upstatemike
Senior Member
There have been a lot of posts lately about problems with the various new lighting protocols folks are using to replace their old X-10 stuff and it strikes me that several years after the introduction of these new products that there is not only no clear winner but also no option that could even be recommended as a “good” choice right now. Rather than review the faults of each protocol I thought it might be a good New Years exercise to once again invite folks to list the top 10 features they wish they could have in their switches and modules. This does not have to be practical (the folks who design new products are not likely to hang out here to read it anyway) but it might be interesting to see how close to the collective “ideal” each of the existing protocols actually comes as well as to see what other folks consider important.
Here is my list if Top 10 features I would like to see in a lighting platform sorted from most important ( #1) to least important (# 10). If we get enough responses I might use the information to help reorganize the lighting section of the HA Comparison Spreadsheet to better focus on the comparison points that most folks feel are critical. My personal wish list would be:
1. Field upgradable firmware. I feel any consumer item based on firmware should be field upgradeable and that any product that does not offer the option is a rip-off. The devices have to be programmed somehow initially so the electronics are likely already in place. Manufacturers simply need to provide a mini-USB port under the paddle so that firmware bugs and feature upgrades can be applied without swapping the entire switch.
2. A single full-spectrum LED. I would like to see the 2-color LEDs used by some manufacturers combined with the “light bar” indicators used by others in a single full-spectrum color LED. This LED might be Blue (cold) when the switch is off. It could then turn Red when the switch is on dime and then ramp up through Orange and Yellow to Bright White when full on. It could also be used programmable to display other colors for other conditions such as different shades of Violet or Green to indicate a particular scene is currently active. Or maybe flashing a particular color to warn you that the garage door is still open or that the alarm system was activated while you were away. I think a single LED with a full color spectrum and a robust protocol to control it could do everything a light bar indicator does with a much cleaner look.
3. Strong Broadcast plus Repeater technology. Simpler is better and the whole idea of maintaining routing tables to communicate between switches just seems dumb. Especially if you don’t have a lot of devices in your system and just want to have a switch in the house to control a light out in the barn. I would like to see strong signals like in UPB plus the “all devices are repeaters” idea of Insteon except have all devices repeat both powerline AND RF signals. I guess you would call it the “every device is an Accesspoint” idea in Insteon terms except there is no indication that it will ever be implemented by Smarthome… but maybe someone else will pick up on the idea.
4. Triac Plus Relay in every device. I like the idea of having a single switch or module that can work in both dimming situations or to switch inductive loads but the triac only implementations have had some issues. You can have trouble with some inductive loads with these devices and I think this could be easily resolved if a relay was employed in addition to the triac. You could dim down to one percent but once you move to 0 percent, the relay drops out and isolates the load completely. This would solve most of the issues of having one standard switch type while retaining all of the benefits. (Triacs and Relays are not expensive enough to raise a valid cost issue for this approach).
5. A Much Faster Protocol. New protocols always make the argument that you don’t need much speed to control a light switch so low speed messages are fine. The problem is that controlling a switch is only the simplest case of what you would expect the protocol to do. The real question is how fast can a controller use the protocol to interrogate all 250 of your devices after power is restored from an outage to confirm the true state of your system? How quickly can the protocol interrogate every device in a large scene and resend individual commands as required? Fast enough to get it done before the next scene is activate 1 second later? I really think the use case arguments used to justify slow protocols are unrealistic in real world applications.
6. Much Smaller Devices. It is amazing how much empty space there is inside a home automation switch. That space could be put to much better use inside the junction box; especially in retrofit situations. Lets dump the bulky plastic switch backs for full metal “heat sink” cases and make the darned things much, much, thinner.
7. Full Remote Programming. Once I install a switch I don’t ever want to visit it again unless it locks up or has some other catastrophic failure. I want my switches to be completely configurable from my PC. I do not want to visit the switch to get it into programming mode. I do not want to have to visit the switch to perform a factory reset on it. I want to do it all from my PC.
8. Lower Cost. The current price models that ensure profits for several layers of distributors, dealers, and installers, is totally killing the chances these new technologies from becoming the “next X-10”. We are in a recession. The do it yourself market is going to rule while money stays tight. I would like to see some reality put into the business models for these products and have them stay below the $30 threshold for switches and below $20 for plug-in modules.
9. More Devices. For all the talk about replacing X-10 they still rule when it comes to variety of modules even years after the new technologies became available. Still waiting for the UPB screw-in module or the Insteon “Stick-A-Switch”. I hope the next big player to come along is a little quicker at releasing new devices!
