Newbie- First Insteon Setup

[christo16]

Hello!

I've just bought my first house and was thinking about getting my feet wet with some of this home automation stuff.

Here is what I was thinking about starting with:

1 SmartLinc - INSTEON Central Controller
2-3 SwitchLinc Dimmer - INSTEON (Item 2476D)

Depending on how well this worked out, I was going to add onto the system. Is this a good starter system?

My house is multiple floors, will I need something to bridge between the floors? Also, I read on the smart home site that my outlet boxes need to have a neutral wire, I'm pretty they don't have neutral wires. Will I need to add the neutral wire or purchase special dimmers?

Thanks!

 

[christo16]

Actually I'm not sure if I don't have a neutral wire, since I'm new to the boards here, I can't post links. My outlet box has three wires: 2 white and 1 red.

 

[oberkc]

Yes, neutrals are necessary. Most of the problem with lack of neutrals is at switchboxes. Three-ways and switchloops can result in the absense of the neutral (grounded conductor) wire. Pull a switch out and see what you have. Do yourself a favor and purchase a volt/ohm meter and learn how to use it. With one of these, it is possible to identify the existence of supply and neutral wires.

Insteon communicates in two ways...over the powerlines, and over RF (in some cases). I expect communication between the floors not to be an issue. The primary communication concern over powerline is between legs of your electrical system. For this, one can either hope to get lucky or, better, install devices to bridge this communication gap. The easiest method, in my mind, is to use RF devices. Smarthome sells access points for this purpose. Smarthome has also recently introduces RF-enabled switches (the ones you picked are NOT). I prefer access points for the flexibility they offer in installation. You would require two access points. If you would rather go with RF-enabled switches, it appears that these would be model 2477D.

If you are comfortable with adding circuits to your panel, or are willing to hire this out, I understand there is also an option called "signallinc" model 2406H. While I don't use one, it seems folks report good performance with this. This would limit the need for RF devices for the purpose of communicating between the legs of your electrical system. If your future plans for your system includes RF devices such as motion sensors or remote controls, however, you will still require RF devices such as access points or dual-band devices.

Besides access points or equivalent, your starter kit looks good to me.

 

[apostolakisl]

1) You only need to bridge between the two electrical phases of your house, upstairs/downstairs is irrelevent. If you get the dual band Insteon switches that concern will go away. All of your switches don't have to be dual band, but I think if I were doing it again, I would just go mostly with those.

2) Two whites and a red probably means that gang box is one of two that work together as a three way switch. If for sure this is the only switch for that light, then you don't have a neutral as there would be 4 wires (plus grounds). If you want to replace one of the switches in a three way, you have to replace both of them (or not have any switch at the other location). That wire coloring is unusual and your electrician may have not followed protocol there. Typically in a three way you have a red, black, and white.

Shut off the breaker. Remove both switches and the light bulbs from the fixture and leave the wires sticking out with clear space around them (the non-insulated ends need to be free and clear). Also please note that there should be an uninsulated ground wire in the boxes, leave those spliced together. Turn the breaker back on. With a multimeter, put one lead on the bare ground wire, and touch the other lead to each of the other wires in the box (one at a time). Any that read 120v are hot. I would expect that you should find a single black wire at one of the boxes as hot and that should be it.

Now place one lead of the multimeter on the hot wire, and touch the other lead to each of the other wires (except the uninsulated ground wire). Any wire that reads 120v is going to be a neutral. There should only be one and it should be white. If none of the wires show 120v on the multimeter, you don't have a neutral. If you don't have a neutral things get a lot more difficult.

Shut the breaker back off, and label your wires. You can hook up your switches again if you like and report back here.

 

[christo16]

Thanks guys, I'll crack out the multimeter and report back here.

I actually ordered a ISY-99i last night and will be going with that + the Insteon PLM. Is there anything else to consider by going with the ISY-99i?

 

[oberkc]

Good choice on the ISY-99. This is what I use. Long-term, I suspect you will appreciate the power and flexibility this controller offers. Don't forget to check out the UDI forums.

I understand that there are also dual-band PLMs that can be used with the ISY-99. This strikes me as a good choice also. I believe, too, that the ISY-99 now requires a separate power supply. Power used be from the PLM, but this is no longer so.

 

[apostolakisl]

Good move on the ISY 99i, I have one and it is a fine piece of equipment with superb support.

I hope you do have grounds, if not you aren't going to have an easy time of using any of the various brands of power line controlled automation stuff.

 

[christo16]

Yeah it just seemed like I was going to want the ISY-99 eventually, why not start with it Plus I write software for a living and figured I wouldn't be satisfied with something that didn't have an API.

 

[christo16]

I actually took some pictures from one of my outlet boxes (it's not a three-way switch), does it look like I have a neutral wire?

http://imgur.com/a/tWyAX

 

[oberkc]

I actually took some pictures from one of my outlet boxes (it's not a three-way switch), does it look like I have a neutral wire?

http://imgur.com/a/tWyAX

Based on my experience, yes. I believe those two white (!?) wires tied together are likely neutrals.

 

[apostolakisl]

I think you are ok. You have more than three wires there.

It is not for sure since the picture isn't super clear but.

It looks like you have two romex wires entering the j-box. One has a black/white/ground. The other has a black/red/white/ground.

The one with the black/red/white is going to be going to your light fixture. The red is for the light, the black is going to be hot all the time and would be intended for a ceiling fan. The white is your neutral.

The other wire with the black/whtie/ground is going to your breaker box. The black is hot, the white is neutral.

This is easy. First, turn off the power. Wiring hot adds excitement and tension, but if you aren't good at it you will end up frying your switch, buzzing yourself, making exciting flashes of light and sparks, or having some other bad outcome.

Remove the two wire nuts and pull the red out of the switch. Throw away the short little piece of black wire. Connect the two whites together with the insteon white, connect the two blacks with the insteon black, connect red to insteon red, and connect all of the bares toghether.