I plan to upgrade a cabin to allow more 3-4 season use. In general, I keep the cabin unheated in the winter, but am interested in remotely turning the heat on when temps are below freezing (to protect pipes), and to turn heat up, and porch light on prior to arrival. I have internet access so would like an interface that can be controlled from the internet and/or smart phone. I’ve seen the smarthome website, but there are a lot of brands/devices and its somewhat of information overload. Is there anybody around who can share some advice/experience?
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I think an important thing is to stick to X10 as much as possible, so that you're not tied to any one brand.
I thought X10 was "cheap"
My recollection is that years ago x10 was considered cheap or low-end. Security cameras were not so good. Better now?
I'm thinking in terms of the controls -- lights, furnace, etc. Maybe there's a better industry standard now, but you want industry-standard, not proprietary.
I've got some X-10 stuff and would rate it as "cheap but effective".
I did need to add some filters and a bridge to pump signals from one phase to the other; after that it has worked flawlessly. The USB interface works very well for timing various on/off/dimmer controls and the software is good, albeit a bit cheesey (as is everything about the company and it's website).
However, I'm not aware of any way to address the control interface remotely by IP. What I do is connect to the PC that controls the interface via a VNC tool (I use the free version of RealVNC). This works quite well. It's as if you're sitting in front of the PC.
There are fancier systems out there, but you'll pay a lot more for them.
There are better-integrated web interfaces, eg: http://www.webio.us/
No idea what they cost.
>>>No idea what they
>>>No idea what they cost.
Z-Wave, Insteon, etc. are much more expensive than the cheesy X10 stuff.
But the product you noted sounds like an interesting option. It would have to be compared with an old beater $50 PC with VNC though. Those guys want $219 for their solution.
Plus a PC with VNC opens a few other doors too, depending on what the PC does at the remote location. I use VNC for lots of stuff...very handy.
VNC
So if I understand correctly the computer to control the x10 stuff is onsite, and you "tunnel in" over the internet to control it.
>>>So if I understand
>>>So if I understand correctly the computer to control the x10 stuff is onsite, and you "tunnel in" over the internet to control it.
That's right.
VNC (Virtual Network Computing) lets you take control of a computer remotely, via the Internet. It's as if you're sitting in front of the machine.
So if the machine has the X10 control software (called AcitiveHome Pro) installed, then you can use it as if you were on site.
Here's something I have thought about getting (or something like it), not looked into it too deep though. Watch the video. This uses INSTEON technology.
http://www.smarthome.com/2412N/SmartLinc-INSTEON-Central-Controller/p.aspx