First Insteon failure

[Timoh]

Well it looks like I've had my first Insteon failure. The switch does not work and level light only blinks and fades right out when I press the program button.

I may have replaced it if they were still relatively inexpensive, but Digger hinted that they no longer had a price advantage so I hopped over to Automated Outlet to check it out... They are actually $2 more than the Levitons I used previously!!! I recall one of the reasons I went with the Insteons was the cost... Well not anymore.

I have 3 Levitons which have been flawless for 4 years and 3 Insteons for two years of which one has just failed. From day one folks have been mentioning problems with the Insteons, but the price was right to chance it. But obviously the issues have not gone away and they no longer have a price advantage. And a 33% failure rate is a wee bit too high for me. OK... Maybe if I had 20 switches and one failed after two years... Fine. But 1 in 3!??!

Unless someone can offer up another favourite brand, I'll probably swap it for a Leviton. One of the challenges is that some of my boxes are fairly tight and the reduced depth of the Insteon was great! Their might be some "cramming" going on with the Leviton replacements.

Tim

 

[coppercox]

yeah, I know the feeling...luckily I had mine only a few days when it failed so I got an exchange. I figure I'm in less than $1000 and as they begin to fail and out of warranty I will switch to something else - two years hopefully I can get out of the Insteon stuff before I see the failures others are reporting.

By that time I am sure that Zwave, Zigbee, UPB or something new and robust will be available at comparable prices.

 

[Digger]

Well it looks like I've had my first Insteon failure. The switch does not work and level light only blinks and fades right out when I press the program button.

I may have replaced it if they were still relatively inexpensive, but Digger hinted that they no longer had a price advantage so I hopped over to Automated Outlet to check it out... They are actually $2 more than the Levitons I used previously!!! I recall one of the reasons I went with the Insteons was the cost... Well not anymore.

I have 3 Levitons which have been flawless for 4 years and 3 Insteons for two years of which one has just failed. From day one folks have been mentioning problems with the Insteons, but the price was right to chance it. But obviously the issues have not gone away and they no longer have a price advantage. And a 33% failure rate is a wee bit too high for me. OK... Maybe if I had 20 switches and one failed after two years... Fine. But 1 in 3!??!

Unless someone can offer up another favourite brand, I'll probably swap it for a Leviton. One of the challenges is that some of my boxes are fairly tight and the reduced depth of the Insteon was great! Their might be some "cramming" going on with the Leviton replacements.

Tim

My opinion.... if it means anything ... is that failure rate other than the paddles is not to bad. Yes I had failures other than paddles but I had just over 90 or so products and maybe 6 or 8 tops had failures other than paddles. I do not consider the keypadlinc LED's constantly blinking a failure but I wish they would have swapped them since it dirves you nuts. Somebody elses problem now though.

 

[Digger]

yeah, I know the feeling...luckily I had mine only a few days when it failed so I got an exchange. I figure I'm in less than $1000 and as they begin to fail and out of warranty I will switch to something else - two years hopefully I can get out of the Insteon stuff before I see the failures others are reporting.

By that time I am sure that Zwave, Zigbee, UPB or something new and robust will be available at comparable prices.

Still you are out a thousand dollars. They should last more than 2 years.

 

[Waynedb]

I had my first bad switch and a bad PLC after over a year of use. I have decided to switch to Lutron Radio RA not so much because I am mad at Smarthome or anything but because it seems everything I have been buying that is made in China over the last couple of years has failed or is not
working right. I have 9 month old laptop that is falling apart now and I am fed up with all this cheaply made crap, I am now looking for US made products and although it is harder to find them they seem to last much longer.

 

[coppercox]

[/quote]

Still you are out a thousand dollars. They should last more than 2 years.
[/quote]

Yeah, but two years from now this will be merely a memory. I shall be in a better financial position to afford the quality that the wife deserves.

 

[Timoh]

Yep... I think I'll go back to the Levitons... It's nice having some level of consistency in the home.

I wonder if the Levitons are US made?

I think x10 is like 35mm film... So many other formats came out to try and displace 35 mm... 110, 120, disc, polaroid... In the end it took digital to really make an impact... But I still use my 35 mm SLR and I see quite a few other folks using 35mm cameras.

So every now and then, somebody comes up with a new powerline protocol, yet x10 always seems to remain.

Tim

 

[Waynedb]

Funny you mentioned cameras, I was going to start my transition to Lutron this month but instead decided to buys some lenses for my Digital SLR, I have tons of older film cameras and their values are dropping like a rock thanks to the popularity of digital. I liked most of what Insteon was doing but they seemed to be trying to be too cheap to me. I hope they survive their teething pains but I am done waiting for them to release the stuff they were suposed to release last year and I want better quality. It would be nice if Insteon had a higher end line, like Canon does with their L lenses.

 

[Digger]

Funny you mentioned cameras, I was going to start my transition to Lutron this month but instead decided to buys some lenses for my Digital SLR, I have tons of older film cameras and their values are dropping like a rock thanks to the popularity of digital. I liked most of what Insteon was doing but they seemed to be trying to be too cheap to me. I hope they survive their teething pains but I am done waiting for them to release the stuff they were suposed to release last year and I want better quality. It would be nice if Insteon had a higher end line, like Canon does with their L lenses.

It sounds like SH stopped releasing Switches, Dimmers etc because of the quality problems (although get them to admit there is a quality problem is like pulling teeth). They also were slow releasing the RF devices because of a problem that they will not admit to (but some know of and are unable to discuss because of the NDA they agreed to). Maybe they rushed this to market to quickly. And maybe the mass exodus were actually scapegoats?

They had some great ideas but just didnt pull it off.

Maybe we should do a poll asking how many people used to use Insteon, and how many plan to switch to another protocal in the next year.