Protecting
your Investment
It's
amazing how much you can do with something as simple as X10.
Sometimes when I consult with people I'm asked questions which, in
effect, unmask the notion that X10 might not be "worthy" of an upscale
installation.
The truth
is that, yes, you can do a cheapie job with X10.
But
cheapie and inexpensive are not necessarily the same thing.
Even
saying that there are comparatively pricey X10 devices on the market
doesn't mean that it's really all that expensive when you consider just
how much this one simple protocol can do for you.
And if you
have a lot of nice X10 switches (i.e. PCS
or some of the better Leviton )
you'll be wise to take steps to protect them from power surges.
See,
unlike your computer or DVD player, you can't just plug your X10
device into a standard surge
protector.
Oopsy! Surge protectors block X10 signals! (no, I'm not a
dork for saying oopsy). But spikes and surges
present serious threats to you if you've invested $30 to $100 apiece
for your switches.
Probably
the best thing you can do if you want to protect your stuff is to
install a Whole-House
Surge Protector
 at the breaker
box.
As I will
always say without reservation, I'm no electrician, though I can do
what I have to in a pinch. In this case, I hired my
industrial electrician brother for free (the price was just about
right).
You can click
here to see the manual describing how this thing connects in
your panel.
I'd recommend you use someone who knows what they're doing if you
aren't familiar with the innards of a breaker box.
The
obvious point of having one of these is that you can rest a little
easier knowing that surges/spikes should be
stopped before they even enter your home. And troubleshooting
X10 problems will be a little easier if you don't toast your devices.
One other
thing you can do to improve performance is to install a coupler/repeater .
Because X10 signals sometimes have to cross from one "leg" to the other
in order to get where they need to go (i.e. from a controller to the
device), they might have to travel as far as the power company's
transformer before they can do so - then they
have to make the return trip to your home and seek out the module or
switch.
The signal
can attenuate so much in that long trip that - well, things just might
not work quite right. The coupler will help the signal cross
over at the breaker box so that it never has to leave the
home. And many couplers will also act as repeaters,
effectively boosting the X10 signal to noise ratio.
It's a
simple thing to do to maximize the effectiveness of your X10
design. In the below photo, you'll see one simply resting
inside the panel itself (it's the small black box at the bottom).
It simply connects to either side of a circuit breaker).
By the way, this is NOT to code!! It should be
installed in a separate enclosure OUTSIDE teh breaker!
One last
thing that could possibly cause problems for you:
occasionally computers, TV's, or other appliances will emit "noise" on
the line that drowns out your X10 signal. While you could
purchase some X10 troubleshooting equipment, you might also simply try
installing a noise
filter at the offending device.
Of course
if you don't know where the problem is coming from, it's a hit-or-miss
thing until you isolate the offender. Simply unplug things
one at a time until the problem goes away.
Now, if I
can just make this plug: In my ebook Integrating the Smart
Home and its Owner I talk more about X10 & how to
make it work well for you. Also, I dig into how X10's
usefulness can be amplified by integrating it into a design that
incorporates a number of other common protocols.
To
sum things up, if you take a few recommended steps, you
can enjoy many of the same features as lighting systems which cost
thousands. In fact, X10's flexibility will allow your design to grow
with time and your own needs.
As just
one example,while it's primarily used for lighting control, consider
just how useful X10 can be in your security design. After
all, effective lighting is one of the more useful deterrents when it
comes to protecting your home. It just makes more sense to
stop the crook before he starts than after.
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