HouseBot

Hi guys,

I'm new to home automation and have a copy of Housebot I won in a contest and figured it would be a good place to start (and hopefully end) my needs for HA control. I'm not planning to start very complicated....just pc control of a couple of lights. Insteon certainly seems like a good potential starting point for me, but would another hardware format be a better choice?

If you were to start all over today which hardware style would you choose and why?

I choose insteon just because i mentioned it above....but my vote doesn't really count :)

I like UPB due to the Windows software (UPStart) that you can use to program it. I also like the flexibility provided by the switches (will respond to up to 16 links, can trigger events for single and double press of both the top and bottom of the switch, etc). I realize this ends up requiring more programming but the trade-off is for a pretty sophisticated system (at least for a non-hard-wired solution).

-- Dave

Well when Insteon comes to the UK then ill be using that, as for now X10.

tally

Thanks for the feedback guys! Keep it coming :)

Z-Wave Because it really works

Ripping out the entire darn X10 Cr*p from the house and replacing with Z-Wave switches and devices.

Not quite the plethora of choices for other tech, but all the basics are there and growing. With Leviton finally releasing their Z-Wave line, we are finally seeing great choices and solutions for stuff like electronic ballast LV circuits.