More Insteon products?
- Thread starter RWlodarczyk
- Start date
Other than a lower rating, the Icons I have the same feature set as my V2s and Keypadlincs (except for perhaps a smaller link table, which is not an issue for a small or medium install). So for a small load, I can easily do an apples to apples comparison to UPB. There is no need to put a 1000W capable switch on a 75W load. The Fry's switch might be an option for lowering UPB cost in the short term (until they run out)...Steve said:
One of the main points I tried to make in my original post: you must look at the actual application before determining the "best" solution. You mentioned earlier that it is necessary to looks at the total cost of the system (including controller, phase couplers, replacing dead components, etc), and I completely agree. Load size can significantly affect the cost of an Insteon system, so it must be taken into consideration...
Chris
George West
Member
Chris,ChrisWalker said:
Since UPB had been in the market since about 1999 and Z-Wave since about 2005 I would add UPB to the list with X10. And let's not forget LONWorks which is poorly priced for the mass market - this is changing - and has shipped something like 60M units.
I'll go out on a limb here and say that it is possible that Control4 has shipped about as much "ZigBee" product as the Z-Wave alliance member companies have shipped z-wave. We can argue all day about how standard the C4 products are, and I will take either side of that argument. C4 is probably the largest single customer for ZigBee right now by a large margin.
I have heard some pretty fantastic numbers about z-wave shipments from Zensys and frankly they don't hold up under any kind of scrutiny even at the point of delivery.
Back to the main thread. All of the technologies mentioned will enable the original poster to do what he wants. Some have more complete and different product offerings than the others but the differences are at the margins. A for instance is the INSTEON Toggle Link dimmer from SmartHome which does not have an equivalent in the Z-Wave world AFAIK. If the WAF depends on having toggle switches then that will be a driving requirement.
One other editorial comment. Everything that I have seen says that on the whole you will be happier with a wired or power line solution than with wireless only. YMMV and if anyone wants to hear about some of the whack approaches that are being discussed to "fix" the different wireless protocols, look me up at EHX.
George West
you obviously haven't looked very hard... Automated Outlet has SAI 8-button keypads on a universal transceiver base for $89.95majortom said:
http://www.automatedoutlet.com/product.php...&cat=142&page=1
i'm not saying it's necessarily comparable to the other stuff you mentioned, I'm just saying that they're available for less than $99.
kwilcox
Active Member
Just a clarifacation on the Fry's switches (go to Fry's and search for "HAL switch" to find them). Currently they're $38 each. A whopper of a deal btw...
Steve correctly identified these switches earlier in this thread as the SAI model US1130W. This switch is still being made; in fact its one of SAIs best sellers. Something Steve didn't know was that the US1130 does accept SAI's replacable faceplates. This means that you can change colors freely. You can also choose the "dual tall" faceplate configuration for a dual rocker on the same switch. The US1130 won't accept push button or 4 rocker faceplates though.
My house consists entirely of these switches. They can be a challenge to fit into older boxes. However, I've found that I can simply use a file on the square plastic corners to round them out. This technique became a quick and easy way to get them to fit into some of the older boxes in my home (built in 1958).
Build quality and color control is excellent. Here's a pic of of an upgraded 3 gang wall plate in my house showing this:
Here's my (in)famous picture showing how this same wallplate looked with switchlincs. I've used this one before during a Switchlinc rant on this forum....
The above picture represents Switchlincs from 2000 to 2004. Notice how many times the appearance as well as the "white" color has changed in a mere 4 years. I won't ever buy another Switchlinc in part due to Smarthomes horrendous build quality. A quick search of this forum will show that Insteons suffer from this same (lack of) build quality.
Granted, the picture does show 4 years of switchlinc production. However, by comparison, here's a 2 gang wall plate showing US1130s installed 2 years ago:
As you can see, there's zero styling differences to the 3 gang switches I installed two years later..
