it back and replaced it no questions asked. The biggest inconvenience has been going to the Mailboxes Etc. to ship it back. They even shipped the replacements with no shipping costs to compensate me for the cost of returning the replacements on my nickle. First rate customer service. That's very important to me, aside from the fact that their products are outstanding. Just MHO.