new Insteon generation that uses less power?

WayneW

WayneW

Senior Member
According to an article ""Smarter Switching" by Glenn Derene in the January 2009 "Popular Mechanics" magazine, page 99:
That's because Insteon relays are electrical devices themselves. Each one is a tiny computer that draws about 7 watts (the new generation technology that's launching this month is expected to draw 0.7 watts).
Click to expand...
Glenn was the moderator of a CES Session that included Steve Lee of SmartLabs, so it is possible Glenn had inside information. I know there has been power draw discussions before, but I hope every Insteon switch & module is not wasting 7 watts 24/7.

Has anybody else heard about this 10x power saving version?
 
WayneW said:
According to an article ""Smarter Switching" by Glenn Derene in the January 2009 "Popular Mechanics" magazine, page 99:
That's because Insteon relays are electrical devices themselves. Each one is a tiny computer that draws about 7 watts (the new generation technology that's launching this month is expected to draw 0.7 watts).
Click to expand...
Glenn was the moderator of a CES Session that included Steve Lee of SmartLabs, so it is possible Glenn had inside information. I know there has been power draw discussions before, but I hope every Insteon switch & module is not wasting 7 watts 24/7.

Has anybody else heard about this 10x power saving version?
Click to expand...


I had an Icon relay switch lying around on the bench and plugged itinto a Watt meter. I got one watt with no load.

I think the keypads might draw more with all of the LED's lit.
 
No data about Insteon but Crestron keypads use about 3 watts. I am surprised that anything they use would take up 7 watts just for the microprocessor. I wonder if they are including switch losses and now include some kind of relay to eliminate that when powered off....
 
I just hot a Kill A Watt and none of the plug in modules draw 7W. As for the Keypadlincs and such... dunno.
 
I just tried this on a new switch I'm installing. A relay took 0 watts on or off with no load. The keypad linc dimmer showed 0 watts with all LEDs on. Also a switchlinc dimmer and relay both show 0 watts with no load on either the on or off states. A 60 watt lamp shows 59 watts, so the meter is working correctly. The guy who said 7 watts is clearly dead wrong and never bothered to check it himself or is lying on purpose.
 
Some watt meters may not read correctly. The modules use a power line derived power supply. Part of it is a fairly large capacitor in series with the line.
This causes the current to not be in phase with the voltage. I believe my Kill A Watt didn't show much wattage on modules but there was some current and the power factor reading was not close to 1.0.
 
Just as long as it also fools my PG&E meter. I have 40+ insteon switches installed and with everything turned off in the house, the refrigerator and ice chest unplugged, all DC adapters unplugged, my wheel barely moves a quarter turn an hour. 40 switches at 7 watts is 280 watts which would turn my pg&e wheel 38.64 times an hour. In tracking down power consumption, I've recently done this test.

As far as I can tell, the switches are drawing pretty close to about 7 milliwatts / hour, not 7 watts, according to my old style rotary PG&E meter.
 
sorka said:
I just tried this on a new switch I'm installing. A relay took 0 watts on or off with no load. The keypad linc dimmer showed 0 watts with all LEDs on. Also a switchlinc dimmer and relay both show 0 watts with no load on either the on or off states. A 60 watt lamp shows 59 watts, so the meter is working correctly. The guy who said 7 watts is clearly dead wrong and never bothered to check it himself or is lying on purpose.
Click to expand...


I seriously doubt anyone is lying. The person may have been using information supplied by someone else (he did seem to reference a SH employee and someone provided some information on the subject but may have not provided the rating). While I agree that the switches probably dont draw 7 watts I might be mistaken and possibly they do.

If in fact they draw less than a watt then what is the need to make them more effiecent???? Would it really be cost effective?


The person was asking and not stating a fact from what I see so maybe we should give him a break or this will turn into Techmall where SH can do no wrong. If I remember correctly the original poster is Pro Insteon as well so I doubt he has any beef with SH.
 
Digger said:
The person was asking and not stating a fact from what I see so maybe we should give him a break or this will turn into Techmall where SH can do no wrong. If I remember correctly the original poster is Pro Insteon as well so I doubt he has any beef with SH.
Click to expand...


I'm not necessarily pro Insteon. In fact, I bad mouthed them for years for their lack of development, lack of CS, and quality problems they refused to acknowledge, address, or make right.

They do seem to have improved dramatically on all fronts, but it will be years before I fully trust them.

I just hate it when people disseminate incorrect information. No Insteon switch, minus the load, has ever drawn anywhere near a watt let alone 7 watts.
 
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