I am trying to set up a limited home automation project.
I understand there are two players but the X-10 is so much more cost effective than the Z-wave.
Am I missing something in the Z-wave option?
Why would I pay 100% more for the Z- wave?

I have not been keeping up too much with home automation the past few years, but there are other options to X-10 than Z-wave. There is INSTEAON (currently has major Q&A problems from what I have read) and UPB and possibly others. Most of these are made by companies that used to make X-10 products.

Some use the power lines to carry signals and some use radio waves and at least one uses a combination of the two.

X-10 which I control my house with has always had a lot of reliability problems, but if you keep your project small it may be satisfactory.

If your X-10 transmitter and receiver are on opposite legs of the power lines you will probably have to install a device to bridge the two legs. If they are far apart on the electrical system you may need a repeater and also filters on electrical noisy devices. These are all things that X-10 does not tell you

Sometimes a small installation works okay easily and sometimes it results in a lot of work, frustration, and the need for the devices that I mention above.

To eliminate confusion I should mention that X-10 is used to mean two things. One is the products that are made by X-10.com and the other meaning is products made by other manufacturers and use the X-10 power line technology.

I don't use any X-10 brand products in my installation as the wall switches are not of very high quality.

I am sorry that I don't know enough about the other new(ish) technologies to make a recommendation. Perhaps if you tell us what you plan to automate someone else can help. Also there are forums on the net that deal exclusively with this topic.

Cheers, Jim.

Brightonuk,

You don't say which universal remote (if any) you plan to use with your setup! Or what your "small project" is. I also think there are loads more than the 2 players you mention.

Here in the UK X10 and Zwave are not so well known, but X10 is better known than Zwave and Zwave only has a limited choice of switches etc. I have assumed you are in UK since I don't know where Plantation is (as per your profile!) but I know where Brighton is lol! I'll talk about the UK and the little bit of experience I have.

You probably already know that to use X10 and Zwave you need dedicated remotes, but you can control either with some universal remotes. I use the Pronto remotes as they can control X10 here (but not Zwave) and they can also control RF switches such as the HomeEasy range (available in B&Q) and they can control Rako (more upmarket and more expensive) without line of sight.

I know you can use Harmony to control X10 and Zwave.

Both the Pronto and Harmony remotes can control various IR remote dimmer switches such as the GET Ultimate and Varilight ranges. I have a mixture of IR, X10 & RF sockets and switches and they all seem to work fine. The HomeEasy stuff is a little more reliable than the X10. All the above mentioned are "retro fit" in that no extra wiring is needed.

If you let us know roughly what you were planning to do, we all can give our thoughts on a setup and then you have more to make your mind up from. If you were not planning to use a universal remote then it would be best to stick to one type of control - IR, X10, Zwave or RF and not try to mix and match as you will end up with even more remote controls to go with the ones you already have.

Stoobie

(Edit)

Ah.... just read your other post and see you are using and MX-3000 - I don't know one of those so what i say may not be applicable

Yer Brighton is....was my home now I live in Plantation Florida.

It is just for one room (my H/T room)
I have 3 sets of plug in lights that I hope to control via an MX-3000 remote and X-10 modules/dimmers.

In addition I have some 12 volt electronic (actuators) that also are plugins that I have rigged up to move a riser forward and back so that needs a forward and reverse module of some kind.
I think I solved that by using a Somey multilink snaptrack IR controller.

My main lighting is Low voltage and a splurged on some remote control Lutron wall dimmers.

In addition to all that an electric Elunevision PJ screen that one I am going to have to find a replacement transceiver ether IR or X-10 to control the up and down as it uses RF but not X-10.
The other control issues are all A/V gear that I have remotes for.

So quite a mismatch of components and this being my first automation project it is all hit and miss right now.

I did get a lot of Plug in and dimmers and receptacles from Craig’s list cheap but I do not know what else I am going to need to get this to work.
I am pretty sure I need a RR501 or firecracker to bring this together so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The main question is will the MX-3000 control X-10 modules?

I would have thought it would, (just seen a review and it mentions control of X10). You will need an IR to X10 module and providing the X10 IR codes are in your database (or can be imported from someone elses setup if MX-3000 supports that) you will get control of any X10 plugged into the same circuit as the IR to X10 module.

A module similar to this is what you will need.

[Link: smarthome.com]

Stoobie

I was going to suggest that whichever protocol that you decide to use that you should first check that it supports all of the types of devices that you plan to use, but as you are only dimming lights all of them do that I am sure.

Remote Central is a great resource and I have always found the people here to be very helpful. In my opinion it has the best forum software too. I believe Daniel wrote it.

However, there is a forum site that specializes in home automation as opposed to remote controls that you might find interesting and perhaps you might get some suggestions on controlling your screen there too.

In any event, I think you will find a lot of discussion about different automation technologies at www.cocoontech.com

Good luck, Jim.

Brightonuk,

The short answer is yes the 3000 will work with x-10 via the IR-543. The codes are readily available.

On the other hand URC has dimmers specifically to talk direct RF with the MX-3000 and all of their other remotes. Lamp Modules are also available. The advantage is that they are lutron. That also means they are more expensive than X-10.

I also live in Plantation, FL. I have found the Insteon to be a bit unreliable and prone to failure. X-10 is just a little too low grade. I have never used Z-Wave but there may be an IR converter for it. Next up the chain would be UPB from Simply Automated or Pulseworx products. Still not a high end choice but better than X-10 and Insteon. They have IR keypads that can be assigned to scenes or loads then run by your remote.

Where in Plantation are you? like to meet up and discuss my options
Drop me an email