10. True Rocker Switches. I just have to comment on the crazy design decision by some manufacturers to go back to X-10 style press-on/press-off paddles. My system is becoming more and more dependent on being able to trigger things based on manual operation of switches. I actually think it is now more important to know when a switch is manually operated than it is to be able to control the switch remotely. My ideal switch would be true rocker all the way with rock solid communication back to the controller whenever someone presses the on or off side of the paddle.
Here is my list if Top 10 features I would like to see in a lighting platform sorted from most important ( #1) to least important (# 10). If we get enough responses I might use the information to help reorganize the lighting section of the HA Comparison Spreadsheet to better focus on the comparison points that most folks feel are critical. My personal wish list would be:
1. Field upgradable firmware. I feel any consumer item based on firmware should be field upgradeable and that any product that does not offer the option is a rip-off. The devices have to be programmed somehow initially so the electronics are likely already in place. Manufacturers simply need to provide a mini-USB port under the paddle so that firmware bugs and feature upgrades can be applied without swapping the entire switch.
2. A single full-spectrum LED. I would like to see the 2-color LEDs used by some manufacturers combined with the “light bar” indicators used by others in a single full-spectrum color LED. This LED might be Blue (cold) when the switch is off. It could then turn Red when the switch is on dime and then ramp up through Orange and Yellow to Bright White when full on. It could also be used programmable to display other colors for other conditions such as different shades of Violet or Green to indicate a particular scene is currently active. Or maybe flashing a particular color to warn you that the garage door is still open or that the alarm system was activated while you were away. I think a single LED with a full color spectrum and a robust protocol to control it could do everything a light bar indicator does with a much cleaner look.
3. Strong Broadcast plus Repeater technology. Simpler is better and the whole idea of maintaining routing tables to communicate between switches just seems dumb. Especially if you don’t have a lot of devices in your system and just want to have a switch in the house to control a light out in the barn. I would like to see strong signals like in UPB plus the “all devices are repeaters” idea of Insteon except have all devices repeat both powerline AND RF signals. I guess you would call it the “every device is an Accesspoint” idea in Insteon terms except there is no indication that it will ever be implemented by Smarthome… but maybe someone else will pick up on the idea.
4. Triac Plus Relay in every device. I like the idea of having a single switch or module that can work in both dimming situations or to switch inductive loads but the triac only implementations have had some issues. You can have trouble with some inductive loads with these devices and I think this could be easily resolved if a relay was employed in addition to the triac. You could dim down to one percent but once you move to 0 percent, the relay drops out and isolates the load completely. This would solve most of the issues of having one standard switch type while retaining all of the benefits. (Triacs and Relays are not expensive enough to raise a valid cost issue for this approach).
5. A Much Faster Protocol. New protocols always make the argument that you don’t need much speed to control a light switch so low speed messages are fine. The problem is that controlling a switch is only the simplest case of what you would expect the protocol to do. The real question is how fast can a controller use the protocol to interrogate all 250 of your devices after power is restored from an outage to confirm the true state of your system? How quickly can the protocol interrogate every device in a large scene and resend individual commands as required? Fast enough to get it done before the next scene is activate 1 second later? I really think the use case arguments used to justify slow protocols are unrealistic in real world applications.
6. Much Smaller Devices. It is amazing how much empty space there is inside a home automation switch. That space could be put to much better use inside the junction box; especially in retrofit situations. Lets dump the bulky plastic switch backs for full metal “heat sink” cases and make the darned things much, much, thinner.
7. Full Remote Programming. Once I install a switch I don’t ever want to visit it again unless it locks up or has some other catastrophic failure. I want my switches to be completely configurable from my PC. I do not want to visit the switch to get it into programming mode. I do not want to have to visit the switch to perform a factory reset on it. I want to do it all from my PC.
8. Lower Cost. The current price models that ensure profits for several layers of distributors, dealers, and installers, is totally killing the chances these new technologies from becoming the “next X-10”. We are in a recession. The do it yourself market is going to rule while money stays tight. I would like to see some reality put into the business models for these products and have them stay below the $30 threshold for switches and below $20 for plug-in modules.
9. More Devices. For all the talk about replacing X-10 they still rule when it comes to variety of modules even years after the new technologies became available. Still waiting for the UPB screw-in module or the Insteon “Stick-A-Switch”. I hope the next big player to come along is a little quicker at releasing new devices!
10. True Rocker Switches. I just have to comment on the crazy design decision by some manufacturers to go back to X-10 style press-on/press-off paddles. My system is becoming more and more dependent on being able to trigger things based on manual operation of switches. I actually think it is now more important to know when a switch is manually operated than it is to be able to control the switch remotely. My ideal switch would be true rocker all the way with rock solid communication back to the controller whenever someone presses the on or off side of the paddle.
