Steve
Senior Member
Well, after testing x10, UPB and Insteon, I made my decision and committed to UPB. I spent most of the day rewiring some outlets and installing/moving 8 switches and setting them up in UPStart and ElkRP. The switches I used are the US2-40 from Simply Automated. They are all currently configured with just the single rocker faceplate. I am planning a full review of the various UPB switches I tried but for now I thought I'd share my experience doing this real mini-install. I called it Phase I because I will be adding more switches, etc. as funds become available.
Overall I would rate the experience an A- / B+
Switches / Wiring
All 7 of the new switches worked fine with no DOAs. For the most part the switch replacements went smoothly. The switches were of high quality, come with nice easy to remove plastic 'labels' which I did not write on but they keep the switches scratch free unlike others I've seen. Another nice touch is the switch has a plastic 'cap' over the light pipe which protects it during shipping and install. I think this will help eliminate some of the 'defects' people report which many times turn out to be air gap issues. The only very minor issue I had is due to the flexibility. Some of the faceplates had to be fooled around with so they clicked correctly. This is not the spring tension issue that has been fixed, but the legs that fit into the switch body sometimes stuck which required some tweaking of the faceplate. I only had this issue on a few of the switches and was very minor. I rather deal with that and have the flexibility of changing the faceplates.
The only other problem had to do with a 3-way circuit. The problem is in my house wiring. There are 2 switches controlling 6 recessed lights. One switch box on an interior wall had a neutral in the box and I probably could have installed a switch there without issue. The problem was the switch on the outside wall (where I wanted the slave) was no neutral in the box. The electricians used the white wire as a hot without taping it black or anything. I climbed in the attic to see how the cans were wired and the Lord only knows. Some cans had 1 wire run to it, some 2 and some 3. I could not follow their scheme. Anyway, without the neutral I could not use the slave so I skipped this 3-way circuit.
All in all it went very well, just frustrated from the builders wiring
UPStart
Well, unlike the advice I give about RTFM, I only skimmed the manual early on during testing, so I went pretty much on experience from testing.
Initially I thought it would be easy to do a 'multiple device' setup, so I put all devices into setup mode (click a rocker 5 times). One switch which I recycled from a test location I first did a default reset (click rocker 10 times) then put it in setup mode. Ok, so when a ran a multiple device scan it got through 4 devices then blew up. I'm not sure but it is possible the wife turned on the cook top during this time and the cook top spews out a ton of noise (another issue) so I can't be sure. Anyway, I had 4 devices now and they all have the same device ID. I decided a multiple install was probably not the best method, after all it is not a huge multilevel or multibuilding install that the multiple add mode is probably designed for. I also noticed strangely that after a full reset, the existing switches still retained their name and id.
So... I removed the four devices just added and then just added them 1 at a time. This went much better with zero issues. All switches came up and I was able to name and number them then program. I saved the program for each switch (only about 10 sec) rather than doing a delayed global save. This way I went right into the test tab for each switch and tested it before moving on. About half the switches controlled fluorescent loads, so they had to be configured for non-dimming. It was very easy and quick to go through all the switches and configure them.
The only thing I noticed is the US240s don't have options (Options tab) for top and bottom rocker configs like the US11s did. Maybe they need to just have links, my weak spot - need to RTFM on that before commenting.
All in all, once I did the 1 at a time install, everything was fine.
Misc / Summary
The programming of the M1 was a breeze and went without issue. I did learn one thing which was probably the source of some pre-cutover changes. In the M1, the switch needs to be defined as a dimmer, even if it is controlling a fluorescent load. I had some configed as on/off switch, but on/off is the setting for links. So set them as dimmer in the M1 and as long as they are set as non-dimmable in UPStart, all should be good. Preliminary M1 testing / rules looked good with no negative results.
Ok, I mentioned the cook top. It is an electric cook top with electronic controls. When it is on any setting except full on, it spews out a ton ('high' in UPStart) of noise. If the cook top was on, programming of a switch failed due to noise. But I also noticed that in all my tests, albeit brief, actual on/off signals went through despite the noise. With the cook top off, there were no programming issues. The bright side is that Simply Automated is working with me to build a monster filter for the thing - can't beat that for support!
So in summary it was a really uneventful install except for my house wiring. For anyone looking to use UPB I would highly recommend it based on my install experience. I'll report how well it works later.
Edit: Wanted to add a few 'usabilty comments' about oft mentioned issues. First is the infamous buzz. The buzz is simply a capacitor discharging when sending signals on the line. It happens on all devices including switches, plug in devices and PIM's. My and my wifes personal opinion is that this is a non issue. Unless you have bionic hearing or your ear is very close to the switch, you do not even hear it. If you constantly fret over it and think about it subconsciously, you will hear it. In practical terms it is not an issue IMHO.
On speed, yes, there is a slight delay when you press a switch. This is due to the switch looking for multiple taps - double or 5 or 10 for setup. The delay is very slight. If you need instant gratification, you may be somewhat disappointed. If, like me, you believe good things are worth waiting for, the quality and reliabilty of UPB make up for this slight delay. SAI has received a lot of feedback and suggestions on how to eliminate this and there is a decent chance there will be a modified switch next year that improves this. That being said, PLC signals from the M1, UPStart or anything else is just about instant. By the time I push a button and look up, the light is on.
