pete_c said:Work2Play,
Good idea! My HA parts box is overflowing with much junk lately.
Really just trying to justify a logical means of trying something new here.
Kind of done playing with HA software and new hardware unless I get something out of my time lately. (grumpy old man syndrome)
I already have UPB, X-10, Insteon and Z-Wave around the house. Over the last 30 years I have played some with VR.
It has never worked to my satisfaction.
I've shut off my automobile VR as BMW never did get it right.
I guess if MS finally "got it"; then maybe they should put a little more into their efforts promoting the Kinect device.
pete_c said:Personally here did purchase an XBox for my son a few years back. Personally never did play it.
I do recall paying on a subscription for its use for a few years.
The real "test" here though would be using my wife as a test subject as she's afraid of the touch screens thinking she may break the house (very slowly just getting used to the OmniPro touch screens though - years now?)
Convince me that you application / Kinect hardware automation is the "best thing since sliced bread" (age showing now) and I will purchase a Kinect before the end of the day and test your software / Kinect device in the house in the next day or so.
is that it's 100% hands off
pete_c said:Thank-you Chris.
This is what interests me the most right now.
My wall switches today are almost all UPB. Up until this past summer the house wall switches were 3/4 Insteon and 1/4 UPB.
I am getting ready to try ZIgbee most likely in the near future. I can test with Z-Wave and X-10 easily enough.
pete_c said:I started with X10 in 1978.
The natural progression from X10 was Insteon so when I moved to the current home around the early 2000's put in Insteon everywhere.
Then sometime in the late 2000's spoke to someone who had a lot to do with this whole X-10 to Insteon (debaucle) at one of the EhExpo's in Orlando, Florida.
Kind of pissed I sort of castigated him for being involved in the first Insteon stuff (debaucle that it turned out to be).
But really I am nobody so it really didn't matter what I said to him anyways.
That said all he could say is that the next time it would be better.
I had already decided to start removing all of the Insteon in the house before speaking with him.
Personally his responses to me were akin to a "deer in the headlights" ; maybe he was just startled and he lost his ability to speak?
He didn't convince me though that the next time around Insteon would be better.
pete_c said:I just noticed I used the word "debaucle" twice.
I wish all the best for Insteon and their generation 2 stuff.
Personally; maybe due to my age I enjoy much tinkering these days and have turned my home into a kind of home automation sandbox. (Home automation is very addicting)
Lately though have little patience for "things" that are supposed to do this or that and do not.
picta said:I never had an Insteon switch that lived for more than 2 years, keypads are the worst, and the warranty on them is only 2 years. Centralite warranty is 5 years, same as for some UPB switches and Visia RF. Insteon also "upgrades" their products about every couple of years, the most recent one is dual-band, so anything you have installed becomes obsolete and un-supported very quickly. At $50 per switch it is not a good investment of either time or money. You aren't even getting what you are paying for.
Disclosure: I was also an early adopter of Insteon and tried 3 different versions of the product.
ChrisCicc said:Do you have a whole house surge protector?
Also, all Insteon versions are forwards and backwards compatible, they don't become obsolete.
wuench said:The newer insteon has actually been less reliable for me. I had hoped by the time I finished installing switches in my house it would get better, but it has not. I have about 4 filters installed and have identified at least two more places where I probably need them. There is nothing in I2 to make things more reliable, just faster since they can send more than
picta said:That's funny, they don't become obsolete, they just don't work And yes, I do have a whole house surge protector. How long did you have your Insteon switches installed for?