Bottom line here: UPB isn't as expensive as you would think and the build quality is professional grade. The 1130 is rated at 1000W for a reason: it's a sherman tank. Most of the switchbody itself is a huge heatsink.
Steve correctly identified these switches earlier in this thread as the SAI model US1130W. This switch is still being made; in fact its one of SAIs best sellers. Something Steve didn't know was that the US1130 does accept SAI's replacable faceplates. This means that you can change colors freely. You can also choose the "dual tall" faceplate configuration for a dual rocker on the same switch. The US1130 won't accept push button or 4 rocker faceplates though.
My house consists entirely of these switches. They can be a challenge to fit into older boxes. However, I've found that I can simply use a file on the square plastic corners to round them out. This technique became a quick and easy way to get them to fit into some of the older boxes in my home (built in 1958).
Build quality and color control is excellent. Here's a pic of of an upgraded 3 gang wall plate in my house showing this:
Here's my (in)famous picture showing how this same wallplate looked with switchlincs. I've used this one before during a Switchlinc rant on this forum....
The above picture represents Switchlincs from 2000 to 2004. Notice how many times the appearance as well as the "white" color has changed in a mere 4 years. I won't ever buy another Switchlinc in part due to Smarthomes horrendous build quality. A quick search of this forum will show that Insteons suffer from this same (lack of) build quality.
Granted, the picture does show 4 years of switchlinc production. However, by comparison, here's a 2 gang wall plate showing US1130s installed 2 years ago:
As you can see, there's zero styling differences to the 3 gang switches I installed two years later..
Bottom line here: UPB isn't as expensive as you would think and the build quality is professional grade. The 1130 is rated at 1000W for a reason: it's a sherman tank. Most of the switchbody itself is a huge heatsink.
roussell
Active Member
FWIW Fry’s website say to “Call for Availability†so I did…
The girl on the phone said that they were out of stock on the HAL switches. She also said that the manufacturer had missed the last three delivery dates with Fry’s and that she couldn’t honestly predict when she would have any in stock. She did mention that there were “a lot†of backorders to fill so that when they do get in a shipment, they may run out of stock again soon afterwards.
Link to item: HAL UPB switch at Fry's
Terry
Edit: Hey cool, 100 posts! I'm "Advanced" now.
The girl on the phone said that they were out of stock on the HAL switches. She also said that the manufacturer had missed the last three delivery dates with Fry’s and that she couldn’t honestly predict when she would have any in stock. She did mention that there were “a lot†of backorders to fill so that when they do get in a shipment, they may run out of stock again soon afterwards.
Link to item: HAL UPB switch at Fry's
Terry
Edit: Hey cool, 100 posts! I'm "Advanced" now.
kwilcox
Active Member
Yeah, my distributor, DPC, ran out recently too. I believe this happened because SAI was running a "buy 5 get 1 free" deal to distributors on the US1130W through the end of October. (I must admit that I took home my share of free switches, thereby contributing in some small way to the shortage )
Demand must have gotten really high and SAI apparantly couldn't keep up... They're back in stock at DPC now though so I imagine Frys will catch up soon too.
)Demand must have gotten really high and SAI apparantly couldn't keep up... They're back in stock at DPC now though so I imagine Frys will catch up soon too.
As a relatively new Insteon user, I've had a really good experience so far. I just moved into a 1954, 1400sqf house and have 9 devices installed, mostly to control lights. The house doesn't have neutral wires in all the most convenient places, so I've had to install a few inline modules in places.
My biggest gripe so far is the lack of devices. The new SimpleHomeNet devices are a start, but they seem to be the only company outside of SmartHome doing any Insteon development.
My biggest gripe so far is the lack of devices. The new SimpleHomeNet devices are a start, but they seem to be the only company outside of SmartHome doing any Insteon development.
upstatemike
Senior Member
Z-Wave really does not travel well through metal boxes.sorka said:
