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Home Automation Tips and Tricks Archive
February 1999

Doing so much travel leads to many tasks that can easily be handled with home automation.

My most recent new function uses "JEANNIE" my HAL2000 system to control the electric water heater.

By having "JEANNIE" turn off power to the water heater for the times that I am not home has reduced the electricity bill by 38%. This amount of savings payed for all the required equipment in just 3 1/2 months. Well worth the effort.

I purchased a 220 volt 40 amp contactor with a 110 volt coil from an electric supply company. By connecting a X10 wall switch to the coil, "JEANNIE" can now control when power is supplied to the heater. Due to my being gone more than at home, I wired the contactor to turn on when the X10 switch is on. This reduces the activated time for the contactor. The contactor is rated for 100% activation but since the intent was to reduce electric useage, I chose this way. It is easier to remember. Just like any other switch, ON is ON.

All the standard cautions apply when adding this or any other function. Make sure the power is off and use extreeme caution. If in doubt, have the work done by a professional electrician.

Since the contactor terminals are all exposed, it must be enclosed inside a protective box. Be sure to follow any required electric code requirements. Saving a few bucks on electricity won't help if the house burns down by a miswired device.

220 volt contactor              $40
X10 wall switch                   $15
Electric boxes and wire      $12

Be sure to use a NON-DIMMING wall switch.

For information on "JEANNIE" see the December 1998 online magizine here at hometoys and select Don's Home Tour.

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I like the x10 Hawkeyes but object to the full ON of the similarly coded switches (lights, lamps). Using the ActiveHome software, I can have the appropriate fixtures dim up to a medium level instead of blinding me and THEN (when it's too late) lowering to a more sympathetic level (hey, I just got up!)

Have your hawkeyes initiate two macroes instead of just turning on and off similarly coded x10 switches. Set up the macroes so that the appropriate Hawkeyes turn on and off the appropriate lighting fixtures. Then, in the macro generator, change all your OFFs to an absolute dim of positive 10% instead. (Absolute dim shows as a full yellow square, Relative dim as a yellow dot in the square. )

For the pre-set ON level, select the Reletive dim of the fixture and set the level to a POSITIVE percentage number (for example, start with 30%, experiment) The level settings will get screwed up by human controlling of the wall switch but the OFF signal from the Hawkeye should mostly set things straight for the next approaching human. Oh, another glitch…. when the hawkeye sends the OFF, the light will go to full intensity and then lower to 10 %… who cares, you're gone; if you're not, you're warned by the brightenning off the light to start waving your arms !!!

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Because of its low cost and easy setup, ActiveHome has become a popular home automation application for the PC. ActiveHome uses its own X-10 Communication Bridge to communicate with the two-way computer interface (CM11A). But did you know that you can use the communication bridge directly, without having to run the ActiveHome application? I have used this capability to setup a simple menu system for controlling my appliances (see image #1).

On my Windows 95 start menu, I created an icon for each X-10 function. To do this, you need to locate the 'x10comm.exe' program which is in the same directory with your ActiveHome application. Create the icon using the full path to that program, along with the arguments for the specific command you need (see image #2).

For example, the following command line will send A1 ON:

"C:\Program Files\Home Control\X10Comm.exe" A1 ON

Of course you need to substitute your own path if you did not install the application in the default location. Create a second icon with "A1 OFF" as the arguments to turn that appliance off.

For dimming, the following example will dim a light to 40%:

"C:\Program Files\Home Control\X10Comm.exe" A1 DIM TO 040%

Note that the percentage must be three digits. Continue to create icons for each function for each appliance. Then when you need to turn on a lamp, just quickly select the corresponding option from your Win95 start menu.

There are more detailed instructions on my web site at http://x10.crevier.org  with a few troubleshooting tips. The total cost of this is $49 for the ActiveHome application, which comes with the necessary X-10 Communication Bridge.

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I bought an Active home kit and was dissapointed that half of the house would not work with it. I finally got a capacitor and hook it up in the fuse box to join the 2 phases of the house wiring, and after all that, I thought of a better way. Since the Active home kit is soo well priced, why not get two and set both of the interfaces to the same house code. Also set both tranciever modules to the same house code and plug one into an outlet on one phase, and the other into an outlet on the other phase. Also do the same with the PC interface. with one interface plugged into the PC, download all the macros and timers into it, then switch interfaces and do the same with the other. Now you have X10 signals going through both phases with no messing in the fuse box, and also the extra benefit of more reliable signals. Another plus is you have an extra keychain remote and 6-in-1 remote along with an apliance module. What a deal! And easy!

Total cost, about $100 for the 2 kits.

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One of the problems I had with most automation software is how to set a wakeup time. For most of us, we wake up at the same time each weekday, and maybe a different time on the weekends. Most automation software can easily handle this by simply scheduling the time to trigger a wakeup event. But personally, my wakeup times may vary from time to time and that requires me to change the automation software to trigger the wakeup event at the new time. Often I don't remember to do this until I am already snug in bed, which means I would have to get out of bed, go downstairs, make the changes, then get back in bed. Well no more. With an X10 mini timer I no longer have to go downstairs when I need to change my wakeup schedule.

With the mini-timer, I have programmed my weekly wakeup time in button #1, which also has a local alarm on the timer. On the computer, instead of scheduling my wakeup event by time, I program it to trigger when the 1 ON signal is received. This way, whenever I need to change my wakeup time, roll over and do it without leaving the bed! Very good on these cold winter nights.

Now the fine print. Each automation software package is different in how it handles events and in its capabilities, so you will need to be familiar with your specific software. Be aware that the clock will send the ON signal every day at that time. If you cannot program your wakeup trigger to ignore the signal on the weekends, then you will need to take manual steps to keep the signal from being sent, which can be done by putting the clock in the "set clock" mode.

Variations and Enhancements: Once you have the basic idea, you can add different features to your wakeup schedule. For instance, my weekend wakeup time is different than my weekday wakeup time. I program button 1 ON with my weekday wakeup time and button 1 OFF with my weekend wakeup time. My wakeup event can tell if was started with an OFF signal or an ON signal and do the right thing. Specifically it ignores any 1 ON signals on the weekends, and ignores 1 OFF signals on the weekdays. My wakeup event is drawn out over a period of 30 minutes. One thing it does is slowly turn on an overhead light from dim to bright over those 30 minutes. At the same time, it turns on a bedside lamp. Now, if I did not want to wakeup that day and forgot to disable the trigger signal, I need a way to cancel the event as it is happening. If I turn off the bedside lamp with one of the other clock's buttons, then the wakeup event is canceled and my bedroom is plunged into darkness again. In last month's contest, there was an entry for a "keep alive" signal for the CM11A controller. Well, I use the timers in some of the other buttons to send these signals. With the other buttons programmed to control other bedroom lights, the off signal always turns them off. Therefore, I program various OFF times in the other buttons which keep the CM11A occupied as well.

Items and cost: The x10 mini-timer is all that is needed in addition to your automation software. The X10 mini-timer can be had in a number of places off the web and at Lowe's and Radio Shack. Keep in mind your decor when selecting the clock. I preferred the white styling of the Radio Shack model to the square black X10 version. The cost is anywhere from $20-$30.

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Just moved into a new house and discovered I need a signal bridge between the two phases. In looking for a simple-to-install module, I came up with this idea: A plug-in bridge. Since I have a gas dryer, I have a 220V outlet not doing anything. It should be easy to make a plug in module to house a signal bridge that could be plugged in rather then installed in the breaker box.

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