Overall I would rate the experience an A- / B+
Switches / Wiring
All 7 of the new switches worked fine with no DOAs. For the most part the switch replacements went smoothly. The switches were of high quality, come with nice easy to remove plastic 'labels' which I did not write on but they keep the switches scratch free unlike others I've seen. Another nice touch is the switch has a plastic 'cap' over the light pipe which protects it during shipping and install. I think this will help eliminate some of the 'defects' people report which many times turn out to be air gap issues. The only very minor issue I had is due to the flexibility. Some of the faceplates had to be fooled around with so they clicked correctly. This is not the spring tension issue that has been fixed, but the legs that fit into the switch body sometimes stuck which required some tweaking of the faceplate. I only had this issue on a few of the switches and was very minor. I rather deal with that and have the flexibility of changing the faceplates.
The only other problem had to do with a 3-way circuit. The problem is in my house wiring. There are 2 switches controlling 6 recessed lights. One switch box on an interior wall had a neutral in the box and I probably could have installed a switch there without issue. The problem was the switch on the outside wall (where I wanted the slave) was no neutral in the box. The electricians used the white wire as a hot without taping it black or anything. I climbed in the attic to see how the cans were wired and the Lord only knows. Some cans had 1 wire run to it, some 2 and some 3. I could not follow their scheme. Anyway, without the neutral I could not use the slave so I skipped this 3-way circuit.
All in all it went very well, just frustrated from the builders wiring
UPStart
Well, unlike the advice I give about RTFM, I only skimmed the manual early on during testing, so I went pretty much on experience from testing.
Initially I thought it would be easy to do a 'multiple device' setup, so I put all devices into setup mode (click a rocker 5 times). One switch which I recycled from a test location I first did a default reset (click rocker 10 times) then put it in setup mode. Ok, so when a ran a multiple device scan it got through 4 devices then blew up. I'm not sure but it is possible the wife turned on the cook top during this time and the cook top spews out a ton of noise (another issue) so I can't be sure. Anyway, I had 4 devices now and they all have the same device ID. I decided a multiple install was probably not the best method, after all it is not a huge multilevel or multibuilding install that the multiple add mode is probably designed for. I also noticed strangely that after a full reset, the existing switches still retained their name and id.
So... I removed the four devices just added and then just added them 1 at a time. This went much better with zero issues. All switches came up and I was able to name and number them then program. I saved the program for each switch (only about 10 sec) rather than doing a delayed global save. This way I went right into the test tab for each switch and tested it before moving on. About half the switches controlled fluorescent loads, so they had to be configured for non-dimming. It was very easy and quick to go through all the switches and configure them.
The only thing I noticed is the US240s don't have options (Options tab) for top and bottom rocker configs like the US11s did. Maybe they need to just have links, my weak spot - need to RTFM on that before commenting.
All in all, once I did the 1 at a time install, everything was fine.
Misc / Summary
The programming of the M1 was a breeze and went without issue. I did learn one thing which was probably the source of some pre-cutover changes. In the M1, the switch needs to be defined as a dimmer, even if it is controlling a fluorescent load. I had some configed as on/off switch, but on/off is the setting for links. So set them as dimmer in the M1 and as long as they are set as non-dimmable in UPStart, all should be good. Preliminary M1 testing / rules looked good with no negative results.
Ok, I mentioned the cook top. It is an electric cook top with electronic controls. When it is on any setting except full on, it spews out a ton ('high' in UPStart) of noise. If the cook top was on, programming of a switch failed due to noise. But I also noticed that in all my tests, albeit brief, actual on/off signals went through despite the noise. With the cook top off, there were no programming issues. The bright side is that Simply Automated is working with me to build a monster filter for the thing - can't beat that for support!
So in summary it was a really uneventful install except for my house wiring. For anyone looking to use UPB I would highly recommend it based on my install experience. I'll report how well it works later.
Edit: Wanted to add a few 'usabilty comments' about oft mentioned issues. First is the infamous buzz. The buzz is simply a capacitor discharging when sending signals on the line. It happens on all devices including switches, plug in devices and PIM's. My and my wifes personal opinion is that this is a non issue. Unless you have bionic hearing or your ear is very close to the switch, you do not even hear it. If you constantly fret over it and think about it subconsciously, you will hear it. In practical terms it is not an issue IMHO.
On speed, yes, there is a slight delay when you press a switch. This is due to the switch looking for multiple taps - double or 5 or 10 for setup. The delay is very slight. If you need instant gratification, you may be somewhat disappointed. If, like me, you believe good things are worth waiting for, the quality and reliabilty of UPB make up for this slight delay. SAI has received a lot of feedback and suggestions on how to eliminate this and there is a decent chance there will be a modified switch next year that improves this. That being said, PLC signals from the M1, UPStart or anything else is just about instant. By the time I push a button and look up, the light is on.