Suggestions for controllable power receptacles

cjett

Member
I'd like to be able to power off specific power receptacles throughout my home when I set my Elk M1 Gold to vacation mode. Basically, I'd like to save a little energy, and shut everything off that is not 100% required. Security, TiVo, Network, Slingbox, and a few clocks will stay on... everything else I want to shutdown.

I have a Lutron RadioRA system that I use for lighting control... but, as far as I know, they do not make a switchable receptacle (wonder why?). I will continue to use my RadioRA system for lighting (way too much invested, and it works great).

Any suggestions?

I have seen several z-wave outlets that should work. A zwave interface for the elk ($90), a zwave controller ($55) and some outlets ($65 per) and I should be in business. I understand that Elk's z-wave interface is slow and not very robust programming. But, since I just want to turn off 8-12 outlets when I leave the house... I would think it would be able to handle that.

Any thoughts/insight appreciated.


cjett
 
Should work. You can also use UPB with either an outlet, appliance module or inline relay module. UPB only requires another M1XSP on the Elk, not a dedicated controller.
 
Should work. You can also use UPB with either an outlet, appliance module or inline relay module. UPB only requires another M1XSP on the Elk, not a dedicated controller.

But I would need a PIM to connect the M1XSP to the UPB system, right?

Cost looks to be the same, or pretty close. Quick search didn't find many UPB outlets... and none that looked like regular outlets, but rather wall warts with an outlet.

Looks like there are lots of zwave outlets from Cooper, Leviton, etc...

cjett
 
Yes, you need the UPB PIM just like you would need a ZWave controller. The 'wall warts' are appliance modules. The outlets look like this.
 
Yes, you need the UPB PIM just like you would need a ZWave controller. The 'wall warts' are appliance modules. The outlets look like this.

Perfect. That is exactly what i am looking for. I know UPB is significantly better than x10... how does it compare to zwave?

UPB may be a little more expensive (outlets seem to be about $10 higher).

For what I want to do, either will work, it seems. Future wise, will either have advantages if I ever decide to replace my RadioRa system?

thanks again.
cjett
 
You could also get a 15amp switch (eg: X10, Z-Wave, Insteon, Lutron RadioRA, etc) and have it control an outlet?

I love my leviton Z-Wave setup. Way better than Act, Intermatic, etc. If going with z-wave, I'd wait until Elk ships the leviton --> Elk XSP adapter. That should fix many of the ELK/z-wave problems. I understand its release is coming very soon. In this case, you'd get an M1XSP, the leviton serial controller, and then the switches/outlets.
 
You could also get a 15amp switch (eg: X10, Z-Wave, Insteon, Lutron RadioRA, etc) and have it control an outlet?

Thought about that, but, I do not want to have to rewire outlets to switches. Want a simple - pull outlet, put new one in, register, and program.

I'm leaning towards the z-wave right now.

One question... will the M1 be able to handle 2 lighting systems - RadioRa, and whatever other one I go with? hmmmm... may have to set one up as straight serial connection, and pass ascii commands to it directly. If thats the case, I wouldn't have to wait for the xsp to support the Leviton.

cjett
 
The UPB/ZWave things are pretty pricey at 60-80 bucks particularly if you don't have the interfaces already.

I'm not sure how many watts you are switching but the payback is pretty long I'd guess unless everything was being switch off of a single outlet. (10 watts for 1 year @0.10/kWhr is about $9)

I know people scoff at X10 but an X10 interface is cheap and the outlets go for $10 on ebay....
 
Re: X10 is cheap

Yes, quite cheap. I wouldn't rely on X10 for anything critical, but for power-savings, its not a bad option. Even though I have Z-wave, I've been thinking about using X10 for this reason due to the cost of the Z-Wave outlets. I have 400amp service, though, which might make X10 a pain (multiple phases to bridge)

Also, note that Z-Wave itself consumes power. I'm in the process of auditing usage, but I so-far it looks like each unit consumes 2watts of power, more or less. My whole-house stereo system probably consumes 25watts on standby, between the DVD, CD changers, amplifiers, Sirius radio, and A-BUS modules.

Re: Leviton Serial support
Does anyone have this unit and confirm it'll accept passed ASCII strings? I'm pretty sure it supports direct teraterm connections, but I don't know whether it'll accept the ascii outside of a teraterm window...
 
Re: X10 is cheap

Yes, quite cheap. I wouldn't rely on X10 for anything critical, but for power-savings, its not a bad option. Even though I have Z-wave, I've been thinking about using X10 for this reason due to the cost of the Z-Wave outlets. I have 400amp service, though, which might make X10 a pain (multiple phases to bridge)

Also, note that Z-Wave itself consumes power. I'm in the process of auditing usage, but I so-far it looks like each unit consumes 2watts of power, more or less. My whole-house stereo system probably consumes 25watts on standby, between the DVD, CD changers, amplifiers, Sirius radio, and A-BUS modules.

Re: Leviton Serial support
Does anyone have this unit and confirm it'll accept passed ASCII strings? I'm pretty sure it supports direct teraterm connections, but I don't know whether it'll accept the ascii outside of a teraterm window...

It does support ascii:
http://leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibcGetAttachmen...SpBBVZ%253AS%7E

interesting thoughts on x10. Hadn't thought about power usage on zwave... but certainly makes sense. Anyone know the power draw on UPB or x10?

cjett
 
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