home automation mega poll

[DaveGee]

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

Not to mention at least one person said the 'MAJOR' issue they had with INSTEON was the fact that it didn't have the depth of products (as say X10 I'm assuming)... IMHO that same 'MAJOR' problem also exists with the other X10 rivals. None of them have exactly come out of the gate with everything product type X10 provides today (nor could they).

Dave

 

[RichardU]

Your sample is skewed by other factors as well. For example, people using Insteon may be trying to do more with their system than those using X10, or vice versa.

 

[electron]

Your sample is skewed by other factors as well. For example, people using Insteon may be trying to do more with their system than those using X10, or vice versa.

Welcome to CT Richard!

The poll was really designed to get a quick picture of what people are using nowadays, and how much trouble they are having, so imo, it doesn't matter what they are trying to do, as long as they use the products as intended.


I do agree that 'lack of features' is not a major issue, a major issue means that the product isn't working as intended (i.e. overheating issues, reliability issues, ...)

 

[Chakara]

I want to refer to USMike's post about the perfect lighting protocol....and why it seems to have been missed so badly by all the new technologies....


upstatemike's post

To me, it shouldn't be that hard nor that expensive.....

 

[ingeborgdot]

What type of problems are people seeing with insteon. I have had it for 4 months now and love it. Once I learned how to set it up and got it running it has been great.
I believe if there are any problems that because insteon runs x10 as well is part of the problem. The more things you can run and do the more things that can go wrong or not work. They should scrap the x10 compatiblity and just focus on insteon.

 

[upstatemike]

What type of problems are people seeing with insteon. I have had it for 4 months now and love it. Once I learned how to set it up and got it running it has been great.
I believe if there are any problems that because insteon runs x10 as well is part of the problem. The more things you can run and do the more things that can go wrong or not work. They should scrap the x10 compatiblity and just focus on insteon.

Most of my problems have been with Instroon product, NOT with the Insteon protocol. Some things that come to mind are:

ApplianceLinc modules had problems with certain loads, particularly magnetic ballasts. Eventually they were recalled so I had to replace 22 devices.

Some SwitchLinc dimmers had problems where they would flicker the load in response to Insteon traffic on the line. Fortunately I was not affected but many people have to exchange their switches (at no charge). The "fixed" version only just came out so it has been a hot issue for quite awhile.

The wall mount adapter option listed on the box of every ControLinc sold is still not available.

While PowerHome does an outstanding job of managing Insteon devices, there are still a few key key areas like managing the X-10 addresses and local ramp rates. that cannot be done though software. In a large intallation the manual alternative is not pleasant.

KeypadLinc dimmers had a firmware problem that caused the LEDs on the keypad to flicker in a distracing way whenever there is Insteon traffic on the powerline. This is very annoying in rooms where you are trying to watch TV or sleep! A new firmware version was released that fixed the flickering but introduced a new bug that prevents the ALL OFF button on a ControLinc from working properly if the ControLinc and KeypadLinc buttons were not linked in a specific order. If you have a lot of KeypadLincs the swapping gets old pretty fast and now I have a range of firmware versions with different issues. They really need a field upgrade strategy even if it is just a swappable ROM chip accessable from under the faceplate!

Some switches developed an intermittant problem where the paddle would not operate the switch reliably. Sometimes it would require multiple presses, unusually firm presses, or would stop working completely. These also needed to be swapped under warranty.

I have had switches turn on by themselves as the result of power fluctuations during a thunderstorm. These are switches that do not have X-10 addresses assigned to them so I can't blame that protocol. (Unless some switches came from SmartHome with X-10 addresses already assigned? I really need the new version of PowerHome to get released so I can review the true status of X-10 settings in my Inseon devices!)