MY EXPERIENCE
After trying out some SmartLabs stuff, I think this gear is pretty close to prime-time gadgetry.
I played with some basic equipment, plugs that let you turn things on and off remotely. I wasn't ready to start replacing light switches to get the full Insteon effect.
The installation's biggest hassle came from the fact that a home's power lines are not perfect communication conduits.
So modest Insteon radios must be installed to amplify the signals and ensure that all switches or plugs are on the network. This link's setup can be a quirky exercise, though the chore is only required the first time you bring Insteon into a home.
Once that task was accomplished, I hooked up two Insteon power plugs and a control panel that can adjust as many as five different outlets. With a push of a button, a light on the other side of the home went off. Not rocket science, but a nice convenience.
Fitting plugs with timing switches was a tad trickier. It either takes replacing wall switches or my choice: a computer. SmartLabs offers a free, basic PC program. Several authors sell more powerful software.
The computer links to the Insteon network via a special USB cord. The free software is clunky but it eventually worked. And I was surprised to figure out that once your Insteon network has its timing orders from the computer, the computer is no longer needed. The timing sequence is stored in the wall plug so your computer doesn't have to stay on for Insteon to work.
If I ever have free time, I may get serious and fix some of our home's lighting quirks.
TO THE MAX
Visit Ken Fairbanks' home and you see the future. Well, the SmartLabs vision.
Fairbanks, one of the company's marketing gurus, decked out his family's Irvine residence with a mix of existing Insteon technology and some prototypes.
Turn the switch by the door; the lights come on slowly so you're not jolted by a bright glare. A water fountain greets you with a soothing sound. And the afternoon sun is blocked by blinds that close on schedule.
Music can come on with the flick of a switch or at a set time. The gas fireplace can be controlled, too. And speaking of fire, the fire alarm system will turn on the house lights if smoke is detected to illuminate the way out.
If a gadget plugs into a wall, Insteon likely can turn it on or off on schedule, individually or in tandem with other equipment or appliances. That's the simple stuff.
True science and marketing wizardry in SmartLabs' growth plan is getting manufacturers of home electronics to build in Insteon controls. Fairbanks says folks who make everything from doorbells to security systems to pools to home computer networks are toying with Insteon concepts. Even some homebuilders are looking at the science.
Controllers for blinds and smarter smoke alarms with Insteon logic should come to market later this year. I'm waiting for the day when gizmos can make the volume on a TV dip when the phone rings.
This home automation is clearly a work in progress. The dream is still on the horizon. SmartLabs execs realize few folks will rush out to heavily automate their home.
"You just don't have a house like mine overnight," Fairbanks says.
"It's like you might decorate your house. People don't do it all at once."
This is practical science that's bound to catch on. Perhaps in less-than sexy ways.
I see folks fixing those annoying wiring mistakes your builder made. How about that light in your home that can't be controlled from a logical location?
Instead of spending big bucks and cutting holes in walls to rewire – a project you'd never take on – Insteon magic can likely control that switch from wherever you choose.
That's not Jetson-like robotics. But it's probably a sales hook to bring this science home.