home automation mega poll

[The Pod]

Just curious of those who selected Insteon... Are you running only the Insteon Protocol, or have you assigned an X-10 address to the device for interfacing with something else. I feel that if you assign an X-10 address to an Insteon module, then it is considered to be using X-10 technology and should be counted toward your X-10 devices installed also. Remember this poll is for the technology used, not the types of devices installed.

The Pod

 

[un-wired]

The interesting part from the retail side of the fence is that so many people are settling for a technology with issues.

 

[DavidL]

un-wired
All technology has issues....

 

[upstatemike]

Just curious of those who selected Insteon... Are you running only the Insteon Protocol, or have you assigned an X-10 address to the device for interfacing with something else. I feel that if you assign an X-10 address to an Insteon module, then it is considered to be using X-10 technology and should be counted toward your X-10 devices installed also. Remember this poll is for the technology used, not the types of devices installed.

The Pod

I have several switches that use both X-10 and Insteon. For example: The switches in my basement are divided into 5 areas and 10 groups (the lab area has 5 separate groups). The set of switches in each group are cross-linked with insteon addresses so they operate together. The switches in each area have a commaon X-10 address which is used to turn off all the switches in an area (but not turn them on).

When I turn on any switch in the workshop group the workshop lights go on but not the phone room lights or the mid-basement entry lights which are in the same area but are linked into their own groups (using Insteon). If I leave the mid-basement area (which includes the workshop and phone room) turning off the mid-basement entry switch causes my Stargate to transmit an X-10 Off command that turns off all the lights in the mid basement area.

Leaving the basement complely causes an X-10 ALL OFF to be sent to the basement housecode so that all all areas get turned off. Since I use X-10 only for OFF commands and only Insteon for ON commands, which way do I count the basement switches?

 

[TonyNo]

The interesting part from the retail side of the fence is that so many people are settling for a technology with issues.

The poll is for current primary technology. I have just started looking at other technologies and have not yet settled on anything. Being mostly X10 still just means I have not switched yet.

 

[The Pod]

Since I use X-10 only for OFF commands and only Insteon for ON commands, which way do I count the basement switches?

I would say you that you should count the device twice, once for Insteon and once for X-10 as it is relying on both protocols. According to the way Electron phrased it, he is interested in the protocol technology which you have the most devices using.

This poll is about the protocol you primarily rely on, so if you have 100 Insteon devices, and 99 X10 devices, I am only interested in the Insteon setup

The Pod

 

[rocco]

With 95 respondents, I thought there was enough information for some number crunching. Here is a simple observation:

The percentages of people having NO issues with each technology, in order of satisfaction.

85% for UPB
63% for ZWave
30% for Insteon
27% for X10

 

[Paul_PDX]

I marked myself as Insteon with Major issues but that doesn't necessarilly mean I am not satisfied.

My major issues are having to depend on X10 for missing devices, immature software, and immature SDK. I didn't think the survey was asking satisfaction.

 

[rocco]

But if you consider just MAJOR issues, things look different:

The percentages of people having MAJOR issues with each technology, in order of satisfaction.

0% for ZWave
2% for X10
8% for UPB
17% for Insteon

These numbers aren't as statistically valid, as there are so few people having major issues.

 

[rocco]

I marked myself as Insteon with Major issues but that doesn't necessarilly mean I am not satisfied.

Good point.

I guess I need to word that differently.

 

[huggy59]

Interesting info, no matter how you slice it. In my case, I'm still using X10, with no issues, but that's misleading because I only have invested in X10 as I'm still waiting to see what other technology would be a fitting replacement, AND I rip out the offending X10 devices if they give me any problems. That and I have a fairly simple HA network right now, just 15 or so actual devices.

In reality, I'm leaning more and more to hardwired systems, or just plain old WALKING, FLIPPING, and TWISTING! hehehe

 

[upstatemike]

In reality, I'm leaning more and more to hardwired systems, or just plain old WALKING, FLIPPING, and TWISTING! hehehe

You can get a lot of automation bang for the buck using simple Leviton commercial grade motion detectors.

 

[electron]

Also have to keep in mind that UPB is mostly installed by installers, so you wouldn't see those customers post here, since most CT'ers are DIY folks. Z-wave, X-10 and Insteon are targetted more at the DIY cocooner.

 

[Guy Lavoie]

I clicked on using X10 with some (very) minor issues. Nothing chronic, just the little things that can happen due to X10's nature. The percentages would be more revealing if they indicated the percentage of votes within each technology. For example (as of this post) for Insteon:

Insteon, without any issues [ 7 ] [7.14%]
Insteon, with some minor issues [ 13 ] [13.27%]
Insteon, with some major issues [ 4 ] [4.08%]

4 out of a total of 24 Insteon users have major issues, so 16% of the Insteon users are having major issues. Similarly:

X10, without any issues [ 14 ] [14.29%]
X10, with some minor issues [ 25 ] [25.51%]
X10, with some major issues [ 1 ] [1.02%]

1 out of 40 X10 users has major issues, or 2.5 %

Just a thought...

 

[miked]

RAdioRA! It's a little pricey, but it's bullet-proof. I have never had *any* issues with any aspect of it . . . lights always turn on, lights always turn off, everything is always reported properly, etc., etc.