Getting Started with Lighting Control and Home Automation
This will be the first post in what I hope to
make a series about using mControl to automate your home, control your
thermostat, control your lighting, secure your home, and more. Home automation and lighting control is a
very in-depth subject, so I’ve found it difficult to group everything into
these posts. Choosing a lighting control
or home automation system is not an easy task and several variable play into
the technology purchasing decision. If
you are interested, I’d highly recommend checking out other website and forums
to get a more in-depth understanding.
I’m trying to write to the largest audience and thus I’m leaving some
parts out of the posts. Having said
that, lets get starting with choosing lighting control and home automation
technologies.
(Left to right: INSTEON, Z-Wave, X10)
Several
of you have asked questions, and while some are addressed in here I will
address others at a later date.
X10
X10
is the oldest home automation technology out there, but it still works
depending on your setup. X10 is a power line carrier (PLC) technology,
and thus sends commands over your existing power lines. The advantages
are simple, lots of modules that cost next to nothing. Downsides exist
with that however, mainly in reliability because of noise in the power lines
and older crappy modules. At this point it most likely isn’t a good idea
to build your whole install around X10, but it still can be useful for
inexpensive RF-based control options. X10 modules go for $5 and up on
eBay (which is actually one of the best places to buy). The amount of
different modules also exceeds most other technologies, with RF remotes and
motion sensors being key.
Z-Wave
Z-Wave
relies on RF-based communication without using power lines. Every Z-Wave
modules acts as an RF Repeater, so the more modules the stronger the
communication within your home will be. Z-Wave modules can respond faster
than X10 modules because of the use of RF-based communication. Z-Wave lighting
modules start at around $40 and go up from there. Z-Wave has gained the
backing of several larger tech companies including Intel, Monster Cable,
Logitech, and more. The number of modules is increasing, but many of them
are also costly. The average module cost is around $60/each.
INSTEON
INSTEON
is backwards compatible with X10, making it attractive for those who have
existing X10 installs or want to easily take advantage of other X10 control
solutions. INSTEON uses power line communication, along with RF to bridge
power phases. Every device acts as a repeater making the network stronger
as you add more devices (like Z-Wave). Until recently, INSTEON offered a
lower cost line of modules (ICON) starting at about $20. These have been
discontinued for the most part and now the base prices starts at about $40 per lighting
module. Newer modules are finally starting to arrive using INSTEON, but
again they costly starting at $80 and up. These include IR control,
irrigation, and more. INSTEON requires a neutral wire.
Others (RadioRA, UPB, Zigbee)
Lutron
RadioRA and UPB are two other technologies that you might want to look
into. The reason I’m not covering them
in-depth here is because of the module cost and the lack of mControl
support. I know the majority of readers
here are interested in lower cost solutions, RadioRA and UPB are most likely
the most reliable; however that comes with a price. UPB lighting modules start at $90+ and
RadioRA starts at $140+ per lighting module and goes up significantly for other
control options. Some have asked about
Zigbee, and for the most part this it is used by higher end products from the
likes of Crestron, AMX, and Control4.
Which
should you pick?
The
age old question for lighting control and home automation is which standard to
choose? Unfortunately, there is no single answer. Each of the above offers
advantages but of course there are disadvantages as well.
I
chose INSTEON a year ago when modules started around $20 as price was my main
consideration. I’ve had a great experience with INSTEON and have added
various other INSTEON and X10 modules to my setup. Likewise, Z-Wave is a great choice and
basically required if you have an older home without neutral wires.
Personally,
I’d say it is a toss up between Z-Wave and INSTEON at this point. Both have matured and both can offer great
functionality with or without mControl.
One
great advantage of mControl is that it can control all of the above from within
a single install. All you need to do here is have a PC-based controller
connected for each standard. Since INSTEON and X10 are backwards
compatible, all INSTEON controllers also handle X10. If you want all
three standards to work concurrently, just pickup an INSTEON controller and a
Z-Wave controller and you are good to go.
None
of the above are perfect, and I will say DIY home automation might still be at
the point where you are going to have to play with it to get it right (same as
HTPCs), or rather exactly how you want it to be. If you’re interested in a rock hard system
that you never touch, I’d highly recommend going the route of a custom
installer. That said, I don’t want to
paint the picture that these technologies don’t work. I use INSTEON and X10 in a very small setup
and have no issues other than my breaking stuff on my own.
It’s
not just about the PC
I
think one common mistake people make is thinking that control should be limited
to your PC. The greatest advantage of lighting control to me is the
various types of control form factors that you can have. For example,
mControl is a great control interface in rooms that you use Media Center/Media
Center Extenders. However, you might not always want to turn on your
display in order to turn off a light in the room. Depending on which
standard you choose there are various other control options including RF/IR remotes
and tabletop controllers. If we can ever get some shipping Sideshow
devices, mControl will have this angle covered too. Bottom line; don’t
forget to consider other switches, tabletop controllers, and remotes as a part
of your decision.
mControl
also has a mobile interface so it is simple to integrate your iPhone/iPod
touch, SmartPhone, Tablet PC, touchpanel, etc.
Adding
mControl
The
next step in your lighting control process is adding mControl for complete
Media Center control and macro support. I’ll have another post on things you can do here, but the first
step is always picking the right technology.
The one thing that I see everyone is interested in before starting your
projects is seeing how everything wraps up with lighting, security, cameras,
etc. Clearly there is a lot of
information here, so it is difficult to try and wrap everything up into a tight
package.
If
X10/INSTEON is your technology, then one of the best starting points is picking
up an INSTEON Starter Kit. You can either get one with plug-in lamp modules, or
in-wall switches. If
Z-Wave is your choice, then you can pick up a Z-Wave Starter Kit too. These don’t include your PC controller, so
for X10 or INSTEON this is the
one you want, and for Z-Wave
this one.
What Others Say
Ben
Drawbaugh has
had a few recent
posts on lighting control and his INSTEON setup. DW
writes about his X10 setup and not knowing if INSTEON or Z-Wave would be a
better choice. He ends with “as with
wireless networking, go with whatever works for you” which kind of sums
everything up.
I’d
be crazy to say I’m the best source of home automation information, so on your
journey to find the perfect system you might want to check out other websites
like CocoonTech, AVS Forum, mControl, and SmartHome’s INSTEON forum.
