Long time Homeseer user and home automation enthusiast. Started with X-10 back on 2000 and had a Smartlinc system and moved to a Homevision system before moving to Homeseer in 2005 I believe. I sold my house back in November and have been planing on building a house when (if) material prices come down some but my 5000sq. ft. workshop is being delivered to the property tomorrow so I've been hunting for switches. It's on 50 acres, and butts up against national forest on two sides so I'm in the boonies. Had to run power almost 3/4 of a mile. Internet sucks... having to use a 4G router but have Starlink on order (but it will be a while). The shop and the house are 400 ft apart but will be connected through fiber.
My last house had all Insteon and they worked great after I replaced them with newer versions. I has some of their original switches and Insteon swapped them out for me on their dime, so I will never forget that. Yes, I had to do the labor but it was well worth it. My last house was 4000sq.ft and I had over 140 Insteon devices and very little issues. Over the 15 years I was there, I only had to replace 10 switches due to failure, which I think is a very acceptable rate. I had all lights, bathroom fans, outside lights, you name it on Insteon. I had some running 240V relays for my Well and big ice machine and had the system set to turn off the well, open the sprinklers, and turn on the ice machine in the garage when it got cold to keep the pipes from freezing and to keep the garage (where the ice machine was) warm when it dropped below freezing outside. I used a lot of the double tap options (fast off) to trigger scenes like "fast off turns off all the lights in the room... overhead, closet, bathroom etc.
Now that I get the chance to start again, I'm wondering if Insteon is still a good choice or if I should look at the Lutron Caseta? I just ordered a few to play with but I don't have Homeseer set up so it's more of a "look and feel" test. As mentioned, the shop is 5000sq. ft and will have LED lighting inside. 800sq. ft will be enclosed and will have a full bath which will be about 6 x 8, have a shower, toilet and sink. There will be a lean-to on one side. I think all total, there will be 10 switches (4 for shop lights due to wattage, 2 for small outside lights by the walk doors, 1 for the enclosed can lights (or two if you consider a remote), 2 for the bath (lights and fan) and 1 for the lean-to lights.
Plugins I used: HAI Omni, Insteon, BLOccupied, MyQ, Life360, Rainmachine... I had HS2, went to 3 and have a 4 license that I have not used yet.
I like the Caseta remotes where I can use them to control the light switches. This will cut down on having to run wires for 3-way setups. I don't think I'll need the 4-8 button switches since automation to me is automating things, not pressing a button. I had them in the house but didn't use them much after I got things automated where we hardly ever touched a switch (Alexa helped a bit with this).
My con list of Insteon:
I have a lot of pros of Insteon but won't mention them. The only things I think I may miss are:
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
My last house had all Insteon and they worked great after I replaced them with newer versions. I has some of their original switches and Insteon swapped them out for me on their dime, so I will never forget that. Yes, I had to do the labor but it was well worth it. My last house was 4000sq.ft and I had over 140 Insteon devices and very little issues. Over the 15 years I was there, I only had to replace 10 switches due to failure, which I think is a very acceptable rate. I had all lights, bathroom fans, outside lights, you name it on Insteon. I had some running 240V relays for my Well and big ice machine and had the system set to turn off the well, open the sprinklers, and turn on the ice machine in the garage when it got cold to keep the pipes from freezing and to keep the garage (where the ice machine was) warm when it dropped below freezing outside. I used a lot of the double tap options (fast off) to trigger scenes like "fast off turns off all the lights in the room... overhead, closet, bathroom etc.
Now that I get the chance to start again, I'm wondering if Insteon is still a good choice or if I should look at the Lutron Caseta? I just ordered a few to play with but I don't have Homeseer set up so it's more of a "look and feel" test. As mentioned, the shop is 5000sq. ft and will have LED lighting inside. 800sq. ft will be enclosed and will have a full bath which will be about 6 x 8, have a shower, toilet and sink. There will be a lean-to on one side. I think all total, there will be 10 switches (4 for shop lights due to wattage, 2 for small outside lights by the walk doors, 1 for the enclosed can lights (or two if you consider a remote), 2 for the bath (lights and fan) and 1 for the lean-to lights.
Plugins I used: HAI Omni, Insteon, BLOccupied, MyQ, Life360, Rainmachine... I had HS2, went to 3 and have a 4 license that I have not used yet.
I like the Caseta remotes where I can use them to control the light switches. This will cut down on having to run wires for 3-way setups. I don't think I'll need the 4-8 button switches since automation to me is automating things, not pressing a button. I had them in the house but didn't use them much after I got things automated where we hardly ever touched a switch (Alexa helped a bit with this).
My con list of Insteon:
- The microswitches would go out over time and/or the switches would not "click".
- Communication would sometimes cause light flickering in other areas of the house.
- Power brown outs would cause all devices to sometimes turn on (come home and everything is on).
- The PLC would get hot, die and need to be replaced every 3-5 years.
- Not a big deal, but they quit selling Light Almond switches so I had to order the kits and change them out. (new house and shop will be white so not big deal).
I have a lot of pros of Insteon but won't mention them. The only things I think I may miss are:
- multi-button switches
- double tap (fast on/fast off) since I used this for some scenes.
- Outlets (although building new, I can make them controlled by switches)
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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