X10, Insteon, other home automation opinions?

[Charlie Schultz]

About 10 years ago, I put a bunch of X10 controls in my home. Over the course of a few years, they all died in some way or another. I was wondering if anyone's had more recent experience with these kinds of devices (particularly regarding robustness/reliability). Thanks.

[David G Baker]

I still have a bunch of old X10 things kicking around. Mine are probably 20 or more years old. I found them to be very unreliable so I took them out of service. If they still make and sell newer versions of the X10 they may have improved but I would never buy the products again.
There should be a bunch of automated items that can do pretty much anything you need done if you are willing to do the research and spend the money.
A few years ago I read about computer controlled devices that could be operated by your old computers. With all of the wireless technology out there there could be a bunch available.

[Scott Kilroy]

I've used them for non essential tasks like xmas lights, mostly because they're easy to manage from a pc (if you get the adapter) but they're very unreliable.

[Rick Gooden]

X10 has always been a problem. In the industry we refer to it as "press and pray". I have been hearing some better reports on the Insteon, but for reliability take a look at Lutron Radio Ra, it is considerably more expensive, but highly reliable and can be interfaced with any control system.

[Jim Mattheiss]

I use X-10 to control non-critical things around my house - lighting. Think of it as a cheap table saw - you can use it to do a lot of things, but it might be more difficult and problematic than if you had a better saw.

The "next greatest technology" hasn't been been anointed yet. The are a number of technologies out there : Radio RA, Insteon, UPB . . . None of them have universal acclaim - and few of them can reach the price point of X-10.

Someone has created a "crutch" for X10 - the XTB "X10 Blaster" that amplifies the signal to a huge level, so that the line noise of the powerline is less of an issue.

I've been using X10 in my current house for 12 years. I control some lamps in the family room, low voltage exterior lighting around the house and a number of lights using in-wall switches. My kid's use rf remotes to control lights in their rooms and the house computer turns on the outside lights at dusk and off at bedtime. There are still issues - my kid's WII needed a noise filter added as it was blocking the powerline signals - but I'm sticking with it till the next greatest thing is determined.

Hope this helped - sorry if it didn't

Jim.