HAI vs. Elk

[elcano]

I talked to most of the lighting folks at CES (i.e. Lutron, Control4, etc.) in January and most dismissed Insteon as low-end hobbyist DIY stuff like X10. But if you believe what the Smarthome folks are saying, it's going to really take off even with professional installers.

This is not an apology for Insteon, however I want to make a point.

Whether a product is used by professional installers is determined primarily by two factors:

- Profit margin - low cost options are no business to a professional
- Availability to end users - If end users can buy and install easily, then the professional will not be able to gain their margins. If easy, theres not real need to a professional.

Obviously, if it is low quality a professional will avoid it to prevent problems with the customers, but this still need to be proven for Insteon.

So, if you can find something that is more expensive, more complicated, and provides something that other products cannot, then this is a candidate for a professional product. Regardless of the qualities of the supposed-to-be DIY product.

I think that professional installers can make money for their work and other extra products/work even if they dont make a lot of profit on Insteon. Insteon is just part of a complete HA system.

 

[nwavguy]

This is getting off topic, but I agree with all your comments about installers. They ideally want exclusive products, price protection, high margins, etc.

I was referring to the fact the Insteon switches/dimmers/modules are a pain to set up. You have to hold down the button for 10 seconds, run to the other switch within 4 minutes, etc. If you want to remove a device from the "network" it has to be "unlinked" first or else the network will slow down trying to talk to a device that no longer exists. It's a rather awkward set up if you have a house with 50 insteon devices.

Unlike some other products, which have hardwired master and slave switches, the Insteon products are all masters and must be "soft linked" to each other. This means the electricians can't even test the other switches on 3-way and 4-way circuits when they install everything. The low voltage guys have to program them before they'll work.

It's also possible for homeowners (especially kids) to screw up the system. If someone holds down a light switch for 10 seconds, and then hits it again, they just unprogrammed that switch (or they could accidentally create a new link, etc.). For DIY folks this is bad enough, but at least they can hopefully figure out what happened and fix it. For a professionally installed system, however, it means a warranty callback and trip out to the house to get the lights working right again.

So, in some ways, you get what you pay for with Insteon? Other HA switches can be centrally programmed with PC software which is far more "installer friendly" for bigger installations. They also generally have hard wired multi-way circuits that still work manually without any programming.

 

[elcano]

Very good points. Agree.

Hmm...You gave me an idea. I have to start thinking how many days without TV my children are gonna have it they press the #$& buttons for more than 10 seconds. :angry: