Help with receptacle control

Hi there, 
 
I'm looking to use X10 to have 1 retro-fit light switch to turn on 2 different outlets. This is for kitchen cabinet lighting. X10 seems the best option for this since you can control specific zones. My house is 100% LED lighting, except for the cabinet lights which are halogen (I think). I understand LED on the powerline can block X10 communications. 
 
I see other smart products out there like Leviton Z-Wave which has filters for LEDs.
 
I'm trying to make this "wife friendly" to where she turns on a switch, and the cabinet lights on 2 separate receptacles come on.
 
My question:
 
Will X10 work in a 100% LED house?
Is there a way to "pair" a Z-Wave light switch to 2 Z-Wave outlets?
Is there something else I should be looking into?
 
Just making sure I'm buying the right products.
 
Thanks!

Do you already have the x-10 and Z wave hardware? If no, then I'd shy away from the x-10. It's prone to errors and (I think) a dead technology. I don't have any experience with Z wave, but I would think it would do what you want. Insteon will in fact do what you ask.

Welcome to Cocoontech drsprite.
 
I still utilize X-10 for the Christmas Holiday lighting which is a mixture of old and new LED stuff. 
 
Mostly because its quick to set up and utilizes one house code for all of the lighting.
 
The newest LED stuff this year worked fine with X10.  (300 LED lamp net lighting).
 
I utilize one UPB relay switch for multiple LED LV outdoor lighting.  Works fine. (LV=low voltage-12VDC and HV=high voltage-120VAC)
 
I am just starting to implement LED lighting indoors.  (I have online modules for X-10, Insteon, Z-Wave and now ZIgbee).
 
All of my in wall automation switches are UPB today.
 
First "test" was using one link from a multitoggle UPB in wall switch to a UPB lighting module.
 
It works for me. (HV LED COB lamps in a glass and wood cabinet).
 
I use an inwall mutitoggle UPB switch to manage 3 HV deck lights and all of the deck indirect LV LED lighting.
 
The UPB switch is next to an outlet in the kitchen under one kitchen counter and another UPB switch is outside adjacent to the grill and another one by the door to the deck.  These are all multitoggle switches talking via links mostly.
 
For a bit I thought that the UPB mulitoggle switches would be low on the WAF.  They are not and she knows them better than me these days.
 
You could go with two automation relay switches powering two 12VDC LED transformers for the under the counter lighting. (the sure bet methodology).
 
Personally here prefer not to plug in any automation modules to any kitchen outlets mostly due to WAF and related aesthetics; that is me though.
 
I still utilize halogen lighting (direct and indirect) procrastinating still. 
 
Playing with a tiny 120VAC automated Zigbee module called the Securifi Peanut Plug.  It has a Euro look to it and is just a bit bigger than the outlet.  It does all of that energy stuff.  I am amazed at the size of it and its round instead of rectangular.
 
The prices are so reasonable these days you can purchase LV and HV LED lights and see for yourself what suits your fancy and creates good WAF.  (one month LV and another month HV LED lighting).
 
Years ago utilized the X10 automated outlets.  II do not use any automated outlets these days. Rather many of my outlets are 1/2 connected to the wall switch.  Electrical contractor did this during construction.

I think UPB would be the the best option especially since you have UPB already installed.

AutomatedOutlet said:

I think UPB would be the the best option especially since you have UPB already installed.

Click to expand...

OP never mentioned UPB. I got the feeling that he doesn't have anything installed yet and is looking for what will work for him before he buys.

If you have X10 units already by all means use them for applications that aren't top priority for reliability, but if you want something that works fairly reliably, with long distances involved, use Insteon. Most new units are dual band using both powerline and RF signals and repeat the signals until it gets there. On top of all that the recipient acknowledges receipt of the signal or the controller keeps trying.

Not many HA systems offer all the features. Not perfect though as there are a few devices that just suck in every HA system but people have many, many ways of interfacing every other system to the ISY controller, Compact, less than 2 watts, and extremely reliable. Never heard of one giving up the ghost.

Some great information in here, thanks everyone. 
 
I do not currently own anything - I am trying to research before I click the buy button. 
 
I know I can use Insteon - I'm just trying to also future proof this setup to expand it to more things potentially, and that's where I think ZWave might have the leg-up with all the different companies offering ZWave ready equipment. Whereas Insteon you're stuck in their product line up with not a lot of cross-compatibility among Hubs.
 
I guess what I'm still trying to figure out is can a ZWave light switch "pair" to two ZWave receptacles? 
 
I know Insteon can pair a light switch to an outlet receptacle, but I'm not sure ZWave can do that. 

I second UPB.  Yes, you can pair any number of switches to any number of other devices (like outlets) and its super reliable. Nothing else (no controller) is required, but controllers can certainly control things as well.  UPB runs over the powerline, so if you have metal boxes, no problem. 
 
With UPB you can even do things like having a single click of a switch turn on that switch, but a double click can control an outlet. You program UPB with free software called UPStart.

I don't know a way that you can do this with Zwave, without automation rules from another controller. Having said that, as the OP stated, the benefit of Zwave is that you have access to devices from a myriad of vendors as well as different device types (e.g. thermostats, deadbolts, etc).

UPB is like X10 but "fixed" - it has a much stronger signal and is tons more reliable.  I have >70 switches in my large house and they work great.  X10 worked for us back in the 70's but I haven't had any luck with it in the last 20 years with multispeed pumps, CFL's, and other things causing interference.
 
My UPB system is unbelievably reliable - never needing retunes or rerouting or any of that junk - it just always works... and it has more flexibility than any of the other systems I've compared.
 
For your specific example, my kitchen has 3 banks of lights (2 are dimmable, the 3rd isn't - or wasn't until recently) plus a receptacle controlling the cabinet lights... all 4 circuits turn on/off with the press of a single paddle.  You could press/hold for dim up and dim down and depending on the sequence you could get certain banks to stay on or off - quite flexible if you're used to it.
 
In another example touching on the single-tap vs. double-tap mentioned above... my rear patio light is a normal UPB switch - normal single tap on/off turns the lights on/off - but if you double-tap it also turns on the landscape lights via a plug-in module inside the low voltage transformer housing (designed for integrating a plug-in timer and present in most LV transformers) on a totally separate breaker.
 
UPB is also multi-vendor friendly - there are about 5 primary vendors.  I've never liked that Insteon is single vendor although I have been impressed with the sheer number of interoperable solutions they've come out with over the years.

+1 on UPB

 
I'll have to look into UPB devices - haven't read up much on them yet. Only Insteon and Z-Wave.
 
Our kitchen cabinet lights was a complete afterthought, so we had 2 separate outlets pulled to the top of the cabinets. That was the easiest thing to do. They're not switch controlled which is why I started looking into this whole thing. As I do more research though I find more things that seem very cool - so I want to make sure I invest in the right technology. 

Curious if you are using conduit for your electric?
 
Are you an electrical DIYer or do you prefer to subcontract an electrician for electrical work?

Unsure on conduit. Our house is currently under construction but in the final phase. Our move-in date is next week (finally).
 
The electrician our GC has hired is taking care of the receptacle extensions we asked for. But to add them onto a light switch was too expensive for us to consider it worthy. Which is why I'm looking into some automation products.

Thank-you drsprite.
 
Yeah here had the contractor put in additional switched 120VAC power under the cabinets in one new home construction and I did a post after construction add here in the midwest.