Elk M1-Gold Lighting interface

[banderson28]

I have an Elk M1Gold system and I'm looking to add lighting control. I've read lots of posts and I am thinking Insteon might be the best solution for me but I'm not sure. Right now, I only want to control 3 or 4 light switches, but in the future might want to do more. Also in the future I think I will want to be able to control a thermostat. I also want to be able to control the lights via my iPhone, preferably via eKeypad. I want this to work reliably, but don't want to spend a fortune.

So, what do I need? Is Insteon the correct solution?

If Insteon is the correct way to do this, what parts do I need -- I know I need the ISY 99i, but what PLM do I need -- looks like the one that many people mention is discontinued (2412S)

 

[BLH]

2413S is the present PLM and since it does not provide power to the ISY99i like the 2412S did. You also use an external DC supply into it.
That is the way I have mine connected after updating to the 2413S from the older 2412S.

The 2413S is Dual Band and does both Insteon Power LIne and RF signals.
Also has a faster processor and memory.

Simplehomenet makes their version of the older 2412S but I would not go that route.

 

[nlaredo]

I've only ever seen it offered as a kit with a dual band PLM on smarthome.com. I got mine from there and thought I was just going to do 3-4 switches so that my M1G could turn on certain lights during alarm, but I liked it enough that I ended up doing every switch in my house and set up all sorts of lighting automation programs in it.

 

[banderson28]

Thank you for the replies... another question:
Do I need the ISY 99i, or can I communicate directly with the 2413S via an ELK-MIXSP serial expander?

 

[apostolakisl]

Thank you for the replies... another question:
Do I need the ISY 99i, or can I communicate directly with the 2413S via an ELK-MIXSP serial expander?

If you are only doing 3 or 4 switches, it would be a bit overkill to get an ISY.

I have an ISY and love it. Without it, Insteon would be impossible on any meaningful scale (not that there aren't some other ways to control Insteon, but ISY seems to be the best).

There is no way you could have a large Insteon installation without an ISY or one of the other systems to manage it. Manually linking a large installation would be absolutely insane. I have never tried any of the other systems, but I highly highly recommend ISY. And, since you have Elk, the new Elk module for ISY is incredible.

To get you started off, why don't you just get yourself the 2413s PLM and 3 or 4 dual band switches (2477d). If you decide to expand your automation, then get an ISY and a bunch more switches. The Elk can directly control Insteon via the PLM (need the Elk XSP). If you get an ISY, the Elk talks to the ISY via IP and the ISY talks to the PLM (you would need the Elk XEP to do the IP comm, and the XSP would be a door stop now).

I'm up to 83 switches at present. I have about 50 scenes and about 150 programs on the ISY. Plus about 80 rules on the Elk. It all works quite well, but it does get the wife annoyed as I play with all kinds of crazy programs trying to get the system to "think" a step ahead of the people using it.

 

[nlaredo]

I'm up to 83 switches at present. I have about 50 scenes and about 150 programs on the ISY. Plus about 80 rules on the Elk. It all works quite well, but it does get the wife annoyed as I play with all kinds of crazy programs trying to get the system to "think" a step ahead of the people using it.

Wow Lou! I thought you had an insane number of switches and I couldn't possibly have that number in my house. It turns out after counting in the ISY interface, I have 71 switches + one outletlinc + 8 sprinkler zones (1 ezflora) + 3 switches yet to be installed if I prove that my gas heaters use less than whatever a switchlinc relay supports (I would know already, but insteon killed my ted5000). If I add 3 switches that leaves me with only the in-sink-erator not automated.. So I could never get to 83 switches in this house, but I was still surprised how close I was to your number.

I'm only at 16 scenes and most of them are just 3-way (well 3-way and 4-way and 5-way) switch emulation. I'm also using the XEP and I'm thinking about getting the elk module for the isy since it would be nice to add door sensors and others as inputs into the lighting automation.

 

[apostolakisl]

Wow Lou! I thought you had an insane number of switches and I couldn't possibly have that number in my house. It turns out after counting in the ISY interface, I have 71 switches + one outletlinc + 8 sprinkler zones (1 ezflora) + 3 switches yet to be installed if I prove that my gas heaters use less than whatever a switchlinc relay supports (I would know already, but insteon killed my ted5000). If I add 3 switches that leaves me with only the in-sink-erator not automated.. So I could never get to 83 switches in this house, but I was still surprised how close I was to your number.

I'm only at 16 scenes and most of them are just 3-way (well 3-way and 4-way and 5-way) switch emulation. I'm also using the XEP and I'm thinking about getting the elk module for the isy since it would be nice to add door sensors and others as inputs into the lighting automation.

The module is a very nice addition. I don't know how much you have done with Elk rules controlling Insteon stuff, but it was nice to offload all that stuff into ISY programs. For now, I have refrained from writing "internal" Elk stuff on ISY. But, for the most part, you could completely elliminate Elk rules and use ISY to do everything. There is almost nothing that you can do in a rule that you can't have ISY do for you. I say almost becuase there are a few things. If somehow all of my Elk rules got erased, I would probably use ISY to redo most of it.

I am using Elk relays to control my irrigation. I also put a bunch of RF relays on my Elk that control a few things out in the yard wirelessly. I have considered moving all of my irrigation relays to RF relays so as to have a hard separation in the event of a lightening strike.

 

[majortom]

It turns out after counting in the ISY interface, I have 71 switches + one outletlinc + 8 sprinkler zones (1 ezflora) + 3 switches yet to be installed if I prove that my gas heaters use less than whatever a switchlinc relay supports (I would know already, but insteon killed my ted5000).

I have about 50 in my house in FL and about 65 or 70 at my Parents' place in IL. I am about to add 12 to my place in LA (not counting all the installations for my research project). In FL, there is a second building on that has its own electrical service which will soon have about 20 more switches, but I have not yet figured out how to bridge the two systems. I have realized how quickly they add up though.

....that leaves me with only the in-sink-erator not automated.

I wanted to automate the disposal in FL but my friends would not let me. :-D

 

[jruben4]

Can you plug the 2413S right into the J5 connector on the M1G board, and skip the ISY99i? Or can the M1G only handle X-10 naively?

 

[wuench]

No you can't use the J5 connector. You only choices are to use the M1XSP with Insteon PLC or ISY/PLM.

 

[apostolakisl]

Just to clarify the above, ISY/PLM also needs the M1 XEP. It is so routine to have one, that it easy to forget that someone might not have one.