is X10 2-way ?

[Tolga Uzuner]

Hi There,

I am new to the group. I've reda a lot of helpful material here, so
thanks to everyone already.

I am wiring up a brand new house, and would like to install controls
into all the electrical circuitry so that I can do the following:
- turn any circuit on or off
- monitor IF a circuit is being used ot not i.e. if it is passing
current or not
- write macros to turn circuits on and off contingent on signals from
motion detectors etc.
- control/monitor circuits and also motion detectors over the web

Reading up on X10, it appears some of this is possible but I am not sure
if one could actually use x10 to check if current is running through a
circuit. Is this possible ? Do socket controls exist in x10 which can
also act as transmitters contingent on something happening ?

I do not want all the circuitry inside the socket, and not an external
plug. I am wiring the house new, so might as well put in circuitry into
the sockets now which will give me what I want.

If X10 is not a solution, what of something like Insteon or Zigbee ?
Can I install Insteon into the sockets internally and get the behaviour
I need ?

Finally, I am in continental Europe... are there Insteon/Zigbee products
available in Europe ?

Thanks, Tolga

[Brian]

http://www.crmagnetics.com/newprod/search_result.asp?CATEGORY=ALL&PRODUCT_ID=Model%2019

This will allow you to monitor if a circuit is on/off.

Some X10 is 2 way and it will say so in the description.
--

---------------------------------------
Brian Dye
brian@tech-home.com
http://tech-home.com
---------------------------------------


"Tolga Uzuner" <tolga@coubros.com> wrote in message
news:dmcbrl$n2c$1@nwrdmz03.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
> Hi There,
>
> I am new to the group. I've reda a lot of helpful material here, so thanks
> to everyone already.
>
> I am wiring up a brand new house, and would like to install controls into
> all the electrical circuitry so that I can do the following:
> - turn any circuit on or off
> - monitor IF a circuit is being used ot not i.e. if it is passing current
> or not
> - write macros to turn circuits on and off contingent on signals from
> motion detectors etc.
> - control/monitor circuits and also motion detectors over the web
>
> Reading up on X10, it appears some of this is possible but I am not sure
> if one could actually use x10 to check if current is running through a
> circuit. Is this possible ? Do socket controls exist in x10 which can also
> act as transmitters contingent on something happening ?
>
> I do not want all the circuitry inside the socket, and not an external
> plug. I am wiring the house new, so might as well put in circuitry into
> the sockets now which will give me what I want.
>
> If X10 is not a solution, what of something like Insteon or Zigbee ? Can
> I install Insteon into the sockets internally and get the behaviour I need
> ?
>
> Finally, I am in continental Europe... are there Insteon/Zigbee products
> available in Europe ?
>
> Thanks, Tolga

[Dave Houston]

Some X-10 devices respond to STATUS_REQUEST but the response is independent
of the load, reflecting only the state of the module itself.

Newer X-10 devices that respond to extended codes (LM14A, AM14A in the USA)
can be configured to report any change of state and the documentation
indicates that this extended code reflects the state of the load itself. I'm
not sure whether the European equivalents include this feature.

Insteon utilizes a two-way protocol with ACK/NAK but I don't think the
response reflects the state of the load but merely whether the command
received matched the included checksum. At this time Insteon is only
available for 120V/60Hz.

To accomplish the goals you've listed you will likely need a
custom-designed, hard-wired system and a key to the bullion vaults at Fort
Knox in order to pay for it.

Tolga Uzuner <tolga@coubros.com> wrote:

>Hi There,
>
>I am new to the group. I've reda a lot of helpful material here, so
>thanks to everyone already.
>
>I am wiring up a brand new house, and would like to install controls
>into all the electrical circuitry so that I can do the following:
>- turn any circuit on or off
>- monitor IF a circuit is being used ot not i.e. if it is passing
>current or not
>- write macros to turn circuits on and off contingent on signals from
>motion detectors etc.
>- control/monitor circuits and also motion detectors over the web
>
>Reading up on X10, it appears some of this is possible but I am not sure
>if one could actually use x10 to check if current is running through a
>circuit. Is this possible ? Do socket controls exist in x10 which can
>also act as transmitters contingent on something happening ?
>
>I do not want all the circuitry inside the socket, and not an external
>plug. I am wiring the house new, so might as well put in circuitry into
>the sockets now which will give me what I want.
>
>If X10 is not a solution, what of something like Insteon or Zigbee ?
>Can I install Insteon into the sockets internally and get the behaviour
>I need ?
>
>Finally, I am in continental Europe... are there Insteon/Zigbee products
>available in Europe ?
>
>Thanks, Tolga

[Charles Sullivan]

On Sun, 27 Nov 2005 19:03:27 +0000, Dave Houston wrote:
<snip>
> Newer X-10 devices that respond to extended codes (LM14A, AM14A in the USA)
> can be configured to report any change of state and the documentation
> indicates that this extended code reflects the state of the load itself. I'm
> not sure whether the European equivalents include this feature.
<snip>

It's possible I have a bum unit, but the single PAM22 I own (3-pin
X10 Pro version "AM14A" - date sticker 02K47) always reports a load
is connected, even with an open socket. It was mentioned a few years
ago, I believe by Dan Lanciani, that the load reporting was
unreliable; perhaps X10 just permanently set the bit.

(On the other hand, the two LM14A units I own do reliably report
whether the connected lamp is switched on or off.)