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I don’t really have anything additional to add except that I never did mention that the X10 devices I installed apparently had no issues with noise interference.  I was very worried that they wouldn’t work correctly, but so far I can’t see any effect at all.  Considering the bedroom does not have as much, it seems likely there will be no problems there either (knock on wood).

I’ll be installing two wall switches in the bedroom – one each for the fan and light.  Everything will need to be re-wired, but I don’t need to buy anything and it doesn’t appear to be overly difficult.  I’m pretty sure I mentioned it before, but pull-chains suck.

I got a few minutes to install the first of the X10 devices I had ordered yesterday.  I started with the den, where my primary home theater system is.  All that went in there were two of the wall outlets and a wall switch for the ceiling fan/light.  After installing, I tested using the mini-controller and everything worked as expected.  The only thing that did not work was the “All On” button from the mini-controller.  Not sure why.  I don’t expect I’d use it very often, if at all, anyway.

After getting those installed and working, I went ahead and decided to see how difficult setting up the Harmony 880 was going to be.  I created a few custom sequences in the advanced button cusomtization of my HTPC activity – an “On” and “Off” for each device.  Testing it proved that it worked perfectly.  There is a very slight delay of maybe one second, but I would expect that since it’s doing an IR to X10 translation.

So far, I’m pretty happy with how they operate.  Installation was simple and the devices appear to be of decent quality.  Not as “cheap” as I thought they would be, but they’re definitely not heavy-duty.  Next will be the bedroom outlets by the bed and the overhead ceiling fan/light switch.  I do believe that I’ll be installing an additional switch though, so that I can separate the operation of the fan and ceiling lights.  I hate pull-strings and we almost alway leave the fan on at nights.  Being able to control the lights and fan with the remote will be great.

Considering the grandparents arrive today, I probably won’t get to do anything more this weekend, so check in to see what I’m up to in a few days.  Have a good weekend!

I received my order from X10 yesterday and am starting to get excited about installing them. I have discovered a few tidbits of information that I did not come across in my research prior to ordering that have me concerned/disappointed, however.

1. CFL bulbs do not work with my WS467 wall switches.
2. I am probably going to encounter noise interference from my home theater equipment and/or UPS units.

These are some fairly big “gotchas” that I did not think of prior to ordering. Considering my intended usage for the WS467 units, that may not be a problem. The ceiling fan light in the den uses only one bulb, so I’ll just put an incandescent back in there. However, our bedroom ceiling fan light uses three bulbs, so that sucks. I guess I’ll put some 40W bulbs back in there. At least we don’t use that light all that much and I did just put two nightstand lamps in there, so that will help. I’m glad the outlet units don’t care what’s plugged into them.

I ordered 8 of those wall switch units, so it looks as though the majority of them will be used for outdoor light switches. I don’t use CFLs out there, so that’s perfect. It’ll be good for the floodlights too. The rest can be used in closets, I guess. I think I have incandescents in those too. If not, I’ll put them back in. My wife leaves closet lights on all the time, so it’ll be good to be able to turn them off from work with the ActiveHome software.

A potential third issue is the software itself. I really wish I could get a hold of a decent Media Center plugin. I really don’t want to buy anything either…not that I would since I’ve not seen anything that was worth the money so far. It wouldn’t even need any advanced functionality – I’m simply looking for On/Off per device. I probably will have to do without, unfortunately. There is a limited free plugin provided by ExDomus, but I will only be able to use that on one Media Center without client/server interactivity.

Hopefully I’ll get to install something this evening so that I can start to fool around with things a little bit.  It’ll probably only be a couple of outlets, but that’s better than nothing.  So long as I can get that and the ActiveHome portion together, I can fool around with it at work tomorrow.  It would have been nice to get it all working by the time my grandparents arrived though.  While my home automation setup is extremely simple, to them it would be all 2099-like.

If anyone knows how to wire up a universal module to a garage door while still being able to use the wired in switch, please comment.  I’m pretty sure I know how to do it, but the wiring is extremely inconvenient for me to screw up a time or two.

I haven’t purchased yet, but I did settle on a home automation choice and decided to go with some X10 devices. They’re just the cheapest available while also providing just what I want to go with at this point in time. I can also expand well with them.

I decided to go with:

2 x Wall switch modules (WS467)

4 x SuperSocket receptacle module (SR227)

2 x IR mini-controller (IR543-S)

1 x Universal module (UM506-S)

My total came to about $139 and should take care of my initial needs for two rooms. Plus, the universal module will give me the capability of opening and closing my garage door from the den or bedroom.

The painters have pretty much finished our house, minus the garage, rear deck stain and another pass on our son’s room. I started moving things back into place yesterday evening and am trying to get the fish tanks back into place. I’ve had about 30-35 fish die since moving them. Hopefully I can get the temp tank with problem transplanted this evening. I’ve got to pick up a new tank heater on my lunch break due to a freak break in one yesterday. I think the water level was too low and it weakened the glass. Snapped right in two.

I’m taking Friday off of work so that I can have a long weekend to get the house in some sort of order to move back in. It sucks being out of your own home…especially when it’s longer than you expected. My wife and son won’t probably go back when I do because of the lingering fumes (she’s pregnant and my boy is only 2), but I don’t really smell anything. I’ve got a good air filter I can put in by the bed anyway.

Anyway, I’ll probably order within the next week or so and I’ll be sure to document my experiences (i.e. Harmony setup) along the way. Stay tuned.

Lately, while our house has been pretty much off-limits due to the painting, I’ve been doing more thinking of possible future projects. There are plenty of things I could do to improve my Home Theater system(s), but I’m being practical. What would make things more convenient while also being useful? What I mean is that while you could go out and spend X amount of dollars on the next cool technology, it doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t actually server your needs. I simply want to compliment what I have already done, while providing myself with future upgrade/expansion potential.

What came to mind was home automation. I’m not thinking big here, simply becaue there is only so much of it that would prove useful to me at this point in time. One thing I’d really like to have is the ability to control the lighting in my bedroom with the Harmony 670 I have. I’ve looked into the X10 line of products and it appears to do what I want, with the right combination of devices. A standard package looks to provide a little more than I’d even initially want. The only downside is the additional IR>RF bridge I would need since my Harmony remotes are both IR. Good news is that they are pretty inexpensive.

I’ll have to do some more research before I feel comfortable in going this route, however. X10 has been around a while, but I keep discovering reason to believe they aren’t the most reliable devices in the world. I don’t need the best, but I’m not buying junk either.

Please leave any comments or suggestions you may have regarding home automation products. I’d like some feedback on your experiences.