If you're one of the many people considering home automation, but you aren't quite sure where to start or what the best technology is, this article is for you. It seems as though the majority of information about home automation is either extremely technical or focused on one specific product offering. There is no 'perfect' system in home automation, but that's the beauty of it too - the parts work together to achieve what you want your house to be like, not what someone else thinks it should be like. Read on for the top questions asked when starting out with home automation...

Question: What is the best home automation technology?

Answer: While there is no definitive answer, there are certainly best ‘fit’ products depending on your needs. For the average user, Insteon offers low price, high reliability and many software options that don’t exist with other home automation solutions. For people with older houses using knob and tube wiring, Zwave is the best solution since it does not require any expensive electrical modifications to function (it uses wireless communication exclusively). Zigbee is still emerging as a technology and as such has a limited supply of devices available. HAI is targeted towards professional installations and as such is the most complicated to design, install and maintain however if done correctly it can be one of the most flexible solutions as well.

For the majority of people looking for a solution, Insteon will be the best choice with its inexpensive, easy to use modules and backwards compatibility with X10.

Question: How difficult is it to install?

Answer: If you are comfortable with replacing a light switch, installing a home automation system is within your reach. The basic process is: switch off the breaker to the switch (or your whole house to be safe), unscrew the cover plate and switch, disconnect the two wires from the old switch, connect the wires to the home automation switch and replace the cover plate. Once you turn on the breaker again, you can test the switch locally and then using the remote. If it works, move on to your next breaker and light switch. If the switch does not work, check your wires for a solid connection and ensure that if you are connecting a three-way switch (ie. A stairway switch with one at the top and one at the bottom) that you selected the right wires (there are three wires used in these circuits) according to the included diagram.

Question: What can I control with home automation?

Answer: That depends on the manufacturer, but taking Insteon as an example we can control the following:

Lighting: Keypad Dimmer Scene Lighting for in-wall and Lamp Scene Lighting for plug-in lamps.
Ceiling fans, fluorescent lights, other inductive loads: SwitchLinc relay
Garage door, fireplace, sprinklers, other low-voltage devices: EZRain for sprinklers, EZIO for garage doors, fireplace and other low-voltage devices.
Hot tub, pool: EZIO with water temperature sensor and 220v outdoor SwitchLinc to control the motor/heaters.
Alarm system: ELK-M1 Gold with Insteon interface.
Thermostat: Venstar T1800 with Insteon adapter
IP Cameras: mControl software, or through a NetLinc.

The following devices can be used as inputs to your system:

Indoor Motion Sensors: Insteon wireless motion sensor
Long-range motion sensors: Dakotawireless alert with Simplehomenet Insteon interface.
Door sensors, window sensors, glass break sensors: Through Elk M1 Gold Insteon interface all alarm sensors can be monitored and used as inputs for home automation.
Moisture sensors: Sensor and X10 Powerflash module using Insteon backwards compatability
Infrared remotes like Harmony series: IRLinc receives infrared and allows home automation control from your remote.

For more home automation articles, see the ‘related content’ section on the left, or post a question in the forums.

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Peter  - Ask away!   |2008-12-04 16:45:44 If you have a question about Insteon, home automation in general or a specific task, ask away! Reply | Quote 0   0

gerry  - insteon..is it reliable.   |2008-12-16 19:44:50 considering it but electrician found comment about switches not working after few months..press, press and nothing. Is this unique or ? He is reommending Lutron. Any advice gerry Reply | Quote 0   0

Peter   |2008-12-16 21:24:42 Good question Gerry. Some of the first generation switches had issues with components failing, however it appears to be related to heat and ganging multiple switches in the same panel box. The newer switches (last 8-9 months) haven't had any issues due to a redesign. It's also worth mentioning that Smarthome was noted as being excellent about replacing switches with this issue, regardless of warranty period. Lutron is quite high end and generally requires more experience to setup correctly, which is likely why your electrician is advocating it. When comparing Lutron to Insteon, the general consensus is that Lutron has a slight edge in reliability however your cost is twice to three times as much as with Insteon. Personally, coming from the X10 world where reliability was a huge concern, Insteon has been great with not a single missed signal in my experience of 1 year's use. Hope this helps! Reply | Quote 0   0

Jerry  - Controlling x10 components with Insteon Smartlinc?   |2008-12-26 12:49:02 I've been looking over all this home automation technology trying to figure out which product would work best for me. I've decided to use Insteon and am planning to get the Smartlinc controller. I chose smartlinc so that I could remotely monitor/control my home while away, and I wasn't sure if that would be possible with Powerlinc or Houselinc 2. Though if I setup a Remote desktop application I guess I could access the software and my Insteon devices through it, as long as my computer was online...which it usually is. Are there any advantages to using Powerlinc or Houselinc 2 over Smartlinc? Another thing I'm still a little unclear on is about the backwards compatibility with x10. Would there be any issues or compatibility problems if I bought one of the Insteon controllers mentioned above, but then bought a lot of x10 products like motion sensors, flood lights, cameras, etc?...because their equipment is A LOT cheaper. I'd appreciate any advice anyone could give me about what to do. Reply | Quote 0   0

Peter   |2009-01-01 11:56:48 The quick strokes are that Powerlinc / Houselinc / other software can do things like trigger events based on sensors etc which the Smartlinc can't do. Simple associations (ie. when motion sensor detects movement, turn on light) can be done without any controller at all, but more advanced things (ie. when doorbell rings, pulse all lights in the house and turn tv to front door webcam) require software and a Powerlinc / Power line modem (sometimes referred to as PLC or PLM). The bright side about the Smartlinc is that it is dead simple. I had mine up and running in 5 minutes, including tying up my ethernet cable for aesthetics. Regarding X10 and insteon, they are compatible and insteon devices can be assigned an X10 address, however you will not benefit from the increased reliability of Insteon with your X10 devices. I made the transition from X10 to Insteon and still have a few X10 devices (IR-543 infrared controller for example) however the in-wall light switches are where Insteon really shines over X10. So far my reliability has been 100% in terms of responses to commands, whereas my X10 (in a brand new house) was about 60%. One of the keys to this is that Insteon devices repeat messages, so the more devices you add the better the quality of the signal, whereas X10 does not and usually more X10 devices means more powerline noise and less reliability. My advice would be to get Inste... Reply | Quote 0   0

Peter   |2009-01-01 11:59:29 Ran out of room there. My advice would be to get Insteon devices where possible and for things such as the flood lights you mention where an Insteon device doesn't exist yet purchase the X10 equivalent and rest assured that it will integrate correctly. Regarding cameras, any IP camera (network camera) will work with the Smartlinc, it does not need to be specific to Insteon or X10. Hope this helps! Reply | Quote 0   0

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