This is The X10 Page
X10 or Homecontrol is a very simple way of controlling your electrnic devices. You plug modules into your sockets and you plug contolling units into other sockets and you can switch devices on and off, you can switch and dim lights. All from you controller. You can get controllers that are also bedside clocks, you can switch all lights off and on. You can do things like making sure the Iron is off, or to turn off the devices that do not need to be on after a certain time. You can reduce the amount of power you use this way. I have most of my devices conected to these and all of the plug in transformers are switched off at about midnight, my modem always used to be plugged in so was getting power even if the modem it's self was off. The printer has an auto power off, but it still uses some power so that, speakers and the mobile 'phone charger all get turned off.
There are devices that work like normal light switches. You can replace your switches and the computer can then control them, and they still work as normal light switches, they also have a fader built in.
I use these to turn lights on and off while I'm away. You can set these lights to turn on at dusk and it will work out when to turn these on, so in June (here in England at any rate), it will turn the lights on later than in December. It can also be set to turn the lights on at about the time you set, so if I set it to switch on at 19:30, and set the security option it could switch on any time from 19:00 to 20:00 and will be different each time. So you need only set one time per day and the system will just keep working until you reset it.
I've recently be hacking at the Linux Kernel and now have software that I can use to turn my Printer, Speakers, TV amp on and off with, when linux does the APM (DPMS) console blanking. For more details contact me.
Here are some pages you may want to check out for UK based providers of X10 stuff
Let's Automate. A Company that does lots of home control, not just X10 stuff. They are about the best on price, you'll find that Comfort does do special offers, but these offers only just bring the prices lower than Let's Automate.
Laser. Pictures and a small amount of information about all the available X10 equipment that you can buy from them here in the UK. No online ordering and half the items have no pictures. They do provide a PDF catalouge that has a good short description of most items.
Comfort. They have a slightly strange on-line system, but it does work well. Watch out for the Hot Deals page. Things on the Hot deals page can be at a lower price than in other places in the store! One time the TM12E was £50 in the main store, and adding it to the basket added it at £50, but if you went to hotdeals the Same thing was there for £40, and this added to the cart at £40, so I had two identical items in the cart for two different prices!! Watch out for this.
X10UK. Not part of X10 Corp, but quite a good site. They have On-line shopping, but there prices are higher than most, and they have a very limited range of items (No motion sensors, etc). Has one of those hated opening splash screens. And far too many picture so downloads slowly.
SmartHomeUSA. This site will ship anywhere and is a site that stocks 110V equipment so only for the Brave. See links to DIY sites.
Baran Harper. This is a Canadian site and the main stock is for the 110V American and Canadian product base, but they do have 220V things that we have dificulty getting. Has lists of the products like the Laser site, but does have a range of things we can not get over here that run on 110V. If you feel up to changing them then this would be a site to go for.
Extensive. This is a site with too many graphics, and an over priced range of devices. Limited when you look at sites like Laser and Let's Automate.
For information on X10 Stuff in the UK, this site www.homecontrol.co.uk has everything about the CE approved units. They do not selll direct so you can only look.
For info on Modifications that you can make to USA equipment to make it run on 230V see this site Home Automation Knowledge Base. I am not advising you to try this, I'm not going to, but if you feel the need to put your life, house and general well being in danger this is a good place to start.
For More info on X10 try this site. He has even gone so far as having most of his things controlled. He designed his home to be the most energy efficent he could.
RedOak. A slightly anoying background music, but that's what the volume control is for.
Another "I've-made-this-work-with-that" type site is AutomatedHome. They have descriptions and reviews of most Home Control related stuff. Not all is X10
You may also want to try out the Comp.Home.Automation newsgroup to get some idea on things. Mostly USA stuff (where they get things for about $7 an Application modules where we pay £22 + vat), but there are general things there that are interesing.
Ian Wilkinson
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